? about sw "Unavailable"

[akrake]

on southwest, if unavailable comes up...does that mean the seats are just not opened up yet? example...sat to sat has $99 flights but say unavailable...should i just wait it out?
amie

 

[Alexander]

I could be wrong, but I thought it meant they were sold out.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The way I assumed it worked (and I could be mistaken on this) is that they had so many seats available at one rate, and so many at another rate. So for example, if the plane has 130 seats, 50 are at the $59 rate, 50 are at the $99 rate, and 30 are at the $129 rate.

 

[akrake]

and i've been checking since sometime in january...they seats were NEVER available...at any price expect the 244 each way.
amie

 

[4formickey]

since swa always way over book I wonder if the ever "sold out"

 

[CarolA]

Yes, the sell out all the time.

I actually find SW is less likely to overbook by large numbers then most of the others. There are exceptions (and EVERY exception makes the Airline show)

 

[NotUrsula]

i've been checking since sometime in january...they seats were NEVER available...at any price expect the 244 each way.

Which means that $244 is what you'll have to pay if you want them.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

I think that Southwest uses the "unavailable" either when all of the seats are sold out at that price OR when they block out that price because they feel they can sell for higher.

I know that I went on-line within the first 2 hours that the Easter Break seats went on-line (Yes, I was checking very often) and some of the best/weekend dates were "unavailable" for all flights at the lowest priced seats. So they clearly never sold them at the lowest price -- and to date have never opened them up.

The reason why I know that they also do become "unavailable" when they honestly sell out is last month, I was checking on availability (already had seats) and saw that our flight was showing availability at the next lower priced seats. When I called to get the lower-priced seats (could have done on-line but was a newbie), the reservationist said that there were only 2 seats (there are 4 of us). I asked for the 2 seats, and as soon as I hung up, went on-line, and, sure enough, that lower price now showed "unavailable".

People do modify their plans and Southwest probably does open up better fares if they have a lot of openings and the date is approaching -- just hard to know whether it's worth gambling on the wait.

Good luck and here's some pixie dust.

 

[akrake]

thanks...i was wondering what was going on.....i'll keep my fingers crossed...but i'm not going to pay 488rt when i could fly out of logan for less.
amie