? how to book with Southwest with release dates

saksn4

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Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
130
My family will be using Southwest for our next trip in 2015. I understand the dates to be released on Nov 10 will be for flights through June 5. My problem is that covers our departure date, but our return date is June 7. What is the best way to book: book our departure flight when dates open as a one way flight, then book our return flight when the next set of dates open (book as a 1 way flight also), or can I book a one way flight and change it to a round trip when the next set of dates open up? My daughter likes to be in the front of the line, so I am planning on paying for early boarding (to relieve some of her panic and have an early boarding placement). I am not sure!! What have you done if you encountered this situation? Any suggestions???
Thanks!
 
Just book one-way on Nov 10. Then when they release the next batch, just book one-way for the return flight.
 
FYI -- for various reasons, when booking southwest, it's better to book one way reservations even if roundtrip is available at booking. It's best to book a separate reservation for each person as well, though that also has its downsides (separate check-ins which is an issue if you don't buy early bird check-ins).
 

I don't see the harm in booking the one way tickets, but I don't think it is that big of a deal. If you book the one ways you can go back in later and book the return or just a new round trip, whatever works best in cost for you. Also, the early bird check in is nice but recently I've been experiencing less value with it. One thing I would recommend if you are going to book this early is to watch for sales. They usually don't run special prices that far out, but in the spring you may be able to get a better deal. Would be a refund as a credit toward future flights.
 
FYI -- for various reasons, when booking southwest, it's better to book one way reservations even if roundtrip is available at booking. It's best to book a separate reservation for each person as well, though that also has its downsides (separate check-ins which is an issue if you don't buy early bird check-ins).

I never knew this...
Can you explain? I'm waiting for November 10th so I can book our May 23rd-June 1st trip so I would love to know why. ::yes::

Thank you!!

Carla
 
My family will be using Southwest for our next trip in 2015. I understand the dates to be released on Nov 10 will be for flights through June 5. My problem is that covers our departure date, but our return date is June 7. What is the best way to book: book our departure flight when dates open as a one way flight, then book our return flight when the next set of dates open (book as a 1 way flight also), or can I book a one way flight and change it to a round trip when the next set of dates open up? My daughter likes to be in the front of the line, so I am planning on paying for early boarding (to relieve some of her panic and have an early boarding placement). I am not sure!! What have you done if you encountered this situation? Any suggestions??? Thanks!
Just be aware that you won't get early boarding....you will get early bird check in. Not the same thing. You could easily end up at the end of the A boarding group or even low B group.
I like to book two one way flights. It's sometimes easier to manage flights that way.
 
I never knew this...
Can you explain? I'm waiting for November 10th so I can book our May 23rd-June 1st trip so I would love to know why. ::yes::

Thank you!!

Carla

I'm sure others can explain it better, but here's a list from Flyer Talk:

1. If a better fare becomes available in one direction but the fare increased in the other direction it's easy to use Change Reservation or rebook the half that went down. There's no risk of disturbing the good fare on the other half of your trip.

2. If one seat opens at a discount fare you can grab it for one passenger using Change Reservation or rebooking (this argues for separate reservations for each passenger)

3. Points post after each direction rather than only after your return trip.

4. Smaller ticketless fund amounts make it less likely that you will commingle a large amount of new funds with a small early-expiring ticketless fund amount. That would result in early expiration for all your new funds.

5. If you decide to replace one direction of a paid ticket with a standard award booking, or vice versa, it's much easier to do.

6. If you cancel a multi-person booking the ticketless funds on the record locator are separated into invisible buckets, one for each name. This complication does not arise if you originally gave each person his own reservation. Don't underestimate the hassle of dealing with multiple names on one canceled reservation.

7. All of the above allow you to change what you need to change without phoning Southwest. Once a phone agent modifies a reservation, that reservation cannot be further modified online. You are locked into phone call mode. Online, the reservation can only be canceled and rebooked.

One of the more important takeaways is to always do a Southwest fare search for 1 person -- that way you will know what the lowest fare available is. If you immediately try to book for 4 people, you may see the lowest fare is $250, but that may be because there are only three seats at $202. In that case, you should break your reservation up into three people and one person -- buying the three $202 flights and only paying for 1 $250. The fare search will show you the lowest uniform fare for a party of your size.
 
6. If you cancel a multi-person booking the ticketless funds on the record locator are separated into invisible buckets, one for each name.

Individual... darned Autocorrect! (seriously)
 
I'm sure others can explain it better, but here's a list from Flyer Talk:

1. If a better fare becomes available in one direction but the fare increased in the other direction it's easy to use Change Reservation or rebook the half that went down. There's no risk of disturbing the good fare on the other half of your trip.

2. If one seat opens at a discount fare you can grab it for one passenger using Change Reservation or rebooking (this argues for separate reservations for each passenger)

3. Points post after each direction rather than only after your return trip.

4. Smaller ticketless fund amounts make it less likely that you will commingle a large amount of new funds with a small early-expiring ticketless fund amount. That would result in early expiration for all your new funds.

5. If you decide to replace one direction of a paid ticket with a standard award booking, or vice versa, it's much easier to do.

6. If you cancel a multi-person booking the ticketless funds on the record locator are separated into invisible buckets, one for each name. This complication does not arise if you originally gave each person his own reservation. Don't underestimate the hassle of dealing with multiple names on one canceled reservation.

7. All of the above allow you to change what you need to change without phoning Southwest. Once a phone agent modifies a reservation, that reservation cannot be further modified online. You are locked into phone call mode. Online, the reservation can only be canceled and rebooked.

One of the more important takeaways is to always do a Southwest fare search for 1 person -- that way you will know what the lowest fare available is. If you immediately try to book for 4 people, you may see the lowest fare is $250, but that may be because there are only three seats at $202. In that case, you should break your reservation up into three people and one person -- buying the three $202 flights and only paying for 1 $250. The fare search will show you the lowest uniform fare for a party of your size.


All great points... Thanks for sharing!!

Carla
 












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