? for those traveling in Dec. trying to book SW fares?

[aspalek]

Is anyone else wanting to book airfare via Southwest in December? I want to travel dec. 11th to dec. 16th so my outbound flight is bookable but not my return...

Should i book one ways for the 3 of us for the outbound and wait for the next SW schedule to open up? I'm afraid that the dec. 11 flights that i want (nonstop) will book up before SW releases the next schedule.

And the other airlines are all more expensive...

Any thoughts/input would be appreciated!

[SStJean]

Originally posted by aspalek
Is anyone else wanting to book airfare via Southwest in December? I want to travel dec. 11th to dec. 16th so my outbound flight is bookable but not my return...

Should i book one ways for the 3 of us for the outbound and wait for the next SW schedule to open up? I'm afraid that the dec. 11 flights that i want (nonstop) will book up before SW releases the next schedule.

And the other airlines are all more expensive...

Any thoughts/input would be appreciated!

I wouldn't wait for the schedule to open up. Southwest's fares are all one-way, so there's no benefit to witing. Also, if the price does go down later, you can get the lower fare and use the credit against your return flights.

[safetymom]

Just keep in mind that if you have one way tickets you will be marked for extra security. Allow extra time and you will be fine.

[magsmom]

I had the same delimma for our October trip. I agree with safetymom - wait and you will be fine. We got great flights down and back non-stop from BDL for $79.00 pp.

[aspalek]

thanks for the reassurance!

[Mark P.]

Our trip has us flying out of Philly on Dec. 9th., and returning on the 14th.

I didn't want to miss out on the $79 fare, so just to be on the safe side, I went ahead and booked the outgoing flight for the 9th., and am now on the lookout for SW to update December's fares to include our return date of the 14th.

Hopefully, we'll see the $79 fare for the return as well...
Good Luck!

-Mark

[magsmom]

I did book as soon as the new dates opened up. My October flight has us going down at 7:55, so we should be in the parks by noon or so, if everything goes well. :sunny:

[DVCPAM]

This same thing happened to us last spring. I booked our flight down when the fares came out. when the dates for flying back come out I can either cancel and rebook the round trip or just book the flight back lkeeping the flight down that I already had.

I don't really see the benefit of waiting. We travel with two little ones, so I don't want to take the risk of not getting a non-stop. Since SW has such a great policy of crediting your cancelled flight fares toward the new flight, what's wrong with booking it?

At $49 one way from Manchester, I can now go a little higher on the return flight fare and still break even as a worst case scenario.

For example: My husband and I think that anything under $200 round trip is fine. Now that my one way is $49 I might end up with $49 back (great!) or if I end up with $120 back I am still fine.

Okay I'm babbling at this point, but I hope I explained our logic clearly.
Good luck!
~Pam

[aspalek]

Silly me - i didn't know that i could book one-ways without incurring a fee. So i went ahead and booked my 3 one-ways at $79, and then i can just convert them to a roundtrip when the new schedule comes out (or just buy my returns.)

THanks for the tips!

[Magic2000]

The exact same thing is happening to us for our Dec trip. The SW rep I spoke with recommended just buying the one way ticket for now, and then buying the return tickets when they are released.

We really wanted the early, non stop flight, so I booked our seats. Just waiting for the next release of dates!!! Can't wait!!!