Southwest Airlines’ Memorial Day sale discounts fares as low as $49

More than 37 million people are expected to travel this weekend, with that massive Memorial Day number serving as yet another metric -- along with things like plummeting coronavirus case numbers as well as a slow, steady uptick in vaccinations -- showing how the country is, bit by bit, starting to try to move on from the coronavirus pandemic.

This news comes from AAA Travel, which is expecting to see a big bounce in the number of Americans traveling this Memorial Day weekend. Through May 31, those more than 37 million travelers will venture at least 50 miles from their home, up 60% from the 23 million last year. That latter number, by the way, was the lowest on record since the AAA began tracking this trend in 2000. One thing helping these numbers tick back upwards, by the way, is the prevalence of cheap flights and an abundance of fare sales not only as we head into Memorial Day Weekend, but as a way of luring hesitant travelers back to flying the friendly skies. Here's a closer look at the details of the Memorial Day fare sale that Southwest is offering, for example, which includes discounted flights as low as $49 that must be booked by June 10.