Confessions of a DING! Addict...

[TinkerbellMama]

I have been religiously stalking DING! for a few weeks now. I obsessively checked at all hours...if I got up to tinkle in the middle of the night, I had to turn on the computer and take a quick peek, lol! I even made my mother download DING! so I could call her from my cell phone if we were out all day. Didn't want to miss "the big one"! Yesterday late afternoon we got home from a birthday party 45 minutes away, and there was no DING! About a half hour later, I noticed one and figured it was going to be a no-go for our cities/dates like always...SURPRISE! It had all of our flights at dirt cheap prices, woohoo! I did have to change the date of my outbound flight because the date I originally wanted was sold out, but it's not a big deal at all. My husband is joining us in Orlando the following week, and I had no problem getting his fare on the day we wanted. Our return flights had to be a day later to qualify for the $44 special, so that's one extra day in paradise for us! Fortunately we do have some flexibility and it's not a problem. The grand total for all of us going to/from Orlando, including all taxes and fees, is $214. Wow! I am sooooooooooooooooo happy! WDW, here we come!
OMG, a new DING! JUST popped up!!! :::Off to look at it even though we already have our tickets:::

 

[mtemm]

I'm right there with you. I learned about the ding and started watching it over the july 4th weekend. omg, I became obsessed with checking for our october vacation. got a small ding, panicked, bought tix, and kept checking hoping for a better one. when one finally showed a couple of weeks ago, I swear I was hyperventilating. I was so used to seeing none for october that when it finally showed I think I was in shock. lol. we were able to get a great ding rate for one leg, but since our other day/time wasn't available and unfortunately carved in stone, but I'll take the one great ding.

 

[tmt martins]

I have 1 of our 4 legs ( 2 trips) booked with a Ding .It was right on the day I got DD's school calender and started booking everything .

So I'm hoping for one more in Oct then for the 2 in Dec .I have all one-ways booked so it easier to cancel and change just the legs. I can adjust the time a bit but not the dates so we will see.Even if I don't get a ding the $79 fares were not that bad .

 

[DJNOWICK]

Ditto - I've gotten our 9/30-10/3 flights BWI-MCO down to $122RT from an original $180! Including taxes! All hail DING! I could have gotten them $5 lower but the o'dark-thirty flight was so not worth it.

Jackie

 

[scammermom]

I saved $240 from our original flights with the DING!

Love the DING!

And I don't need a DING! right now but still look at them just in case.

 

[PlutosFriend]

Congrats! Getting a good airfare bargain feels great! DING still isn't working for me, but with the help of these boards, I am able to keep tabs on the sales.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I'm right there with you. I learned about the ding and started watching it over the july 4th weekend. omg, I became obsessed with checking for our october vacation. got a small ding, panicked, bought tix, and kept checking hoping for a better one. when one finally showed a couple of weeks ago, I swear I was hyperventilating. I was so used to seeing none for october that when it finally showed I think I was in shock. lol. we were able to get a great ding rate for one leg, but since our other day/time wasn't available and unfortunately carved in stone, but I'll take the one great ding.

Are you flying from Logan or TFGreen? We are 3 miles down Post Road from TFGreen so we always fly out of "Providence" (which is really Warwick! ).

 

[mtemm]

Are you flying from Logan or TFGreen? We are 3 miles down Post Road from TFGreen so we always fly out of "Providence" (which is really Warwick! ).

we're flying out of tfgreen (southwest doesn't fly out of logan). we're equidistant between tfgreen and manchester, so I was watching dings out of both. seriously is an addiction, isn't it? lol.

how do you find tf green to fly out of? we flew out of there many years ago (late 90s I think) but haven't since then. is it easy to park long term? any tips or anything I should know before we go?

 

[pbnjrockette]

TFGreen is heaven to fly out of (compared to Philly...)
My folks live on the Cape so getting from RI to MA is always the bigger hassle!

Can someone tell me again how to change our Philly/Orlando internet flight when a cheaper Ding flight comes out? I'm watching them faithfully! I would like to move our flight to an earlier am flight. Do I cancel then rebook? Do I book then cancel? Do I get a credit card refund or credit to use for a future flight?

Also is there a particular day of the week that more Dings come out? I noticed more November dates today (Sunday) but that might just be my airport.

Thanks!!!

 

[dgaston]

If you have a current Ding! it's a little trickier, you do have to cancel and rebook. If you're just using regular sale fares, there's a wonderful feature under Travel Center, called Change Itinerary. You put in the confirmation # of your flight and name credit card charged to, and then click on change itinerary button. It's excellent and the Travel Funds show up immediately under the confirmation # to apply to new reservations.

I've read that SWA Customer Service is good at walking folks through this on the internet.

 

[DonnaL]

If a Ding fare comes out for a flight you want simply put all of your info on the Ding screens and go up to the screen which requires payment info....then, pull up a second window and go to southwest.com and click on travel center...once you have travel center up scroll down to cancel flight.....cancel your original flight and go immediately back to the Ding screen and click on ticketless travel funds as your payment info. Your cancelled ressie funds should immediately be available to use for the Ding fare once the ressie is cancelled. I always hold my breath that the fare is still going to be available so I usually try it first with 8 ressies (the maximum allowed) as a test.......if you do that just make sure you change it back to how many ressies you actually need before you purchase.

