Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

[kristenrice]

I am flying to MCO in October with DD18. I already booked our flight home using points. We live 10 minutes from GRR so we are flying home to GRR via MDW on what is currently the last flight of the night from MCO. Currently, SWA lists flights at 3:15pm, 4:15pm and 5:45pm departing to MDW and then a flight from MDW to GRR at 8:50pm, arriving in GRR at 10:50pm. I booked us on the 5:45-10:50pm itinerary, but I fully expect that the 5:45 and 4:15 departures will probably get dropped and we will end up on the 3:15pm flight out of Orlando and have a 4 1/2 hour layover in Chicago...but it is what it is.

That brings me to the dilemma of how we are going to get TO Orlando. We live about 3 hours from Chicago-MDW and about 2.5 hours from DTW. I have enough remaining SWA points to get (1) more ticket with points and I will need to pay OOP for the other one. I also have enough Marriott points to get a hotel near either airport at no additional cost. I priced out a one-way rental car from Alamo (and reserved one to each destination to lock in the price) and that will be about $60 so I do not need to worry about parking at either location. The logistics for either location are about even...but the flight choices are my biggest dilemma...

Flying out of DTW, we are faced with a stop in Baltimore. The flight departs at 6:00am and arrives at noon with a 2-hour layover. Out of Chicago, the flight departs at 7:15am and lands at 10:55am and is NON-STOP. It seems like a no-brainer...but the biggest concern that I have is that I have never flown out of Chicago and I am VERY familiar with the DTW airport and it's surrounding area. I would be very comfortable driving around and navigating the DTW area in the late evening/early morning hours, whereas the Chicago-Midway area is all-new territory for me. We would be arriving there around 8-9pm and we would be leaving the hotel (which is about 30 minutes from the airport) around 5am and we would need to stop and gas up the rental car.

Obviously, I am more comfortable flying out of Detroit. My concern though is with SWA and their cancellations and delays. By flying non-stop out of MDW, we mitigate that risk a little bit. On the other hand, our connection out of DTW is through BWI which is a fairly major hub for SWA (I think?) and our flight is the first one of the day to MCO from BWI. We are not planning to do a park on that day, but we were hoping to do the DVC Member night at Splitsville at 6pm so we are not exactly in a hurry, but we do have tentative plans.

 

[EACarlson]

I am flying to MCO in October with DD18. I already booked our flight home using points. We live 10 minutes from GRR so we are flying home to GRR via MDW on what is currently the last flight of the night from MCO. Currently, SWA lists flights at 3:15pm, 4:15pm and 5:45pm departing to MDW and then a flight from MDW to GRR at 8:50pm, arriving in GRR at 10:50pm. I booked us on the 5:45-10:50pm itinerary, but I fully expect that the 5:45 and 4:15 departures will probably get dropped and we will end up on the 3:15pm flight out of Orlando and have a 4 1/2 hour layover in Chicago...but it is what it is.

That brings me to the dilemma of how we are going to get TO Orlando. We live about 3 hours from Chicago-MDW and about 2.5 hours from DTW. I have enough remaining SWA points to get (1) more ticket with points and I will need to pay OOP for the other one. I also have enough Marriott points to get a hotel near either airport at no additional cost. I priced out a one-way rental car from Alamo (and reserved one to each destination to lock in the price) and that will be about $60 so I do not need to worry about parking at either location. The logistics for either location are about even...but the flight choices are my biggest dilemma...

Flying out of DTW, we are faced with a stop in Baltimore. The flight departs at 6:00am and arrives at noon with a 2-hour layover. Out of Chicago, the flight departs at 7:15am and lands at 10:55am and is NON-STOP. It seems like a no-brainer...but the biggest concern that I have is that I have never flown out of Chicago and I am VERY familiar with the DTW airport and it's surrounding area. I would be very comfortable driving around and navigating the DTW area in the late evening/early morning hours, whereas the Chicago-Midway area is all-new territory for me. We would be arriving there around 8-9pm and we would be leaving the hotel (which is about 30 minutes from the airport) around 5am and we would need to stop and gas up the rental car.

