Southwest

Minnie's House · Feb 11, 2016

waiting for Southwest to release flights for September.
Is it usually best to book as soon as they come out? I've heard prices increase over time.

hsmamato2 · Feb 11, 2016

it all depends.... on your dates,etc. I like to book immediately,as I like to fly at certain times,and the more popular flights go faster. I like SWA b/c it's easy to change if the fare drops later for a credit

Minnie's House · Feb 11, 2016

hsmamato2 said:
it all depends.... on your dates,etc. I like to book immediately,as I like to fly at certain times,and the more popular flights go faster. I like SWA b/c it's easy to change if the fare drops later for a credit

Is the credit only good for a future flight?
Maybe I should book one way tickets, could I use that credit on the return flight????

PSUGuy · Feb 11, 2016

Be quick about it. I got online as soon as they opened for our 2015 trip, picked the downward leg for wifey and I, immediately chose the return leg and went right to check out and the Wanna Get Away price for the return was gone already, had to settle for a later flight to stay on budget. This time wifey and I will both be online on separate computers, she'll book one way and I'll book the other.

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whitney250 · Feb 11, 2016

Prices do jump the closer you get to departure most of the time, the sooner you can book, the better

Minnesota! · Feb 11, 2016

I have the opposite experience. Release day is usually more expensive than anything I can find a few weeks down the line

a742246 · Feb 11, 2016

On flights to MCO I try to book the minute SW opens. I usually save 10-20% by being the first to buy seats! Now when I fly to other destinations that aren't popular I find it makes no difference since the prices are the same one minute out or 1 day out!

I always use SW reward points to purchase tickets, there are nice benefits in using their points instead of CC.

hsmamato2 · Feb 11, 2016

if you are using points, then the points go back into your account if the fare drops- if you are paying for flights, and the fare drops,you can go in and change it- but each credit is tied to a specific person,and must be used within one year of original booking date. IDK about using a credit for a return flight,as that would mean waiting on a possible sale,and losing a decent fare back that way..

AngiTN · Feb 12, 2016

Minnie's House said:
Is the credit only good for a future flight?
Maybe I should book one way tickets, could I use that credit on the return flight????

Yes it's only good for the specific person on a future flight within 1 year from date of purchase.
I wouldn't not work to book one way and hope to use a credit on the return flight. Unless you are willing to pay more on the flight if the flight you want goes up instead of down. It's impossible to know what the cost will do. Best to book a fare you like from the start and check for reductions and silently cheer when you see them increase. If you know you'd never use a credit then book and never check again, so you won't see if they go down

Minnesota! said:
I have the opposite experience. Release day is usually more expensive than anything I can find a few weeks down the line

This has also been my experience.
We fly out of ATL and the flight costs have always dropped from when they are first released.

I actually find out flight costs change all the time. Even several times a day.
Yes, when I book a flight I obsessively check for changes. Every day I check first thing in the morning and usually later in the day too, if I remember.
I can see different amounts every time I check. Maybe not for my flight but for A flight, or flights, that day.
I always take the credit if I find one. It's often paid for the next trip.

quagmire0 · Feb 12, 2016

I'd say faster is better. I booked the same day for flights in June, and it was about 9000 points each way at the time. A few days later, those tickets became 13-14,000 points each way. If the prices do dip again, you can rebook on Southwest for free and get credit.

rigs32 · Feb 12, 2016

Prices depends on the popularity of the flight. When I book a flight home on a Sunday, for example, I rarely see the price drop. A non peak day? Those fluctuate more.

I love SW points because of the ease of the refund when prices drop and points are tied to actual cost not set levels

Lothlórien · Feb 12, 2016

Minnie's House said:
waiting for Southwest to release flights for September.
Is it usually best to book as soon as they come out? I've heard prices increase over time.

If you are booking on points, it does not matter because you can always get them back.

For cash purchases, it is hard to say. Sometimes the price is better the moment they hit the internet and sometimes they go down a great deal. For our last trip, I got over 20,000 points back for two people. If they have a sale and the price drops, they will give you a voucher that has to be used within a year of your original booking date. You just want to make sure you will be able to use it before approaching it with that idea.

You get better pricing on Monday, Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday flights.

cbnsoul · Feb 13, 2016

Generally earlier is better though prices could drop later but you can rebook at a later date for free and get the credit (although, depending how often you fly, that may not be useful). Spring break (weak after Easter for us) this year was an exception. Prices came out double what they typically run for the same city pairs and took months to drop.

Minnie's House · Feb 13, 2016

Were flying from Milwaukee to MCO on Labor Day. I'm hoping for $89 each way

Disneyhappy · Feb 13, 2016

We need 8 Saturday to Saturday flights during a popular time in October so I need to book as soon as they come out. Ouch!!!

kristenrice · Feb 14, 2016

Disneyhappy said:
We need 8 Saturday to Saturday flights during a popular time in October so I need to book as soon as they come out. Ouch!!!

