Next Southwest Release Day

[marisabuzz]

Does anyone know when Southwest will release the next set of flights? I believe right now they go through to mid-August, but I'm looking for flights for late August (not for a Disney trip unfortunately).

I though Southwest had published that info on their site (though they said that it's only approximate). For the life of me, I can't seem to Google that or find that in this forum.

 

[ktate82]

On their website it says on February 23rd, they will release through September 29th.

Edit to add: Here is the website.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Feb 23rd. That's when we'll be booking our fights for September. Patiently waiting!

 

[MrPTato]

Waiting on this as well. Need Sept 10th!

 

[ktate82]

We need October so it will be the next release day we will be so patiently waiting for......

 

[Azjenn]

For those if you that book on the release day, do you find that this is the lowest fare you will get or do you find it to get cheaper say 60 days out? I'm contemplating whether or not to book the first leg of our trip on that release. It's so stressful to me hahaha

 

[MrPTato]

For those if you that book on the release day, do you find that this is the lowest fare you will get or do you find it to get cheaper say 60 days out? I'm contemplating whether or not to book the first leg of our trip on that release. It's so stressful to me hahaha

I book for fear of the one or two direct flights that day getting sold out. We always like the first direct down and as long as the price seems reasonable, I will book. I feel like the prices go up and down all the time, in my experience.

 

[marisabuzz]

On their website it says on February 23rd, they will release through September 29th.

Edit to add: Here is the website.

Oh geez! I was on that page earlier this morning looking for it, but I saw the text boxes and thought it wasn't the right page. I guess I should have read first. Thanks for that though.

 

[marisabuzz]

For those if you that book on the release day, do you find that this is the lowest fare you will get or do you find it to get cheaper say 60 days out? I'm contemplating whether or not to book the first leg of our trip on that release. It's so stressful to me hahaha

I've booked on release day for our Aug/Sept trip to DW last year and it was by far the cheapest I've seen for the decent timed direct flights (not crack-of-dawn flights red eyes). Never saw it cheaper again from Feb to the time we left in August.

 

[Vijoge]

I booked our flights for Jan 2017 on release day and my flights eventually went down to less than half what I originally paid.

 

[marisabuzz]

I booked our flights for Jan 2017 on release day and my flights eventually went down to less than half what I originally paid.

I hope you got credit for that!

 

[maxiesmom]

I need the beginning of October, so waiting is going to seem like forever!!

 

[Vijoge]

I hope you got credit for that!

I did, but three of the flights were for my granddaughters and they won't be flying anywhere in the near future. DH and I had enough credits to pay for a trip to Las Vegas in April, though. We weren't planning on going, but since we didn't have to pay for airfare we decided to do a quick trip. I know SW is generous with credits compared to other airlines but I do wish they would make some allowance for airfare purchased for minors. . .

 

[nkereina]

For those if you that book on the release day, do you find that this is the lowest fare you will get or do you find it to get cheaper say 60 days out? I'm contemplating whether or not to book the first leg of our trip on that release. It's so stressful to me hahaha

For us, yes. We book BUF-MCO and I always book at 6-6:30am on the day flights are released. Last summer when I did this, I checked the flights I had booked later and the day and the prices had already gone up from so many people booking on that day. The prices did fluctuate the closer we got to our travel date and I did see them again at the price we booked at, but never lower.

 

[NHDisneyFan]

Forget release day, release hour. Rates will climb quickly, get on at 6am EST.

 

[Vijoge]

Forget release day, release hour. Rates will climb quickly, get on at 6am EST.

Maybe. We paid almost $1900 for the five of us when I booked on release hour and prices eventually dropped to just over $800.

 

[Fangorn]

Forget release day, release hour. Rates will climb quickly, get on at 6am EST.

Not necessarily so. With Southwest, it completely depends on the market you're flying from and where you're going. I'm in the Pacific Northwest, and for my market (and most of the West Coast) the first day fares are never the least expensive and frequently the high point. Fares from Portland, OR to MCO have always gone down after the initial release, usually several times, until about 6 weeks out from the trip. Then they'll start going back up, but generally not getting back to that initial price. There are exceptions, of course. To make the best decision, you really have to know your market and how SWA tends to operate in that market. They aren't all the same.

Steve

 

[Azjenn]

This is all great advice! We fly to mco from Phoenix. I guess I'll be up at 4am to check what the prices are and then decide from there!

 

[loveswdw]

On their website it says on February 23rd, they will release through September 29th.

Edit to add: Here is the website.

Thank you for the link! I was looking all over the website this morning and couldn't find it. I never thought to check on the flight schedules page.

 

[marisabuzz]

For us, yes. We book BUF-MCO and I always book at 6-6:30am on the day flights are released. Last summer when I did this, I checked the flights I had booked later and the day and the prices had already gone up from so many people booking on that day. The prices did fluctuate the closer we got to our travel date and I did see them again at the price we booked at, but never lower.

Yes this is us exactly. We fly BUF-MCO as well. We've done that trip twice now and never have we seen the prices go lower than release day for the good flights.