Obsessive planner going NUTS waiting for SW!!!

[Cara]

My hotel reservations have been made since January. I have been working on my itinerary for two months. I ordered my MNSSHP tickets today. I am a PLANNER, and I am going INSANE waiting for SWA to open up for my Oct. 1-Oct. 8. Trip. INSANE.

Please, open up the flipping dates!!!

OK, I feel better now.

Cara

 

[jeanneg4of4]

I would just like to say I know what you mean. We also are going in Oct. and am trying to wait for SW fares to open up. I also have become obsessed with the DINGS waiting to see the fare specials daily. I'm going nuts! I always feel better after I vent Thanks anks

 

[Cara]

Jeanne, now we can both feel better! I have to vent somewhere. I am afraid my DH is tired of hearing it!

 

[Goofy22]

I'm sooooo tired of waiting I just want to get it all booked! I also ordered my mnsshp tickets today! Now all I need is AIRFARE!!! I know what you mean! It's insane!

 

[Tinkaroo]

I'm waiting for November!!! But am worried that I might not get that great of rates, so I might go ahead and book with AA. Could use the frequent flyer miles, and they at least have the courtesy of releasing their flight schedules well enough in advance!!! (Anyone from SWA listening???)

Plus, I live in Dallas (with family in Houston, so could leave from there), but we don't get as good of a deals as they give other cities - even though we're their home base - but that is another story for another day...

There, I feel better now, too!

 

[goofytime2000]

I started planning a year ago for a trip that got cancelled for mid May, which got parleed into a trip for next April!
What exactly would I call this? Stress? Insanity? A Disney verison of

???

 

[crazywig]

waiting here too. but it's like this every trip :lol:.

we are DVC and the sept trip has been booked since last october!


i seriously think they will open this week.

 

[cheyita]

Another person in the same boat here. We're considering going in October instead of December and going to MNSSHP instead of MVMCP. Waiting so see what kind of flights we can get through SW. Argh!

 

[Cara]

I'm sorry you all are in the same boat, but I'm glad I am not alone.

I ALWAYS, ALWAYS book my family's airfare well ahead of time, but this time Delta's rates were high, so I waited. Now my Delta airfare is way too high for us. DH and I always fly Southwest when it's just the two of us, and I always fly it when I fly alone. I just like having assigned seats when we fly with DD.

I'm sure it will all work out, but I am dying here.

Question: When SWA releases your dates, will you book immediately, or will you wait for deals? I am thinking of booking immediately and then cancelling and rebooking if I find a good fare. But that makes me nervous too. I don't want a credit, because I don't anticipate needing it in the next six months. Oh, did I mention I'm going CRAZY?

 

[crazywig]

IQuestion: When SWA releases your dates, will you book immediately, or will you wait for deals? I am thinking of booking immediately and then cancelling and rebooking if I find a good fare. But that makes me nervous too. I don't want a credit, because I don't anticipate needing it in the next six months. Oh, did I mention I'm going CRAZY?

i book immediately. then i alter my reservation when the prices go down. you do not have to cancel & rebook. you can alter it online.

i am hoping for a start rate of $79 each way, moving down from there . my past two trips have gone this way and i ended up paying $49 ea way PVD-MCO.

i have gotten my SW credit $$ put back on my credit card by simply calling after i fly. call the refund center, not the 800 number.

 

[msdis]

i book immediately. then i alter my reservation when the prices go down. you do not have to cancel & rebook. you can alter it online.

i am hoping for a start rate of $79 each way, moving down from there . my past two trips have gone this way and i ended up paying $49 ea way PVD-MCO.

i have gotten my SW credit $$ put back on my credit card by simply calling after i fly. call the refund center, not the 800 number.

We have recently discovered SWA,since they are not at our local airport but a 3+1/2 hour drive away and so we are not familiar with them. So are you saying you can book on-line and if the rates go down, rebook and get a refund/credit? TIA

 

[crazywig]

yes you can and there is no charge. there is a place on their website to do it, you can log into your reservation and change your flight. either one way or both ways.

for example on our trip this past january, i started at $79, then it went to $69, so i went in a basically you 'change' your flight to the same flight but with the lower fare. it's very easy.
when it went to $49 there was no availibility on my outbound flight so i could only change my inbound to the $49 fare.

as long as there is availibility, you can change the fare. i've done it numerous times.

 

[Rpsemont]

We have recently discovered SWA,since they are not at our local airport but a 3+1/2 hour drive away and so we are not familiar with them. So are you saying you can book on-line and if the rates go down, rebook and get a refund/credit?

IMHO -SWA has the BEST booking flexibility. There has to be a really big difference in price for me to consider a different airline. Generally speaking, when booked through their website, the first time you book, the value of your tickets is charged and becomes "ticketless travel funds (TTF)" After that occurs, changes to the tickets can be made, without any change fees and those TTF can be applied to the changes. If you book lower fares, the amount of excess TTF can be applied to a future flight. Many people have indicated that they got refunds, but the website does not state that this will happen, so I would not count on it. However, the TTF can be used either by the passenger or by the person whose credit card was used for the purchase. So in summer 2001, I booked flights for 6 of us to go BDL to MCO in Dec. Then 9/11 happened and 2 of the people would not fly. We cancelled their tickets and I was able to use those TTF for tickets I bought for us for the next trip. SO in effect, I was changing the passenger of those tickets. This type of flexibility is unheard of with other airline. More recently, a sale fare came through to Baltimore, and I booked us some flights. Unfortunately, we couldn't put the other pieces together to take that trip so I cancelled those flights. I have since rebooked using those fund to get us to CLE, but if a sale doesn't come out to get us back, we may drive, so I'll end up having those to apply to a FLA trip.

 

[riu girl]

Is it easier to re-book (for a lower fare ) two one way tickets or one return type fare or does it make any difference?

My possible circumstance:

Book BUF-MCO or BUF-TPA flights early fall for travel Dec 17 (outbound) and Dec 31 (inbound).
If a sale fare comes along, change the flight segments to the less expensive rate. I would prefer to the BUF-TPA flights but will originally book BUF-MCO since the fun fares appear a little cheaper. So I may end up BUF-MCO outbound and TPA-BUF inbound for an example (depending on best sale prices for each flight segments ). So does anyone think I should originally book one ways to start since I will hopefully be changing at least one of the flight segments (to get a better price)? Or does it matter?

Any thougts would be appreciated.

 

[Cara]

One more question: What are the guidelines as to when you must use ticketless travel funds? Is it a certain point past the day of booking?? I always get confused by that!

Right now the lowest rate showing is a fun fare at $111 one way. Not great.

Thanks!

 

[4kidsandadog]

We've had a cruise booked since Jan. 04 and I am still waiting for SW to start booking the last 1/2 of Sept. so we can get our tickets. I'm a major planner too, and this is driving me BONKERS!

Karen