We need 10, Saturday-Saturday in October! Actually, my family needs 4, my sister's family needs 4 and my parents need 2. We are all booking on our own so we are competing against each other :grouphug:

.

As much as we would all like to stick together, we all have different priorities. I'm looking at both prices AND times, even if it means using different airports. We live about 10 minutes from GRR, but with only one non-stop flight available (if we're lucky!) we are stuck with whatever times they offer. When I look at the Saturday flights this summer, I am hoping that they stay about the same. The non-stop to Orlando is at 10:15 am and the return is at 5:50 pm. I don't want a flight that lands after 3pm or returns before 1pm, even if it means I have to have a layover or use another airport. My sister will ONLY fly non-stop, even if it means late arrivals and early departures. We will be at WDW for 8 days and she bought 6 day tickets with no intention of park time on arrival or departure days. My parents are more focused on the price...they want what is cheapest.

My sister and I each have enough SWA points to cover at least one-way tickets for our families. I have $500 in SWA gift cards and another $150 LUV voucher which should cover the rest for my family. My parents are not tied to any airline in particular, but my mom also received a $150 LUV voucher from our last trip. She has a very strong opinion about SWA boarding procedures (let's just say that seat-saving is a sore spot with her :sad2:

) so I told her that if it upsets her that much, she should just fly Delta or American and she won't have to worry about it :flower3:

.

Right now, the prices don't concern me as much as the schedule does. The prices will almost certainly fluctuate, but I don't want to find out that the only non-stops available arrive at 7pm and depart at 8am :scared1:

.

old feller · Feb 14, 2016

Hate stress ? Book day one.

Disneyhappy · Feb 14, 2016

kristenrice said:
We need 10, Saturday-Saturday in October! Actually, my family needs 4, my sister's family needs 4 and my parents need 2. We are all booking on our own so we are competing against each other.

As much as we would all like to stick together, we all have different priorities. I'm looking at both prices AND times, even if it means using different airports. We live about 10 minutes from GRR, but with only one non-stop flight available (if we're lucky!) we are stuck with whatever times they offer. When I look at the Saturday flights this summer, I am hoping that they stay about the same. The non-stop to Orlando is at 10:15 am and the return is at 5:50 pm. I don't want a flight that lands after 3pm or returns before 1pm, even if it means I have to have a layover or use another airport. My sister will ONLY fly non-stop, even if it means late arrivals and early departures. We will be at WDW for 8 days and she bought 6 day tickets with no intention of park time on arrival or departure days. My parents are more focused on the price...they want what is cheapest.

My sister and I each have enough SWA points to cover at least one-way tickets for our families. I have $500 in SWA gift cards and another $150 LUV voucher which should cover the rest for my family. My parents are not tied to any airline in particular, but my mom also received a $150 LUV voucher from our last trip. She has a very strong opinion about SWA boarding procedures (let's just say that seat-saving is a sore spot with her) so I told her that if it upsets her that much, she should just fly Delta or American and she won't have to worry about it.

Right now, the prices don't concern me as much as the schedule does. The prices will almost certainly fluctuate, but I don't want to find out that the only non-stops available arrive at 7pm and depart at 8am.

We have to all be on the same flight. Booking 4 flights cash and 4 with points. Booking the cash flights first. Flight times and nonstops are most importnat so I think I may be too optimistic that I will get RT from PHL for $250.

Mackenzie Click-Mickelson · Feb 14, 2016

Historically Tuesday afternoons are the best time for booking flights because this is after the airlines have released their initial prices and by the afternoon they are in a price war to compete with other airlines that have the flights for less. Southwest likely does research to see what the other airlines are doing for prices but may not always follow the Tuesday rule especially since they have a lot of low fare sales through out the year.

I will say from our recent experience they have a select number of seats available at a certain price then the price raises though this may not be the norm. When we went from KCI to AUS last May I had looked at a particular flight using 2 as the number of adult passengers on my phone. Well when we went to the computer to book them and entered 5 as the number of adult passengers (as that was the total) the price for the tickets was about $30 more per ticket than I had just checked on my phone. I then rechecked on my phone and got the original amount but still only had 2 as the number of adult passengers. We then played around with the number of passengers entered and found out that we could by 3 adult passenger tickets at the lower amount and the other two would have to be at the higher amount.

bearybubba · Feb 16, 2016

I have to get 7 tickets for us, all flying out of PIT. I have to wait until the next release for our flights but if I think it is a good rate (a rate that I'm comfortable paying) on the day they come out, I will book them.

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