Dear Southwest do you think you can lower your fares?

[jrw118]

I have been tracking the fares for just our return trip from MCO to ISP (Long Island) on 10/3. I started watching them when they were $149 a person now they are $224 a person one way. I have booked 4 out of 5 using points (@ $190) and I need to book the last person. I am shocked that they are so high. Anyone else having this issue? I feel like I check the site 50 times a day.

 

[lilkitty819]

For some reason it seems SW airfares on the East Coast have gone up in price.. We have 8 people flying when we leave on Oct 16.. I prefer SW but had to go with Air Tran since they were over $1000 cheaper and that was with paying for assigned seats and I figured a bag a piece I just don't get it

 

[ancestry]

As I mentioned in another post we booked with Jet Blue for our December trip as they were cheaper than SW. I prefer Jet Blue but they usually are not cheaper. I agree that SW's prices from the east coast seem unusually high.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I have been tracking the fares for just our return trip from MCO to ISP (Long Island) on 10/3. I started watching them when they were $149 a person now they are $224 a person one way. I have booked 4 out of 5 using points (@ $190) and I need to book the last person. I am shocked that they are so high. Anyone else having this issue? I feel like I check the site 50 times a day.

I would love to see the fares go down as well...we are going to disney that same weekend...to celebrate my daughters 21st birthday....since she's in college we picked those dates since the LI schools are closed Thursday & Friday....and she has no classes on Wednesday....so it worked out great.....she can't miss her classes at Stony Brook

But since it is a long weekend the airfare has done nothing but go up since the dates were released.....I booked ours as soon as they were open....at 129 & 149.....some of the flights are sold out now....and as much as I'd love to get credits I don't see the flights for that weekend coming down.....now last year we went the end of October and paid 79 each way...but it wasn't a holiday weekend

 

[mickey2000]

Its less seats with fewer flights and higher (future) fuel prices .

 

[lyonking3]

It's all about supply and demand. Capacity is tight, fuel is high. SWA just doens't have that many sales anymore.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I noticed this morning..6/3...the ticket prices on 9/28 from islip to orlando are down to 149 one way...they were 282...

not sure which flight you want going home on 10/3 but one is 149

 

[pezheadmeg]

Flying AA out of JFK in August. I love the simplicity of ISP, and I hate by principal to pay for my luggage. But SW out of ISP for the days I needed was $500 r/t just for me. I was able to book out of JFK for less than half of that. So even with paying the bag fees, the LIRR ticket, and having to leave the house 90 minutes earlier for the same time flight--I'm coming out $200 ahead.

 

[loveswdw]

From the Wall Street Journal yesterday:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112851/cant-call-southwest-discount-airlines-wsj

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I read that SWA article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal - interesting reading. Looks like SWA's days of being known as a low priced airline are over.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Contrary to the myth... Low Cost Carrier has NOTHING to do with the price you pay, but with the cost to 'run' the airline

SW is profitable and they do that by not selling for less then cost. They have cut flights etc so that supply and demand are meeting where they can make money....

Honestly, most of these posts seem to be expecting unrealistically low fares. For example, OP decided $149 was 'too high' and gambled. He/she may have lost that one!

 

[Greysword]

Great article, and I feel Southwest airlines is still the low price leader. The article highlighted many great points, such as the overhead for being in larger airports (such as coming to Denver), the expansion of the number of cities served, and the high (and growing) demand for their flights by the traveling public (the old supply & demand free market theory kicking in). In fact if you add many of fees other airlines charge for the same service (bags, snacks, change fees, etc), Southwest regains the lead in most cases.

The most telling quote was this:

Before Southwest began flights to Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., in March, the one-way unrestricted coach fare to Orlando was $830. After Southwest entered, it dropped to $206. Philadelphia went from $978 one-way to $290.

I remember the days when it cost $1,200 to fly out of Tallahassee, FL and from Tampa to Akron/Canton was between $700 and $900 round trip. Although $1,000 may seem to be a lot these days for a family of 4 to fly, it is still a relative bargain from what it could be.

In addition, the financial table provided in the article is telling. SW increased their net income by a measly 2% over the past nine years. However to accomplish this, they raised fares by 56% and increased the number of empty seats by 11%. What is eating the revenue?
- the number of planes increased by 54% (assets and maintenance labor)
- the number of airports served increased by 22% (gate fees/airport rent and customer/flight line labor)
- the number of miles traveled on the average trip increased by 28% (gas, beverage cart, snacks, aircraft weight (due to luggage), pilot labor (max # hours allowed means more pilot turnover)).

That said, the best way for Southwest to regain the uber low fares is to reduce its operating size (fewer cities, possibly including yours), pull out of major airports and fly out of nearby regional facilities, and go back to the short hops it used to do (fewer non-stops for us). Then the $49 fares can return. However, I prefer that not happen, since it means $800 fares for those cities not serviced by SW and a reduction in convenience for us (the traveling public).

In the end, I applaud Southwest airlines. I'm not a major fan, and I fly several airlines when I go somewhere. However, I think they are doing a fantastic job keeping fares very very low and keeping the large airlines (United, Delta, US Airways, and American) in check from hosing us over severely. Here's to you, SW!

 

[relspeak]

Don't forget to think about how much the fed govt taxes your fare. My SW from MSP in Dec is $96.74 each way with $28.66 taxes and fees. That is mighty close to 30% according to my calculations. The airlines cut seems much cheaper if you look at the taxes.

 

[Inkmahm]

I read that SWA article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal - interesting reading. Looks like SWA's days of being known as a low priced airline are over.

Exactly. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112851/cant-call-southwest-discount-airlines-wsj

I dread the completion of the elimination of AirTran, my favorite TRUE discounted airline.

 

[Brian Noble]

I feel Southwest airlines is still the low price leader.

They rarely are in any of the routes I fly.

 

[LisaTC]

I sometimes don't believe there is much rhyme or reason. Point in fact, it is cheaper to fly from Seattle, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and many other further cities to MCO than CLE. Indianapolis? Minneapolis? really???? There are no longer any nonstops on SW from CLE to MCO or TPA. AirTran and Continental (now United) are the only options for Nonstop in NE Ohio and they are the same price basically. I think the next thing to go will be nonstops...period.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

They dropped their prices again for our 9/28 outbound flight it's now 119. I was able to use my daughers credit to book her flight on 12/9 to ft lauderdale.....that flight Was now 94....it had been 159Unfortunately no movement on our 7/31 flight from ft myers back to islip

 

[jrw118]

They dropped their prices again for our 9/28 outbound flight it's now 119. I was able to use my daughers credit to book her flight on 12/9 to ft lauderdale.....that flight Was now 94....it had been 159Unfortunately no movement on our 7/31 flight from ft myers back to islip

Everything dropped today!!! So thrilled

 

[loveswdw]

Everything dropped today!!! So thrilled

Not for us. Louisville-MCO is still really expensive. Sat to Sun (10/15-10/23) is $525 RT PP or Fri to Mon (10/14-10/24) is $392 RT PP X 4 people. OUCH! Looks like AirTran out of Lexington for us or driving...

 

[LisaTC]

Well, it didn't drop everywhere...I still couldn't get any deals for SW out of CLE or even out of Columbus, which would have been a 2 hr drive. So, I booked today with AirTran out of CAK. Came out w/deals for $114/each way, so I grabbed it. I gave up on waiting for SW. Plus with the coupons from Little Debbies, I paid for our seats, too! Yippee...what a relief. It's so nerve racking, isn't it???