Southwest Airlines $25 sale - Is it really a deal?

Southwest Airlines is currently offering a 72-hour sale with one-way tickets for as little as $25. Here's how it works:

$25 - 0 to 374 miles

$50 - 375 to 499 miles

$75 - 500 to 999 miles

$100 - 1000+ miles

As a result of the sale, the Southwest Airlines website is running more slowly than usual. Before you stress out though and rush to buy tickets, research your options first. Keep in mind, Southwest is only offering these deals for one-way flights. If you book a round-trip flight, you'll be spending extra money on your way back.

This offer is not available during the holidays. You can buy tickets for the above prices on the following dates: December 2-16 and January 5-February 10. When I attempted to book a flight, I discovered all December dates for the arrival city were unavailable. There's not much flexibility with booking.

Additionally, this Southwest sale isn't the cheapest option out there. Experiment and compare it to flights on Expedia. I only had to research two trips (Boston to Baltimore and Boston to Austin) that were round-trip to figure out that Expedia was the cheaper option over Southwest. Even Jetblue flights on Expedia  were cheaper than the Southwest Airlines sale. If you're only booking one-way, the prices are the same.

Good luck booking your flights. And remember not to make any decisions too quickly.