Obviously, I am more comfortable flying out of Detroit. My concern though is with SWA and their cancellations and delays. By flying non-stop out of MDW, we mitigate that risk a little bit. On the other hand, our connection out of DTW is through BWI which is a fairly major hub for SWA (I think?) and our flight is the first one of the day to MCO from BWI. We are not planning to do a park on that day, but we were hoping to do the DVC Member night at Splitsville at 6pm so we are not exactly in a hurry, but we do have tentative plans.

Is there an evening flight you can take from GRR-MDW the night before? I'd rather book an airport hotel with a shuttle than drive three hours into Chicago, especially if you're not used to driving in Chicago traffic. The area around MDW is fine, especially at 5am. You'd be coming off I-55 and driving about a mile on deserted city streets to the rental car center, then a 5 minute shuttle trip to the terminal. I'd be more concerned about where you're staying the night before. 30 minutes from the airport can put you in a really nice area, or one of the worst areas of the country. I live about the same distance from MDW as you do, just on the WI side and I usually stay in Burr Ridge, about 10 minutes south of MDW.

 

[kristenrice]

Is there an evening flight you can take from GRR-MDW the night before? I'd rather book an airport hotel with a shuttle than drive three hours into Chicago, especially if you're not used to driving in Chicago traffic. The area around MDW is fine, especially at 5am. You'd be coming off I-55 and driving about a mile on deserted city streets to the rental car center, then a 5 minute shuttle trip to the terminal. I'd be more concerned about where you're staying the night before. 30 minutes from the airport can put you in a really nice area, or one of the worst areas of the country. I live about the same distance from MDW as you do, just on the WI side and I usually stay in Burr Ridge, about 10 minutes south of MDW.

Well, it’s a thought, but we are looking to stay at Pop Century when we arrive (for just the day/night) since our DVC stay starts the following day. The evening flight out of GRR is at 3:50pm and connects through BWI, landing at 9:50pm. Since it is more of an “afternoon” departure, we would both be taking the whole day off of work instead of working the morning and driving to Chicago after work. I would then need to book (2) nights at Pop Century which would significantly add to my cost. It is something to consider though….

 

[EACarlson]

Well, it’s a thought, but we are looking to stay at Pop Century when we arrive (for just the day/night) since our DVC stay starts the following day. The evening flight out of GRR is at 3:50pm and connects through BWI, landing at 9:50pm. Since it is more of an “afternoon” departure, we would both be taking the whole day off of work instead of working the morning and driving to Chicago after work. I would then need to book (2) nights at Pop Century which would significantly add to my cost. It is something to consider though….

I was suggesting fly from GRR to MDW the night before your flight to MCO. Get a room at one of the hotels near MDW that has a shuttle, then shuttle back to the MDW for your flight to MCO. Then you don't have to drive into Chicago, deal with traffic and drive around MDW.

 

[my523]

*posted in I Love Credit Cards, but looking for broader input*

I need help making a decision on which credit card to get. Here's the situation:

We plan to book our Disney plane tickets as soon as the SW calendar opens up for December, which will be in mid-June. We plan to buy 6 tickets using points and will need approx 137,500 points (if they are about the same as they are right now). We currently have 105,000 points on our CSP credit card to transfer. We do not have any other cards.

Question:
Should we open a SW credit card for 40,000 extra points (for $1,000 spending in 3mo, plus $69 fee) or another CSP for 75,000 extra points (for $4,000 in 3mo, plus $95 fee...I am calculating the bonus based on 40,000 points welcome offer + referral bonus)???

We would get more points with opening a new CSP, but spend less overall with SW. We wouldn't continue to use the SW card after the ticket purchase, honestly. Wondering which would be the best option and cause us not to "waste" any points or spend extra $ in the process. Hope that makes sense!

 

[kristenrice]

I was suggesting fly from GRR to MDW the night before your flight to MCO. Get a room at one of the hotels near MDW that has a shuttle, then shuttle back to the MDW for your flight to MCO. Then you don't have to drive into Chicago, deal with traffic and drive around MDW.

That would be a huge budget-buster, unfortunately. I am not averse to driving, per se. I just prefer to have a little experience in the area, but the only way to get it is to just bite the bullet and take the trip.

