Southwest PLEASE HELP

[asfarrell]

Today they started booking flights for the week of Thanksgiving. I can't get a good time or the "best rate" for the flight home. Should I wait? or book now before they are gone?
Do they generally open up unavailable flights and times later? I can't imagine they already booked that fast.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Today they started booking flights for the week of Thanksgiving. I can't get a good time or the "best rate" for the flight home. Should I wait? or book now before they are gone?
Do they generally open up unavailable flights and times later? I can't imagine they already booked that fast.

We were waiting for today, too, for SW to put up their flights. We need it for December. Now, we booked pretty quick and got a good deal. It's hard to say whether you should book now or wait, but I have to imagine that if you can't get a cheaper flight on another airline or even another airport, then go ahead and book. We are actually traveling an hour and a half to get the lower cost of flying with SW, even though we live less than fifteen minutes from an airport. It's still going to be at least $500 cheaper for us.

So, weigh your options, but I doubt the prices will come down. It will be the holiday season. Understandable, airlines take advantage of that.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

The fares RARELY go down ever for Southwest...book now if I were you...

 

[4disney]

Just wondering do you know about the DING specials that SW will send you if you download the program from their website? This is the only way I have flown. We will be traveling to Orlando on July 16th for a total price of $484. That is 4 direct flight tickets, round trip, taxes and all included. This was sent to me through their DING program that I down loaded. All the info you need to do this is on their website. Good Luck!

 

[amylovesdisney]

There are some folks over there who have amazing experience with SWA's Dings. From what I recall, most purchase a ticket and then wait for their Ding to come through. If you can swing it, that might be the way to go!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

There are some folks over there who have amazing experience with SWA's Dings. From what I recall, most purchase a ticket and then wait for their Ding to come through. If you can swing it, that might be the way to go!

How does Ding work?

 

[amylovesdisney]

Go to the SWA website and download their program for Ding. From what I understand, they will send you a msg when airfare comes through per your specs.

I'm just not at my computer all that much during the day so it doesn't benefit me much.

 

[clownchk]

Book now, tehn keep watching the flights.

Book SEPARATE flights for your departure and return flights (2 ressy NUmbers) so that if you can find a cheaper fare on SW (With a ding, or on sale) you can change that part of the flight. I learned hte hard way when a Ding came for $49 on our return flight. We couldn't get it since we'd have to cancel and rebook our whole itinerary and we's lose the $69 flight we had on our departure and have to rebook at $149.

We originally had $89 each way and then rebooked when a sale came up for $69 each way.

And yes, download and watch Ding, but check as a "new" reservation form time to time,t oo!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Book now, tehn keep watching the flights.

Book SEPARATE flights for your departure and return flights (2 ressy NUmbers) so that if you can find a cheaper fare on SW (With a ding, or on sale) you can change that part of the flight. I learned hte hard way when a Ding came for $49 on our return flight. We couldn't get it since we'd have to cancel and rebook our whole itinerary and we's lose the $69 flight we had on our departure and have to rebook at $149.

We originally had $89 each way and then rebooked when a sale came up for $69 each way.

And yes, download and watch Ding, but check as a "new" reservation form time to time,t oo!

I booked our flights already and they were deals, so non-refundable. I guess I can't use Ding then, huh?

 

[MrsMud]

The fares RARELY go down ever for Southwest...book now if I were you...

???
In my experience (6+ years with SW) the flights almost always come down, or at least go on sale at some point (BUT, you do have to be diligent about checking the website frequently, as the sale fares go quickly). That said, we have always flown in off season, so I don't know about Thanksgiving week. The chances of those prices going down are much less I would assume. You may get lucky and get a DING fare, but then again maybe not. I would book now and if the fares do go down you'll get the credit. Good luck!

 

[clownchk]

You CAN Still use a DING fare, however, you have to either change BOTH flights, or non at all. If you do get a cheaper deal, you rebook using your "Credit (Current flights) and then will get a non refundable credit for the difference to be used within one year of the date of first booking.

