Another SW question

[kcwheeler]

We are debating whether to fly or drive to Disney for our trip in October. There are 6 of us so we are looking for the cheapest flights we can find. Right now we can all fly SW for about $1080, BUT the return flight leaves at 7:30am and stops twice (1 plane change). Not ideal, but probably still better than driving 17hrs. My question is do I have to check in for both legs of the flight or if I check in 24hrs early for a good boarding group, will it be the same for our plane change? I think it's about an hour layover in St. Louis. Is that enough time to still get seats together? We have 4 boys 7 and under so don't want to be split up.

Also, if the rates go lower on the later non-stop flight and I change my reservation, will i get to keep the discount from the SW $25 off code? It expires Aug 1, so I'm worried about losing that discount if I change later.

Thanks!!
Kelly

 

[1tufgt]

We are debating whether to fly or drive to Disney for our trip in October. There are 6 of us so we are looking for the cheapest flights we can find. Right now we can all fly SW for about $1080, BUT the return flight leaves at 7:30am and stops twice (1 plane change). Not ideal, but probably still better than driving 17hrs. My question is do I have to check in for both legs of the flight or if I check in 24hrs early for a good boarding group, will it be the same for our plane change? I think it's about an hour layover in St. Louis. Is that enough time to still get seats together? We have 4 boys 7 and under so don't want to be split up.

Also, if the rates go lower on the later non-stop flight and I change my reservation, will i get to keep the discount from the SW $25 off code? It expires Aug 1, so I'm worried about losing that discount if I change later.

Thanks!!
Kelly

Never flew SW on anything but non-stop. But to answer your coupon question, you will lose it when you change reservations. Only way to keep is it to rebook with a new coupon.

 

[Tara]

We are debating whether to fly or drive to Disney for our trip in October. There are 6 of us so we are looking for the cheapest flights we can find. Right now we can all fly SW for about $1080, BUT the return flight leaves at 7:30am and stops twice (1 plane change). Not ideal, but probably still better than driving 17hrs.

Is the cost difference between this flight and a more direct option a big one? I'd look at whatever the difference is and decide if that amount of money is worth 3 take offs and landings. That's a lot, even with only 1 plane change!

My question is do I have to check in for both legs of the flight or if I check in 24hrs early for a good boarding group, will it be the same for our plane change? I think it's about an hour layover in St. Louis. Is that enough time to still get seats together? We have 4 boys 7 and under so don't want to be split up.

When you check in for your return trip home, you'll be checked into all legs of that trip.

 

[kcwheeler]

Yes, it's a big difference. The non-stop return flight is $175 and the early one with 2 stops is $79, so that's almost $600 more for all of us. The non-stop was much cheaper when we started looking a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hopeful that it will go back down. I really don't want to do the 2 stops and leave so early, so we are still thinking about it before we book. Our promo code expires this weekend so we're trying to decide before then.

 

[Taja]

Sign up on SWA for the email sale notifications. You can just delete them when you aren't planning to travel.

And check the SWA website on Tuesday. That's when they post the new fares. I'm not sure what time (based on Central Time), so check a couple of times--morning and afternoon. See if the fares change. Fingers crossed for you!

 

[Huff]

What days are you traveling and are you flying out of Louisville? Best rates I see for SW in Oct. are $86 each way + taxes.

 

[kcwheeler]

What days are you traveling and are you flying out of Louisville? Best rates I see for SW in Oct. are $86 each way + taxes.

We are flying on Oct 16 and 23 out of Indianapolis. Our departure flight is $79 and good return flight is $175 now. There is a return flight for $79, but it has 2 stops and leaves at 7:30am. I'll check Louisville. It would be worth the drive to save some $ if the flights were better. Thanks!

 

[Tara]

We are flying on Oct 16 and 23 out of Indianapolis. Our departure flight is $79 and good return flight is $175 now. There is a return flight for $79, but it has 2 stops and leaves at 7:30am. I'll check Louisville. It would be worth the drive to save some $ if the flights were better. Thanks!

I hate advising others on this, but here's what *I* would do. I'd wait to see what happens with the nonstop. This is coming from someone who has tracked the prices of all flights between ALB and MCO on Southwest for an 8/23 departure and a 9/1 return every single ding-dang day since April 1st. That's right. APRIL 1ST! On the return home (9/1), the morning nonstop tracked like this:

April 1-14: $139
April 15-May 6: $144
May 7-June 16: $130
June 17-July 17: $119
July 18-now: $144

During this same time, all the other flights with BWI connections have remained VERY steady at $119-$130, depending on departure time. So you are about 3 months out - you MIGHT see a little downward movement in the prices. Let me stress the "MIGHT" part of that. I'm not telling you to wait. I'm just saying I probably would.

Also, since you are pricing for several people, are you searching also for 1 fare? Sometimes there aren't enough lower fares for everyone in the group and you can uncover lower prices by lowering your search number. (Actually, I just tried that using your dates and got the same price - so no dice. But it's worth checking for single fares each time just to be sure.)

Or go ahead and book with the promo code now and if the fares go down enough to make changing to the nonstop worth it, do it. That way you at least lock in the lower-priced flight with the $25 savings. And since you the nonstop isn't going to go below $79, you know that switching won't leave you with credits you might not be able to use in time.