I priced out the options and it looks like the option to drive to Chicago on Tuesday night and fly out Wednesday morning is going to be our cheapest option. I did a little more "research" and the hotel I am looking at (FourPoints by Sheraton, Westchester/OakBrook) is about 15 miles from the airport. I did a search on Google maps and there is a 24-hour Exxon gas station along the route (about halfway) so I would not have to hunt for fuel which puts me more at ease as well. There are (2) flights that we can choose from right now...a 5:30am and a 7:15am...and we would plan to leave the hotel about 3 hours early. We only fly with carry-ons and we both have TSA-precheck so no worries about major waits at the airport. The only concern would be the rental car return...I'm not sure how it works in the morning when the counter isn't open yet. From what I understand, the rental car counters aren't in the terminal so I do not know where we return the car...is it off site? If so, how do we get to the terminal at that hour??

Our second choice option (right now) will be to fly out of GR (connecting through BWI) on Tuesday night, and land in Orlando around 9:30pm. It's about $300 more to do it that way, mainly because it adds another hotel night on to the trip that I cannot cover with points, but that night will be IN Orlando instead of in Chicago. It's a "riskier" option because (a) we have a connection (although the second leg is NOT the last flight of the night from BWI into MCO) and (b) it is the last flight of the day out of GRR so we have no other options if it gets cancelled...we'd have to drive to Chicago anyways and try to catch one of the first flights out in the morning.

 

[EACarlson]

That would be a huge budget-buster, unfortunately. I am not averse to driving, per se. I just prefer to have a little experience in the area, but the only way to get it is to just bite the bullet and take the trip.

I priced out the options and it looks like the option to drive to Chicago on Tuesday night and fly out Wednesday morning is going to be our cheapest option. I did a little more "research" and the hotel I am looking at (FourPoints by Sheraton, Westchester/OakBrook) is about 15 miles from the airport. I did a search on Google maps and there is a 24-hour Exxon gas station along the route (about halfway) so I would not have to hunt for fuel which puts me more at ease as well. There are (2) flights that we can choose from right now...a 5:30am and a 7:15am...and we would plan to leave the hotel about 3 hours early. We only fly with carry-ons and we both have TSA-precheck so no worries about major waits at the airport. The only concern would be the rental car return...I'm not sure how it works in the morning when the counter isn't open yet. From what I understand, the rental car counters aren't in the terminal so I do not know where we return the car...is it off site? If so, how do we get to the terminal at that hour?

According to the MDW airport page the shuttle runs every 15 minutes 24/7 from the rental car facility. The facility is right on 55th next to economy parking. I've done the 5:30, with Pre I never stopped walking from the time they opened the SW counters, all the way through security to the gate. If you go that way be aware that the SW counters don't open until 4. Usually to drop off a rental prior to opening there is a key drop, make sure you take pictures of the car in the spot, preferably with something that identifies where you are, the fuel level and odometer.

 

[jkelly86]

SWA just changed the flight schedules for all of our June flights (we had 3 different itineraries) and it isn't pretty. Check your reservations.

 

[disny_luvr]

Can someone remind me how to rebook a flight at a lower price point? My flight just changed to an earlier time and it’s $456 cheaper! I’d like to rebook that same flight at the cheaper price to get travel credits.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Can someone remind me how to rebook a flight at a lower price point? My flight just changed to an earlier time and it’s $456 cheaper! I’d like to rebook that same flight at the cheaper price to get travel credits.

You can change the flight online, either via the website or app, and change it to the same time. It will adjust the price for you, and then tell you how the fare change will be processed

 

[MarBee]

*posted in I Love Credit Cards, but looking for broader input*

I need help making a decision on which credit card to get. Here's the situation:

We plan to book our Disney plane tickets as soon as the SW calendar opens up for December, which will be in mid-June. We plan to buy 6 tickets using points and will need approx 137,500 points (if they are about the same as they are right now). We currently have 105,000 points on our CSP credit card to transfer. We do not have any other cards.

Question:
Should we open a SW credit card for 40,000 extra points (for $1,000 spending in 3mo, plus $69 fee) or another CSP for 75,000 extra points (for $4,000 in 3mo, plus $95 fee...I am calculating the bonus based on 40,000 points welcome offer + referral bonus)???

