Southwest Friends Fly Free

[jjohns]

Does Southwest follow any sort of pattern with their Friends Fly Free promotions?

I know they had one back in May/June, do they typically have them at certain times of the year? Is that time coming soon?

Also, if the lower fares on a flight are already sold out, is there any chance they would make seats available on a FFF promotion?

TIA, Jeff

[Kacey]

jjohns,

Actually, I booked flights for Oct on the FFF program at Southwest. I just checked my flights again and they are $14 lower now. So you might check your dates--the prices are pretty low right now.

I called their toll free number and the CS rep walked me through the process of canceling and rebooking. The funds can be reallocated and the remaining funds will be there for a future booking.

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your second question.

[jjohns]

Thanks Kacey.

When did you book the FFF October flight? Was it recently? I thought the last FFF promotion sales period ended sometime in June.

I'm wondering about the sales period - when the promotional fares are offered - not the actual travel dates. We're planning an October trip also, but I don't see any FFF rates available on the SWA website...

Jeff

[Kacey]

I booked the FFF flights on May 21, 2002.

The prices they are giving now are actually lower than the FFF rates that they offered in May and June.

[jlambrig]

Promotional/Internet fares for SWA will almost always be lower than the FFF. SWA makes some good money off of FFF becuase so many people jump on it and end up paying more than the normal promotional rates. SWA will probably do another FFF early next year when they want a boost to the bottom line aftre the holiday rush.

[jjohns]

I must be missing something on the SWA FFF promotions then...

Back in May, I saw FFF one-way fares Buffalo-Orlando of $98. The one-way 'Discount Fare' now available is $105. In this particular case, there have not been promotional fares announced (for our travel dates, anyway!) at all, let alone for $49 or less (I say $49 since only then would they be cheaper than the FFF approach).

Am I missing something in the picture? Maybe I should be less concerned about the next FFF promotion, and more concerned about the next Buffalo-Orlando internet special??!!

Any way to predict when they will include a particular destination in their weekly specials??

Jeff