Never flown SW before...have a ?

[4fordisneyworld]

I know they are doing the nationwide sale right now but it is only through march 7th. We are going in April. Do they typically run another sale like the nationwide one that might lower our prices?

If I bought them today it would cost us 1180 bucks for four of us, plus a 5 hr trip to the major airport to be able to use SW.

Hoping for something much cheaper!

thanks

 

[iwannbindisnee]

I have flown them several times before & either get a national sale or a "ding" fare (discounts that they offer on certain flight times on certain days for a limited period of time--you sign up for "Ding" fares on their website. )
If the time in APril you need is around spring break or Easter, you may not get discounts if they have enough interest in those flights. However, unless they have recently changed their policy, you can reserve now, so that you definitely have flights & then change later to a different, cheaper flight on SW w/o paying a penalty. That is one of best things about SW. You may want to search this board, b/c there are experts on the Dis that know exactly how do to that most efficiently! Also, with April being about 5 months away, you may get better prices about 2-3 months out; it just depends on the time of year & what city you are flying out of (i.e. we ususaly get a special fare out of one of our main airports near us-Baltimore, Dulles or Reagan National. I am blessed that I can choose from 3 that are within an hour away!) Good luck! Deb

 

[MrMarv]

I'd like to ask where do you live, and which Southwest city are you referring to for that 'five-hour drive'?

$295.00 per person might be a respectable fare, depending on where you live.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

I'd like to ask where do you live, and which Southwest city are you referring to for that 'five-hour drive'?

$295.00 per person might be a respectable fare, depending on where you live.

We live on the western slope in Colorado and have to drive to Denver to be able to fly out on SW.

The only reason I am wincing at that price is because we were able to fly the April for 287 per person out of our hometown and not make the 5hr drive to Denver.

 

[dizplanner]

Denver is not cheap, even with SW. I'm going in May - prices were $362/person and up for United and Frontier until SW opened up their dates - then everyone dropped to about $279. For a bit Frontier was actually cheaper than SW - around 260.

I'm flying Frontier because I like the times better and since I am using miles from my credit card, I just had to get below $350. I paid $279 - Frontier is now $286 for the flights I want and United is $305.

I figure if I can get below $250 I have a great price and I try to get below $300 - doesn't always work though.

 

[MrMarv]

All things considered, $295.00 per person from your area to Orlando isn't all that bad, and skyrocketing gas prices and the ongoing ethanol scam/hoax/fiasco have made it tough to find airfares similar to what you might have found earlier this year, or certainly in 2006.

I'd go ahead and keep those four tickets, and hope that somebody starts a fare war; 2008 is going to be a so-so year for the airline industry, and bargain airfares will be harder & harder to come by, although Southwest will certainly be among the first to initiate a quick drop in airfares if only to be sure that their planes are as close to capacity as possible.

Southwest has cut back on their airplane purchases as well as adding flights to their schedule, while the six legacy carriers haven't done so, which doesn't make sense due to our ever-worsening economy and real estate market in many cities, which is going to getmuch worse (at least the real estate biz) over the next 2 1/2 years.

Is Salt Lake City any closer to you than Denver? That's also a Southwest city, and since they have a much higher percentage of the flights there (and SLC has an exceptional on-time record), airfares from SLC could be lower from time-to-time, so you might want to keep SLC in the back of your mind as an alternative.

 

[Flyin2MCO]

$295 to MCO is a good deal..stop worrying about it.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

I would agree that 295 per person is great if we were not paying for the gas to drive the 5hrs and the cost to store our car at the airport. To fly out of our town it will cost us 650 per person. So yeah the 295 is cheaper but we have to add a total of 10 hrs of drive time plus all the extra little fees.

Just trying to save!

 

[disneyfan2]

I would agree that 295 per person is great if we were not paying for the gas to drive the 5hrs and the cost to store our car at the airport. To fly out of our town it will cost us 650 per person. So yeah the 295 is cheaper but we have to add a total of 10 hrs of drive time plus all the extra little fees.

Just trying to save!

if you are still able to get the $287 from your hometown, that would be so much better, less travel time, headaches etc... good luck

 

[4fordisneyworld]

if you are still able to get the $287 from your hometown, that would be so much better, less travel time, headaches etc... good luck

The 287 is what we spent this April ( 07 ) For 08 it is 650!! Big jump huh?