You use the 4th option on the SW home page (IT hink its view/ change flights) but with DING its a bit trickier and you'd be best call SW as soon as you see the ding fare you want...I THINK you have to cancel your current itinerary, tehn use that credit to book your ding. IF you are CHANGING it (SALE fares as opposed to DING) Then you can just use the Chiew CHange feature without having to actually cancel the flights.

DH and I are thinking of Vegas ALONE with our credit LOL!

 

[MrsMud]

...Book SEPARATE flights for your departure and return flights (2 ressy NUmbers) so that if you can find a cheaper fare on SW (With a ding, or on sale) you can change that part of the flight. I learned hte hard way when a Ding came for $49 on our return flight. We couldn't get it since we'd have to cancel and rebook our whole itinerary and we's lose the $69 flight we had on our departure and have to rebook at $149...

Just to clarify, this is no longer true in the case of sales. Even when you book both ways at the same time, you can change just one part of your itinerary (to a different flight, or just a better price) on the website. It's really easy now. However, it is still better to book them both seperately if you are watching for a DING, because you can't CHANGE from a regular advertised fare to a DING fare, you have to cancel THAT FLIGHT and use the credit to book the DING. It's not that big of a deal, most people just have two windows up (the change/cancel flights screen and the DING booking screen) and put in all the info. up to purchasing the DING, then they cancel the one flight, and immediately book the DING in the other window with the flight credit. So it can definitely be done, but I guess you always run a very slight risk that the DING will book up in the second between canceling the flight and rebooking.

I booked our flights already and they were deals, so non-refundable. I guess I can't use Ding then, huh?

This is also not true. You can cancel ANY flight on SW and get a SW credit for a future flight. Non-refundable only means you will not get it back on your credit card (although, this is not always the case either, sometimes you can). So if a DING comes out that works for you, you can cancel the flight you have and use the credit to book the DING, as I outline above.

Are we confused yet?

 

[Ragetti]

I always book the cheapest rate. If I need to cancel or rebook later, I just take the SW credit. But I fly frequently, so I don;t mind having a few hundred bucks tied up that way. I'll use it soon enough. Not everyone does that though.

 

[cinderella_mom]

SW is very good about crediting back if the prices go down, but I still try to book one-ways to make changing easier.

I've heard different accounts from people of what SW told them when changing flights to get a "sale" or "ding" fare, but the best thing to do if the price goes down is to call them right away before making the change. It happens often that the better fare may only have 1 or 2 seats left at that price and if you cancel your flight for 4 to try to get the better fare you can lose out on your old price and not get the better price.

Hope that all makes sense.

 

[asfarrell]

Thanks everyone...I got great deals to Disney World..$89.00 per person...NOT so great flying home...$179.00 per person...
I will still watch for lower rates.
DH not so happy with the ticket prices (he wanted to drive 18 hours)
Oh Well...this is our first DW trip, every penny is worth, just wish I could save a few

Now I just need to order my MVMCP tickets

 

[JeanfromBNA]

This is my strategy for flying SWA: As soon as I know the dates of my trip, I look at the posted fares to get an idea of what non-discounted rates are. I've become familiar with SWA's discounts, so I get an idea of what my ideal discount fare would be. I have DING on my desktop, and check the website frequently. If I get a fare close to my goal, I grab it. If not, I wait until about four weeks before my trip to book whatever is available.

SWA fares frequently go down, sometimes as much as half!

 

[Huff]

Try using www.farecast.com . It will show you what the current airfare trend is and whether to wait or not to buy. It does not use SW fares but you can compare SW latest rates to farecast's trend findings to see if its a good deal or not.

 

[djblu883]

by the time he figures in the drive time and cost and hotels and food cost....it will atleast make it an even if not cheaper deal to fly...and you can be there and rested and ready to start your vacation....last time I flew for the first time down there and what a difference it made!!!