We would get more points with opening a new CSP, but spend less overall with SW. We wouldn't continue to use the SW card after the ticket purchase, honestly. Wondering which would be the best option and cause us not to "waste" any points or spend extra $ in the process. Hope that makes sense!

I *think* I may have a referral link for 50,000 point sign up bonus. Let me check and see. I could totally be mistaking this for another card…
ETA: Sorry, I could only find 40,000 point links. Even when I check a few other referral links from other DISers that advertised 60 or 80 thousand, they all linked to a 40,000 point offer.

My only other thought was if you could do another Chase card that offered UR points that you could transfer to SW. You’ve prob already explain everything on the credit cards thread, but I can try to help you here if you didn’t get any help over there. The folks on that board though are amazing though and prob better than me. Which cards do you already have?

 

[shellsbell]

SWA just changed the flight schedules for all of our June flights (we had 3 different itineraries) and it isn't pretty. Check your reservations.

Yup…our great non-stops leaving at 10:30 are now a layover and leaving at 5:55 am ….took an hour on the phone to change to a better layover because no non-stops …uugh

 

[my523]

I *think* I may have a referral link for 50,000 point sign up bonus. Let me check and see. I could totally be mistaking this for another card…
ETA: Sorry, I could only find 40,000 point links. Even when I check a few other referral links from other DISers that advertised 60 or 80 thousand, they all linked to a 40,000 point offer.

My only other thought was if you could do another Chase card that offered UR points that you could transfer to SW. You’ve prob already explain everything on the credit cards thread, but I can try to help you here if you didn’t get any help over there. The folks on that board though are amazing though and prob better than me. Which cards do you already have?

We only have the CSP with 105,000 points. Just looking to get enough points to purchase the flights the cheapest way.

 

[disny_luvr]

I tried to change my flight online to the same flight so that I can get travel credits, but once I select the flight I want to change (the one I’m currently booked on), I don’t get the same flight as an option I want to change to. Any ideas how to select the same flight?

 

[Avery&Todd]

I tried to change my flight online to the same flight so that I can get travel credits, but once I select the flight I want to change (the one I’m currently booked on), I don’t get the same flight as an option I want to change to. Any ideas how to select the same flight?

I have also worked with changing my SW flights through FB messenger - the agents there can change your flights if you can't get the website to work for you!

Good luck!

 

[happ]

We only have the CSP with 105,000 points. Just looking to get enough points to purchase the flights the cheapest way.

If you can get the 80k in branch CSP offer with the waived fee, that's the way I'd go. The minimum spend is higher than the SW card, but keep in mind that URs are flexible. They can even be cashed out at 0.01 if you want. Plus, if your flights end up being a lot more RRs than expected, you'd have extra URs to transfer.

 

[TNKim]

Quick question about the 2 free Early Birds per year now offered as a perk through the Southwest VISA. If you have 4 seats with 1 confirmation number, can you purchase 2 Early Birds instead of buying all 4? If you can, and I add the 2 Early Birds, is that amount credited back to my VISA? Or how exactly do the 2 free Early Birds per year work?

 

[jkelly86]

Can someone remind me how to rebook a flight at a lower price point? My flight just changed to an earlier time and it’s $456 cheaper! I’d like to rebook that same flight at the cheaper price to get travel credits.

It will be too late to help you now, but if SWA changed your flight, you get one flight change at no cost (higher or lower fare will not pertain). So, in this case you must cancel the current reservation and rebook or ask for help from SWA customer service to receive a partial refund/flight credit.

 

[disny_luvr]

It will be too late to help you now, but if SWA changed your flight, you get one flight change at no cost (higher or lower fare will not pertain). So, in this case you must cancel the current reservation and rebook or ask for help from SWA customer service to receive a partial refund/flight credit.

I emailed them last night. It said I’ll hear back within 10 days. I’d cancel and rebook on my own, but then I’ll lose my EBCI, won’t I? Hopefully once someone reaches out to me they’ll be able to help.

 

[disny_luvr]

I have also worked with changing my SW flights through FB messenger - the agents there can change your flights if you can't get the website to work for you!

Good luck!

That’s a great idea! Thank you!