Has anyone else noticed the SW ding rates are higher?

[RadioFanatic]

I bought some tix to chicago and florida for less than $100 each roundtrip - those tix are now for the same time period for almost $100 each way.

 

[clkelley]

I noticed it also. I am on a FF flight to Orlando this December. I was hoping a cheap Ding! would come out so I can use the FF flight to Los Angeles next May.

I actually got one this morning, but it really wasn't low enough to justify spending the cash now to save on the LA trip. Plus I would have to drive to Birmingham for Southwest, so the parking would eat up some of my savinings.

I'm really hoping for another $30-something Ding! fare, not a $70-something Ding! fare.

Carol

 

[CarolA]

Overall airfares are up to reflect the fuel prices. I would think SW might still give the great deals, but probably they will be harder to find.

 

[manning]

What the cost of higher fuel prices causes.........Higher fares.

Cheap fares......going....going...going....GONE!!

 

[mareed]

I noticed that the Ding rates are now different depending on the day of week of travel (i.e. tues, wed, sat are lowest). I'm pretty sure they used to be the same for every day of the week.

 

[vossjemi]

Yesterday I saw a bunch of ding deals that had ranges like $69-110. What's up with that?

 

[mill4023]

For what it's worth, the rise in fuel cost should have little short-term effect on SW. One of the reasons they've been able to keep costs down is they have a lot of long-term fuel contracts with fixed prices. If fuel prices stay high, their costs will go up as some of their contracts expire and they have to renew at higher prices.

 

[goldcupmom]

Seems every 'DING' fare has a range to it now. It wasn't like that before. I'm BUMMED!!!

 

[manning]

For what it's worth, the rise in fuel cost should have little short-term effect on SW. One of the reasons they've been able to keep costs down is they have a lot of long-term fuel contracts with fixed prices. If fuel prices stay high, their costs will go up as some of their contracts expire and they have to renew at higher prices.

But the trend will be up. It makes good business sense. They will raise the prices, but keep them below the competitors.

 

[debm]

I'm addicted to this DING thing now!! But I need to ask a question. We went ahead and purchased our tickets for Dec. when they had a sale. I paid just less than $100 each. Then when a DING came out I called to ask how I would go about getting the better price. I would only save about $10 per ticket but I figured it was better than nothing. But she said since I would have to cancel my ENTIRE reservation round trip and rebook it would hurt because the cheaper price expired during my trip. So I would only get the sale on my first portion, not my return flight. And then when I rebooked I would be rebooking the return portion at whatever the flights were priced at then--not the original sale that I got them at. Does this make sense? So I decided it would not be feasible. So now I'm wondering---wouldn't it make more sense in the future if I just booked 2 one-way flights----totally independent of each other? That way if a DING came out that was for one of the legs of the flight I wouldn't be cancelling my entire reservation. Has anyone ever done this? Maybe I'm missing something. Thanks for any input!

 

[JustineMarie]

I recently got a Ding Fare but it wasn't available for my departure flight, only my return. I called Southwest on the phone and they cancelled my return and gave me the Ticketless Travel Funds for it and I was able to book the Ding Fare. I double checked to make sure that my departure trip was still there and everything is in order. I ended up saving 310$ for 4 people. I, too, noticed that the Ding fares have been higher thatn usual. I got a Ding for PHL to MCO but it was for 74$-79$ and there internet fare on the regular reservation system was the same thing.

 

[debm]

Interesting. She told me if I cancelled my departure it would also cancel my return and since the DING didn't cover my return trip that portion would be charged their regular prices which were not quite double my original sale price. Maybe I needed to talk to someone else. Were yours both on the same reservation? Also maybe your original sale was still going on....mine had long ended. Oh well---I'll keep trying!! Thanks for the info!

 

[Laurajean1014]

I think overall SWA prices are higher. I think the JetBlues and SWA's are now main-stream carriers and have lost their flair for being the lowest priced.

I personally am tired of waiting for SWA to post their dates..... a silly game I do not wish to participate in. So, we dumped SWA for other carriers.

Has anyone noticed that JetBlue is advertising like crazy on prime time TV spots.....? That will cost the travelers.

 

[JustineMarie]

Both mine were under the same reservation number and my Departure trip is still under that number. My Ticketless travel funds are under the original reservation number, too. I just got the Ding fare in the last week or two and my original fares were purchased in July.

 

[DutchsMommy]

I think overall SWA prices are higher. I think the JetBlues and SWA's are now main-stream carriers and have lost their flair for being the lowest priced.

I personally am tired of waiting for SWA to post their dates..... a silly game I do not wish to participate in. So, we dumped SWA for other carriers.

Has anyone noticed that JetBlue is advertising like crazy on prime time TV spots.....? That will cost the travelers.

Be thankful you don't have to fly out of Canada! SWA's (and Jetblue) prices are so low compared to most Canadian carriers that most of us think maybe it is some kind of scam the first time we read it - can you say too good to be true?! Basically the taxes alone to fly out of Toronto are often as much as a good SWA price. And I don't mind watching the dates - it allowed my to get a $29 BUF-MCO in Feb '05. If the 3 of us can fly down for $200 I consider my time well spent. So, for us it is still very much worthwhile.