Playing the Rate game on SW

[RitaFaye94]

I've been watching the fares for Southwest to catch some deals. I wondered if it's safe / ok to book my to and from flights separately. I can usually find a good rate only on one of the directions, not both. Wondered if I book my flight down there at a good rate, then book the return flight later when I find a good rate, or if this would create problems later.

Also, is there some kind of 'Fare watcher' software I can download to alert me about a deal?

 

[goofy4tink]

I always book my flights separately...coming and going. That way, if I find a much lower fare, it's easier to change to the lower fare. In fact, I sometimes actually fly two different airlines coming and going...depends on the times I can get.
I don't think SW has a fare watcher that you can download.

 

[bookwormde]

No problem with booking your flights seperately, I even sometines book 3 out of 4 fares we need and then if the fare goes down I "trade in" the 3 for 4 (no credit left), if it does not go down then I only have to buy 1 more.

bookwormde

 

[kaguilbeau]

Southwest has a DING fare watch that you download to your desktop. It runs in your task bar and when there is a DING, a small envelope (or something) appears over the Southwest symbol-and a small DING sound is made.

I had booked separate flights for our trip. There was a DING special today, but the date was only good for the flight going out. Because I had booked the flights separately, I was able to book the DING and cancel the original flight without affecting my return flight.