How exactly does DING! work?

[Piecey]

I'm trying to find the cheapest flights possible for next September. I've obviously got awhile but went ahead and got DING! to watch things..

It seems to me that I'd have to take the chance of a DING! fare coming up a month or so before we leave! Is that right? Or are there ever fares offered for further in advance than that?
Just seems to be cutting it awfully close to me..

We'd be flying PIT-MCO

 

[blessedby3]

I booked our ding fare on Sept.10th for our trip on Nov. 25th. I had been watching it for a while also and jumped on when my city and dates came up so I think you might see fares a couple of months in advance. We were planning on driving if we didnt get a good ding fare so this was just icing on the cake to get to fly and a great rate- $74 round trip per person. I am so glad it came up and it was worth the wait. If you have no other option than to fly then it might not be as feasible to rely on ding. Good luck and keep checking the dings a few times a day.

 

[boswellnakia]

I'm like the other OP. We live 14 hours away and usually drive. We know what we can afford for the family to fly. So we check around. If we find an internet rate or other discount rate offered by SWA that is in our price range, we book it. If we do or if we don't, we still watch DING for the specials that are released closer to the date. If we already have air tickets with SWA, we can switch them and save money with a better Ding.

For our trip in December, I have plane tickets for our family to fly to Orlando for $148 for the four of us. I haven't been able to get returning tickets yet at a price I'm comformtable with. We accept this and are willing to rent a car for the return trip because we know what we can afford in airfare.

Moral of the story; if you see a flight fare in advance that your family can afford. Book it with SWA. If a better Ding comes out, switch your ressie, gain a credit with SWA and enjoy your icing on your cake.

 

[Piecey]

How do you switch them?
I wouldn't have a problem going ahead and booking with SWA (they'd probably be the cheapest tickets anyway) and watching for a DING! fair.

I live in WV and Pittsburgh is the closest/cheap airport to fly out of.

 

[clkelley]

When the Ding! fare that you like pops up, go ahead and go through the booking process on the Ding! site except for paying for the tickets.

Then open a seperate window and log into southwest.com and cancel your old flight. Your ticketless travel funds credit should then become available and you can pay for the new lower fare tickets with the credit on the Ding! site.

You will then have some leftover credit available for a future flight within a year of original purchase.

Carol

 

[iluvflorida8]

I have flown Pitt-MCo 5 times the last month and have always got a DING for $95 or less for non-stop, that includes all taxes to. They have the Pitt-MCO DING at least 2-3 times a week. Right now they have only gone until mid January.