With a current audience of 500 million people in Facebook, the airlines have been very busy building relationships/fans and adapting this new social medium into their marketing strategies.

If airlines are feeling a slight dip in their bookings, all they need to is put out a special deal on their Facebook page and multiple thousands of fans will see their offer.

Best of all, it’s free!

The holiday season is generally not a time for airlines to be throwing out travel deals, but just look at some of the deals I found with just a very little poking around:

• Virgin America – Have you flown in main cabin select or first class? Upgrade your holiday travel for as little as $35 (+taxes/fees/restr) and enjoy more room to stretch out, free food, drinks and entertainment. As if flying with us wasn’t already uber-fabulous. https://vgn.am/6037uLqL
• Southwest Airlines – Play the Southwest Airlines Cart Commander and find out how easy it is to book a flight, hotel, and car all at once! You could win one of over 150 instant prizes, plus get a chance to win our Grand Prize, a trip for two to Las Vegas. (Note:  Southwest Airlines has over 1.2 million fans on Facebook!)
• Delta Airlines – Don’t forget starting today we’re giving you FREE in-flight Wi-Fi through Jan. 2 courtesy of Google Chrome! Delta has 2,200+ Wi-Fi-equipped flights each day–what will you do with your free #DeltaWifi? Check out details at https://www.delta.com/freeholidaywifi. (Note:  Delta Airlines just added their 100,000th Facebook fan).
• American Airlines – FLIGHTS ON SALE! The holidays are just around the corner- celebrate with low fares across the U.S.! Book your trip now on AA.com and travel between 12/18/10 – 1/4/2011! Details: https://bit.ly/FHYSALE Where are you going for the holidays?

I found all of these deals within five minutes on airline Facebook fan pages.

As I mentioned before, airlines deals are not all that juicy prior to the very busy holiday travel season.  But, come January 2nd, keep a sharp eye and you just might grab a real attractive travel deal for yourself.