 

[sherreis]

Ditto - I've gotten our 9/30-10/3 flights BWI-MCO down to $122RT from an original $180! Including taxes! All hail DING! I could have gotten them $5 lower but the o'dark-thirty flight was so not worth it.

Jackie

I'm jealous. Right now, we're driving because our airfares from BWI would be approx $280-$300 each. Glad you got such a good offer. When I got a DING for $39 each way for September I almost convinced DH to change our trip from November but we wouldn't have had all the money (I'm waiting for my bonus check anyday).

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I've been watching the Ding fares like mad as well...saved $100 so far on 4 r/t tickets. Hoping to possibly save another $100 before our travel dates at the end of the month.

 

[DJNOWICK]

I'm jealous. Right now, we're driving because our airfares from BWI would be approx $280-$300 each. Glad you got such a good offer. When I got a DING for $39 each way for September I almost convinced DH to change our trip from November but we wouldn't have had all the money (I'm waiting for my bonus check anyday).

Our Nov fares are expensive right now, too -- I saved $250 (total, for 4 tix) by switching from T-day morning to Saturday after T-day; Our return flights were $79. So for now we are at $180 (incl tax)/each -- I'm betting we get some Dings as we get closer - I hope you will, too!

Jackie

 

[scammermom]

I'm jealous. Right now, we're driving because our airfares from BWI would be approx $280-$300 each. Glad you got such a good offer. When I got a DING for $39 each way for September I almost convinced DH to change our trip from November but we wouldn't have had all the money (I'm waiting for my bonus check anyday).

I have been taking Southwest from BWI to Florida for the past 3 years. I have never paid more than $60 for a one way. The last two years I have gotten $49 one way each time. Sometimes it requires patience to wait for a Click n save and now the DING! I will probably never drive again!

 

[debster812]

Hi, I'm Debbie, and new DING! addict.

I scored yesterday, November 2 to November 6, PVD to MCO for $127.09 will all fees and taxes!!! Non stop both ways. I'm thrilled with this price.

THe cost of my flight + the extra night I had to add, was still cheaper than the flights I was seeing out of Boston.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

we're flying out of tfgreen (southwest doesn't fly out of logan). we're equidistant between tfgreen and manchester, so I was watching dings out of both. seriously is an addiction, isn't it? lol.

how do you find tf green to fly out of? we flew out of there many years ago (late 90s I think) but haven't since then. is it easy to park long term? any tips or anything I should know before we go?

I typed out a long response to this earlier, but my computer ate it!
Anyway, TFGreen is GREAT to fly out of. Small and easy. No humongous crowds and the layout is simple and lost-proof. Weekly parking in the attached garage is something ridiculously cheap like $56. I see the signs all the time but never park there since we could literally walk to the airport if we used a stroller and rolling luggage (which we do, actually, hmmmm... )!!! The freeway is clearly marked for out-of-towners; 95 South has an exit which leads directly into the airport. I have always found it to be a relaxing and laidback experience. It does get a little crowded during busy flight periods, but if you take the late flights like we do (the deepest DING! discounts, yay!) the terminal can be almost deserted when you arrive. Here's a little-known fact: TFGreen is actually not in Providence; it's in Warwick (my hometown ), which is consistently in the Top 20 Safest Cities in America. It's just a good experience all-around and you shouldn't feel overwhelmed by it the way many people do at Logan. Hope this information helps...good luck!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Hi, I'm Debbie, and new DING! addict.

I scored yesterday, November 2 to November 6, PVD to MCO for $127.09 will all fees and taxes!!! Non stop both ways. I'm thrilled with this price.

THe cost of my flight + the extra night I had to add, was still cheaper than the flights I was seeing out of Boston.

Hi, Debbie!
We're also returning on November 6th into PVD. However, I am such a sick, twisted DING! junkie that I can tell from your total you are not on the same flight. You took one of the earlier $54 flights, right? Man, I need help.

 

[sherreis]

Our Nov fares are expensive right now, too -- I saved $250 (total, for 4 tix) by switching from T-day morning to Saturday after T-day; Our return flights were $79. So for now we are at $180 (incl tax)/each -- I'm betting we get some Dings as we get closer - I hope you will, too!

Jackie

I'll be crossing my fingers for both of us. I finally have DH checking more regularly as well when is working at home.

I have been taking Southwest from BWI to Florida for the past 3 years. I have never paid more than $60 for a one way. The last two years I have gotten $49 one way each time. Sometimes it requires patience to wait for a Click n save and now the DING! I will probably never drive again!

I hope that the SW powers-that-be read this and come through for me! I would love not to have to drive. It's not the drive down that I'm minding - it's the anti-climatic drive home. Unfortunately, we're going home Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend so I don't know if a fare will come through or not. But, we're keeping our fingers crossed.

And, yes, I've become addicted as well -- even more so now that we got our first November dings the other day. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to handle it for when we're not home.

 

[debster812]

Hi, Debbie!
We're also returning on November 6th into PVD. However, I am such a sick, twisted DING! junkie that I can tell from your total you are not on the same flight. You took one of the earlier $54 flights, right? Man, I need help.

You are correct!!! I'm on the 2nd to last non stop each day. I'm travelling by myself, and certainly don't mind it, but as a single female, I figure I should not be strolling around airports at midnight by myself.

And my boss lives literally 10 minutes from Green, so I park at her house.