Deal from Southwest Airlines Vacations

[DisneyDadNY]

Southwest Airlines Vacations is offering what appears to be a pretty good deal.

If you book through them it seems every 2nd person in your party files free.

On top of that you can then book the free dining or another deal offering around 38%off room. (Summer Special)

Details here:

http://www.southwestvacations.com/specials/detail.asp?xmlFile=FS0411


Friends Fly, Dine, Drive, Stay, and Play for FREE in Orlando

Friends Fly FREE! Plus Stay, Dine, Play, and Drive FREE in Orlando

Only with Southwest Airlines Vacations can you find a deal like this on your Orlando vacation package. Check out our exclusive offers below, then simply select your choices within the booking process to automatically receive your savings!

1. FLY - Start with FRIENDS FLY FREE for your flights:
FLY FLY FREE: Every second person flies FREE when you book a flight + hotel package to Orlando!
Book 5/22 - 6/21/09 | Travel 6/1 - 10/30/09
(Blackout dates: 6/29 - 7/6/09. Valid for travel Monday - Thursday.)
Five-day advance purchase required.

Then choose one of the following:

1) Offer 1: FREE Disney Dining Plan
FREE Disney Dining Plan PLUS save an extra $100 at the Walt Disney World® Resort
Book 5/22 - 6/21/09 | Travel 8/16 - 10/3/09

or

2) Offer 3: Summer Savings at the Walt Disney World® Resort
Save up to 39% at the Walt Disney World® Resort
Book 5/22 - 6/6/09 | Travel 6/7 - 8/8/09
Five-day advance purchase required

 

[Desiree]

Can you book this directly through Disney or do you have to go through Southwest? I'd rather deal with Disney.

 

[DisneyDadNY]

Can you book this directly through Disney or do you have to go through Southwest? I'd rather deal with Disney.

You would have to book these directly with Southwest Vacations as they are the ones offering the free airfare promo above and beyond the Free Dining and General Discount.

I would much prefer to deal with Disney directly myself but may be worth it for some people to save 1/2 on airfare.

 

[FINFAN]

I was appreciative of this post, we have to get DD back to school in August and this would allow us to fly vs drive from Chicago, but the return must be complete by 8/8......at least when I called. DS birthday is on the 8th too, could've been a quick yet doable surprise tied in with a necessary travel trip anyway. Oh well, if only it ran until the 14th!

 

[juliebee]

what a great deal! I wish I could do it!

 

[fac]

seems that it requires minimum 3-day base ticket

 

[JuneCleaver]

You may wish to check on the terms. Previous SW promotions posted here have mentioned that the air is non refundable. SW books through Marks Travel for packages...they are not booked directly through Southwest.

Non refundable air can be an issue. One of the nice parts of booking air typically through SW is their change policy.

June

 

[KimDis]

You may wish to check on the terms. Previous SW promotions posted here have mentioned that the air is non refundable. SW books through Marks Travel for packages...they are not booked directly through Southwest.

Non refundable air can be an issue. One of the nice parts of booking air typically through SW is their change policy.

June

SW's lowest priced flight is usually a non-refundable flight so this may not really be an issue if you fly SW often enough.

Since there's no change fee, if you're OK with having a SW credit you don't really experience a penalty. As long as it's a SW ticket you should be fine.

I fly SW 2-3 times a month and have never paid a fee on non-refundable flights. I just save my emails to keep track of my credits and use them within a year. Matter of fact, I just rebooked the tickets today for my family's upcoming Disney trip as the fare was lower and saved $60 that I'll use towards future travel.

 

[stitch34]

Ohh, I got all excited and went to check it out - but.. nope, doesn't work for us at all.
We only want 1-day base tickets... 3 day minimum you have to do with this. Tried to upgrade to deluxe dining (called and he told me I could), but can't figure it out online without it charging me the full price of it instead of paying the difference from free dining.
I don't see in the price about those getting free flights. did my math and came up as no savings at all. darnit! was excited for this to work out.

Also.... am currently booked through disney and flights with SW - was told on the phone that you CANNOT use a SW credit to pay for this. So would be pointless to cancel my flights and have the credit, since can't use it on this anyway.

 

[wdwmaw]

I also can not figure this one out. I have tried to book this pkg. 3 seperate times since OP posted deal and can only find $100 savings. I am not getting the air deal to show up at all. We need flights for 7 so this would be worth it for us. My free dining pkg booked through Disney is and booking air through SW seperatly is $6431 and through SW with the promo it comes to $6341 and that is after I added the waterparks option for all of us ( we would have to do that upon arrival).

Am I doing something wrong??

 

[clanwilson]

I tried it, too, and it was much more expensive than doing the package with free dining and booking my flights separately. Much, much more...

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I tried it, too, and it was much more expensive than doing the package with free dining and booking my flights separately. Much, much more...

ITA! Mine came up more expensive also.

 

[ms.ojo]

My title was going to be "when is a deal NOT a deal". The other posters are right, the "free" airfare is not happening. The only "deal" is $100.

I spoke w/ a rep last night and the system is only giving one Child's fare for free, a difference of $80! I said SWA doesn't have a child's fare, all seats are the same price other than seniors. The response, well yes, from your end, but not on ours.

Current fares from BDL to MCO are $101 so give or take a bit w/ taxes that's $840 for a family of 4 so I expected this "deal" to cost me $420 for the airfare. NOPE. It's only $80 less and if I want a 2nd child free I'd need to book as 2 separate trips. I said wait a minute, that would mean 2 rooms! That's ridiculous!

The rep was very nice, he took my name/# and "marketing" is going to call me today. He can't do anything about the system...it's only allowing 1 free child's credit on the airfare.

I was very disgusted. But as I told my son, if a deal sounds too good, it usually is.

I looked further into cancellation policies and you need to buy 2 types of trip insurance when you buy a SWA pkg. One allows for cancellations up to your trip, the 2nd to cover you during your trip if you need to come home early. Since we have elderly parents insurance is a must for us. The cost for this double insurance for our family of 4: $260 vs. Disney's very comprehensive insurance at $135

Overall, if they offered the true terms of their deal (free dining, extra $100 credit and 2 ppl fly free for a family of 4) I would net a couple hundred savings over direct w/ Disney....but this is too much effort, and I don't feel comfortable w/ their insurance. I don't think I'd book.

Can't wait to hear from "mktg" today