How do you know when Southwest or Airtran will be releasing dates and other ???(long)

[dtuleya]

Sorry about this long message, but we usually drive to vacations and the whole knowing when to book my airfare gets me anxious. Thanks in advance for your help!

Last time we went to MCO we booked on USAir shortly after the 330 day mark for $188/pp. I was never able to find anything cheaper for our days so in hindsight I made the right choice.

This year I'd like to fly again when we go for our 11/27/04 cruise. This is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The good thing is, we're flexible for our departure date. We could leave the Wednesday before, Thanksgiving day or Black Friday. I'm thinking that Thanksgiving day might be the best day to fly since most travelers are already at their destinations.

We'd really like to fly out of Harrisburg (MDT), but we could fly out of BWI and if absolutely necessary Philadelphia.

In February, Transmeridian is going to start flying out of Harrisburg with direct flights to Sanford. They are only flying Mondays, Thursdays, some Fridays and Saturdays. I'm hoping they will fly both Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week.

Does anybody know when they will release Thanksgiving dates for Southwest and Airtran? They would be options for us out of BWI or Philly. Since I'll be trying to get a great rate on a holiday travel week, should I only book one way when they release the dates and then try to find a return flight later if they don't release my return date at the same time they release my departure date? Hope that made sense.

I know they always advertise low rates for Southwest, but if they are charging $79 or $89 one way that's about the same that I paid last time for our tix on USAir.

Any suggestions you can give me would be appreciated!

 

[helenk]

I had spoken to a rep at AirTran and was told that they generally post their schedules any where from 6 to 9 months out. You just have to check their website periodically to see if your dates are posted.
Southwest, from the short time I have been following their prices, seem to open a month's timeframe about 6 months out. Example on Dec 9th they released the dates to May 8th, this month on the 13th they released the dates to June 11th. They always seem to open the dates on a Tuesday and these last two months it has been the second Tuesday of the month. So, my guess would be that around the 10th of Feb, they will post July's schedule and so on.
The best thing to do is to follow these boards, because as soon as SW posts their schedule you usually learn it here right away...Oh they also post the schedule around 10:00 am.
.
I know the poster Gail Hayden seems to know just about everything there is to know about SW, so if I messed up she can steer you in the right directions. The information I am giving you is from observation only.