Need Help from Southwest Expert

[BobH]

I used to be a skeptic about SWA prices because anytime I checked their airfares were just as high as the other carriers. I kept working at it and eventually bought tickets for the first time - Manchester, NH to Orlando for $135.60 per person. This is the lowest fare I have ever been able to get to Florida. Now that I am signed up for SWA email advertisement I keep getting notices of $59 fare each way but when I follow the links to the SWA airline website I continually find the low advertised fares as "unavailable" even though they fall into the correct time periods. does anyone understand what is going on? It sems like false advertising? Any reply from SWA frequentfliers would be greatly appreciated. Are truly low fares a rare thing? Maybe I just got lucky the first time? Thanks.

 

[ajksmom]

Not an expert but here's my take.
The $59 fares you're seeing are to "fill" a flight. Sometimes there may be just one seat available. I just checked the latest ding, put in my party of 3 and found that the couple of days I was checking were unavailable. When I backed it up to 1 person, some of the flights had availability.
You got a great rate for your flight though. I'm jealous!! We're looking at almost 300pp to fly NS in august out of CT (BDL).

 

[BobH]

thanks for the info. FYI I had only listed 1 person on my multiple attempts and still got "unavailable" as an answer. My $135.60 fare was booked in January for a May 21 - 26 trip for my sife & I. I was considering trying to book an additional ticket for my adult daughter and that is how I got started with all of this. I should probably try the Ding program. I was not using Ding when I looked for the additional ticket. I know it is probably considered a little off season for a Florida trip but I have been made about 20 trips since 1976 and have never got a fare lower than about $160. I usually consider anything in the $160 to $250 range acceptable from the Boston area during non-holiday travel. Thanks again.

 

[Paticake]

It can be hit or miss this close. There is availability on 5/23 and 5/27. We love SW out of Manchester. We paid $115/rt in Jan. We are hoping that we may still see some deals under $200. Good luck.

 

[Lewisc]

SW is doing a much better job, from their perspective, of limiting deeply discounted fares (including DING) to flights/days that aren't likely to sell out without discounting. Check a day or two before and after your preferred date. Don't expect a deeply discounted fare on the first N/S flight on a Saturday morning for example.

Many of us are still able to get great fares with SW BUT we have to be flexible.

 

[Disney Fool]

mAY 23rd is showing a $59 fare.

 

[LegoMom3]

SW is doing a much better job, from their perspective, of limiting deeply discounted fares (including DING) to flights/days that aren't likely to sell out without discounting. Check a day or two before and after your preferred date. Don't expect a deeply discounted fare on the first N/S flight on a Saturday morning for example.

Many of us are still able to get great fares with SW BUT we have to be flexible.

Yeah, I've been watching DING! fares out of Manchester for a while now, and have noticed that most of the fares offered there are valid only for Tuesday or Wednesday, or Wednesday only travel. My dad got a great DING! fare to come here from Tampa this month, and he's flying out and back on a Wednesday. I'm going to hold out as long as I can for a DING! fare for our trip in September, and due to SW's history, I booked our package to start and end on a Wednesday. Of course, SW has to move on to other months besides May...... But I'll be watching!

On a real positive note for them, I've found 99% of the time I can get a non-stop flight to FL!

 

[DonnaL]

LegoMom3,

If you don't want to wait it out for a Ding fare in Sept. you can always book now at the higher fare and then if a Ding does come out just cancel the higher fare and book the Ding. You just need to pull up two windows, one with all of your original ressie info and the Ding screen. Simply cancel the original ressie and then book the Ding all within a few minutes. This way you can use the ticketless travel funds which will be created by cancelling the first ressie. One thing to keep in mind, however, this will leave you with a SW credit that must be used within one year from orignal BOOKING date, not date of travel.
Sometimes that can be a problem if you don't use air travel a lot. However, I believe you could use your credit for your Dad if you needed to make a ressie for him to visit from Tampa again. The only thing is YOU would have to make the ressie in his name since the original ressie was made by you.