How long do you wait to book SW?

[Ashley Kees]

I was wondering how long ya'll wait before you buy Southwest tickets. We are going in November, so the fares aren't out yet, only through August right now, but I would like to know if I should buy seats as soon as they are available, or hold out for a DING.

I am trying to avoid ending up with a bunch of SW credit I am sure I won't use. My family flies only to WDW and Atlanta, and SW does not even get us close to ATL, so the credits would just be wasted.

 

[Pembo]

I bought my tix for June the day they released the fares. I have been checking since then and the fares have been higher since that day.

 

[Ashley Kees]

Does anyone know how far in advance they release the fares?

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

I buy my tickets as soon as they come out too and then look for Ding specials to try to reduce the price. If I end up with credits I can't use I sell them on eBay for about 80% of their full value.

 

[Ashley Kees]

I buy my tickets as soon as they come out too and then look for Ding specials to try to reduce the price. If I end up with credits I can't use I sell them on eBay for about 80% of their full value.

WOW!! I didn't know you could do that! I assumed the credits would be non-transferable!

 

[londonderrydisneyfan]

Does anyone know how far in advance they release the fares?

It tells you on the Travel Tools section of their website when they'll open up their schedule again.

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/travel_center.html?ref=trvltls_gn

Re: selling the credits on eBay, as long as you have the credit confirmation # and the credit card holder's name who purchased the tickets originally, you can use anyone's credits. I recently bought and sold credits there to cover my trip in April.

 

[LuvsTinker]

Depends on time of year flying. I try to hold out and watch Tues sales and ding fares. When close to a holiday, like last trip, I just booked because I was getting scared and sure enough a sale came out and rebooked for $102.00 less (3 people). We had booked refundable fare so I able to get the money back.

On a previous trip when I rebooked and could not get the refund, we ended up donating it to the Make a Wish foundation. I received such a nice note from them a month later about a 4 yr boy and his family who went to WDW.

 

[Ashley Kees]

It tells you on the Travel Tools section of their website when they'll open up their schedule again.

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/travel_center.html?ref=trvltls_gn

Re: selling the credits on eBay, as long as you have the credit confirmation # and the credit card holder's name who purchased the tickets originally, you can use anyone's credits. I recently bought and sold credits there to cover my trip in April.

Thanks!

Depends on time of year flying. I try to hold out and watch Tues sales and ding fares. When close to a holiday, like last trip, I just booked because I was getting scared and sure enough a sale came out and rebooked for $102.00 less (3 people). We had booked refundable fare so I able to get the money back.

We are going the week before T-giving, coming home on Wednesday, so I am def. worried that if I wait too long, I will be out seats. Especially since I need 7 of them. Now that I know about ebaying them, I will go ahead and book as soon as they release the dates.

Thanks!!

 

[judykay53]

I always wait, never book when they first come out. I check often and when they start coming down then I will book. We fly out of Nashville and they have a good selection of flights. . We are going for a long weekend on February 29 and I booked those on January 8. I have been known to book a month away. I may have one way booked and then a week later get the other one booked. I force myself to be very patient with SWA. We are going for a week during Memorial week. They are still a higher rate and I won't book them until they start going down. We are also flexible with our flight times. We have flown out on the last flight on Friday night and the first one on Saturday morning. It has always worked out. Oh, there are six of us so that is why I have to be conservative.

 

[Darcy03231]

Last year I bought my tickets as soon as they were released. I signed up for DING and checked every day. They never went less that I what I bought them for and at one point the airfare was double what I paid. It wasn't until about a month before our trip that it started to come down and it never got as low as the $69/each way I paid.

 

[sharonmickey]

When SW fares first came out for my fly dates there were no inexpensive fares. I waited until the end of November to book because I was afraid the rates would go up due to high gasoline prices (I'm flying in February). Since I booked the rates have dropped almost $100 for the roundtrip.

 

[Ashley Kees]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll go ahead and buy the day they are released, and if they go down with a DING, I'll deal with the credits. Either I'll sell them on eBay or I'll scam DH into another trip. Those days before Tgiving are so busy in the airports, I'd rather ensure I have seats than ensure the lowest price.