How/When to look for "Sale" prices on Southwest

[Forever a Princess]

Hi All,

We flew Southwest for our recent trip 10-13 to 12-23-04.

What is the best way to get a sale/promotional rate on Southwest fares?

Do I need to check daily?

Do you book a ressie then cancel it when the promotional rates come along?

I have a lot of time to figure out this prior to our next trip in May.

TIA for all of your helpful hints!!
Renee

 

[gigi1313]

here's what we did... i watched fares for a week or three... after i thought i was getting the best deal, i booked it (had to be flexible w/my dates) but continued to watch/check fares... when i found one leg of my trip went down ($25/person) i went online to southwest.com travel center and adjusted it, getting a $100 credit (people reported getting a refund to their credit card, i took the swa credit 'cause i knew it would be used soon enough)... i continued watching the return portion of my trip for a lower fare, but it only went up up up!

good luck!

 

[Rpsemont]

I usually book as soon as the window opens to book - at least within a day or so. (providing I know my dates) Then I check it every few days. I also sign up for travelocity fare watcher. While that won't tell you when SW lowers their fares, usually SWA will match when someone else does. This past fall we had SWA for Mon - Mon at $79 each way, USAir came out with a $98 promo RT but after reading the rules I noticed you had to fly on Tues or Wed. When I plugged in Tues - Tues dates for our SWA trip, I reduced my fare on SWA to $49 each way. Luckily I was able to change the dates and realize the savings. I did my changing my air itinerary, not cancelling and rebooking. I always try to do SWA on line because it allows you the most flexibility to "fool" around with it. When I booked our Fed trip, which is Pres week, I was getting frustrated beacuse I was trying to book as soon as the fares opened up and evidently the on line comuters weren't up to speed yet. I call and booked what I wanted, but then the next day noticed better flights. I tried to change it on line, but it wouldn't work becuase I had booked over the phone. I ended up cancelling the phone reservation (which I was able to do on line) and rebooked new flights using the ticketless travel credit and now if I want to change anything I'll be all set to be able to change it on line.


Also, do sign up for SWA weekly promotional mailing.

 

[Steve Hurley]

Sign up for Rapid Rewards and you'll get the newsletter and sign up for their email list and you'll get the special fares anouncements via email. SWA usually releases their fares on Tuesday's and sometime Thursdays so check those days in the AM.