A question for SW veterans

[roliepolieoliefan]

We will be flying out of Pittsburgh to MCO the end of September.

We have never flown SW before, always used AirTran or UsAirways. AirTran changed their non-stop times and USAir is soooo expensive. So now I'm looking into SW.

Is it better to book the flights as soon as they come out, or wait for a ding? We will be going Sat-Sat.

We have 2 children (8, 2). Will we have trouble getting seats next to them? I've heard horror stories about the "cattle call" boarding.

TIA!

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

We will be flying out of Pittsburgh to MCO the end of September.

We have never flown SW before, always used AirTran or UsAirways. AirTran changed their non-stop times and USAir is soooo expensive. So now I'm looking into SW.

Is it better to book the flights as soon as they come out, or wait for a ding? We will be going Sat-Sat.

We have 2 children (8, 2). Will we have trouble getting seats next to them? I've heard horror stories about the "cattle call" boarding.

TIA!

That's a nice time of the year to be traveling to/from WDW. If you don't mind the jitters of waiting for fares to drop, I'd suggest waiting. Have a price in mind that you think is reasonable (for us it's about $200 pp rt), but keep open the idea that it might go lower. For our upcoming trip, I jumped in as soon as Southwest fares fell below their really high posting of $300+ and was comfortably happy with our fare. Figured it was the best we'd get, giving the fact that we were flying Sun-Fri (prices are typically higher on those 2 days) and fuel costs are up.

Then yesterday, they dropped a ton -- we'd paid $908 for the 4 of us, and now only $548. We have a $360 credit for another flight within 12 months, but would have rather gotten the refund on my credit card (we rebooked the exact same flights and times and ticket level, so I only have myself to blame for cracking under the pressure). As far as the ding, I'm not big on putting things on my computer -- yesterday's price drop wasn't a ding, it was posted on this board by a fellow diser and many of us went for it! Dis is way better than Ding (oh, that would make a good tag . . . tag fairy, where are you?)

As far as SW seat assignments, with a 2-year old, they will let your whole party pre-board, so you'll get good seats together. The cattle call boarding isn't so bad, I just log in and print out our seat assignments from home a few hours before we leave for the airport, and we're good to go.

 

[mommic32]

We will be flying out of Pittsburgh to MCO the end of September.

We have never flown SW before, always used AirTran or UsAirways. AirTran changed their non-stop times and USAir is soooo expensive. So now I'm looking into SW.

Is it better to book the flights as soon as they come out, or wait for a ding? We will be going Sat-Sat.

We have 2 children (8, 2). Will we have trouble getting seats next to them? I've heard horror stories about the "cattle call" boarding.

TIA!

We flew out of PGH x2 last year and I did use Southwest the first time and I can tell you I paid $ 702.00 for the 4 of us. ($79.00 plus tax)

The in Sept the prices went down for the OCT trip and I believe I paid 49.00/1 way. ( We used Airtran down and SW back)
Then I got a ding and ended up saving more money and the gave me a credit!
I would wait till you see a price of around $ 79.00 /one way. I have always kept my eye on the MCO flights and that is what they seem to run.

As for the cattle call. I would not be worried! On the way down we had a "C" boarding pass and still got to sit together. I was worried! But it all worked out.

 

[mommic32]

Shot.. I also wanted to mention that during one of the news segments this morning. Onorato is anouncing that Jet blue is comming to PGH... It should be on the noon news. I dont know any more details that that. Sorry!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Shot.. I also wanted to mention that during one of the news segments this morning. Onorato is anouncing that Jet blue is comming to PGH... It should be on the noon news. I dont know any more details that that. Sorry!

Thanks I seen that too. Unfortunately, its only to NY and Boston. Maybe by September, they'll fly to MCO too. Another carrier would be nice!

 

[moretigger]

Hi There - We flew SW out of PIT in February. We checked in on-line 24 hours before (it was very easy) and printed out A boarding passes. We were a group of 7 with two 2 year olds and a 4 year old. When we got upstairs, we sent one dad to the gate to ask about pre-boarding and they gave him a yellow tag and said we could all pre-board - I had assumed it would be one adult with all the kids. I was amazed at how many people were in the B and C lines.
On the way back, we were told to just get into the pre-boarding line when we got there. There were about 15 people camped out in the A line - again the B and C lines were huge. The flight was full on the way back. We had checking on on-line from WDW via a cell phone with web browsing, then we printed the passes at the baggage check-in.
I have to say that I thought the SW boarding sounded crazy until I went through it. It seemed less crazy than when I have boarded USAir and people are rushing the line before their row gets called!

 

[Donna]

NY and boston were the only two cities they showed on TV, but i just checked on their website and i got a good rate of $139 for a july flight to MCO. So glad they're finally here!

Mommic32, are you the lady i saw in the card store at the pittsburgh mills mall right before your trip? Just wondered how that trip was? hard to believe it was almost a year ago!

 

[Rpsemont]

If you're booking SW, for maximum flexibility, book one way tickets. I did have one instance where I had booked RT and a lower fare came out, but it was only available on the return. I couldn't take advantage of it because it wasn't combinable with my outbound flight. Plus if you book one way, sometimes it's easier to adjust dates later if you need to.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I just log in and print out our seat assignments from home a few hours before we leave for the airport, and we're good to go.

How do you print out seat assignments on SWA, since they do not assign seats?

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

How do you print out seta assignments on SWA, since they do not assign seats?

You are right, lost*in*cyberspace. Am assuming poster meant that they print out whether they are in A, B, or C group.