Another SouthWest Question

[1000th happy haunt]

This hasn't happened to me (yet), but if it does I want to be prepared.

Let's say I book a round trip flight on Southwest (one confirmation number). Months later, a DING comes in. I check the flights and I can apply the DING to my outbound flight, but not my return flight (or vice versa). And in fact, the good fare I got for my return flight is no longer available.

How do I handle this? Can I cancel only the outbound part of my trip and rebook using the DING fare? Do I have to cancel the whole reservation in order to use the DING (therefore paying a higher rate for my return)?

Is it best to just book everything one-way, in case this situation comes up?

I'm also planning a three-leg trip in October (Philly-Manchester (NH)-Orlando and return to Philly) and I'm pondering the best way to handle this.

 

[momsgoofy]

Well, to answer some of your questions...

IF you have a RT ressie with one confirmation number then you find a great Ding fare, but for only say the outbound portion....you will need to cancel the entire RT ressie and rebook the outbound with the Ding fare and then rebook the return portion separately. This happened to me for our Christmas trip...had a RT ressie with each portion costing $111, then found a super Ding fare of $35 oneway...only couldn't get seats for the return...had to cancel it all and get the $35 oneway...luckily for me the return was still at the $111 oneway price.

So, my lesson learned...when booking with Southwest...do everything as oneway...just in case.

For the Philly to Manchester to Orlando then back to Philly...never done this myself, but I'd think it might be best to book each leg as oneways...maybe someone who has experience doing this sort of trip will chime in with a better suggestion.

Hope this helps!

 

[CRCrazy]

Yep - I learned the hard way to always book Southwest as one ways as well. I've been lucky enough to get some wonderful fares - but I missed one last trip - as the Ding fare was only available on my outgoing flight - and the return flight I had gotten at a sale price was only available at the full fare, since it was almost sold out. I had to let that Ding go.

Again- on that 3 legged trip - 3 one ways would be the way to go! That way you can check for Dings on each leg!!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

Thanks for the advice. I was starting to wonder if booking everything as a one-way flight was the way to go (even though it creates multiple confirmation numbers).