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

[sersee05]

My daughter is going with a friend and I am trying to help her out. I don't know much about flying because we tend to drive(my son is scared spitless). I have helped my dd check sw. The fares are ok. They are going 12/21-12/23. Is it best to have them grab the lowest fares now? Will they go up? Does Southwest have another sale coming?

 

[macraven]

Book when the fare seems reasonable for them

I use sw and book when I know it is a decent fare
I was checking it frequently before I booked

Original cost one way was going at $70 to 87

When fares started dropping, I booked at $49 a way

Fares will go up and down depending on airport and dates

Last flight I had in June I got skunked
I waited to long and booked the flight at $187 rt

 

[sersee05]

Right now it's about $270 rt pp. I was hoping it might go down. Maybe it will just go up higher. Can you change if they go lower?

 

[macraven]

yes, you can change it if it lowers.
but, if you paid with cc, you would get a credit to your Rapid Rewards account in points. (no credit back on the cc)
those points would expire one year from the time you made the reservation.

i paid cc for my June 1 trip.
i also had booked the sept/oct trip back in early May but with points.
only paid the $11.20 fees (or number in near that amount)

in june when fares dropped for my fall flight, i called and had my booked sept/oct flight modified.
i received points back and those points don't expire in a one year period.

i originally paid $70 and $87 for the sept/oct flights.

when it dropped to $49 each way, i jumped on that and modified my rate.

 

[CaliTex]

macraven, its like watching the commodities markets, lol. I have only gotten skunked once, but boy did it sting since it was 5 tickets, round trip. I'm still smarting, thinking about it now. It's a bit of a game for me.

Sometimes when I call SW to change, they actually sigh.

sersee05, I'd be nervous about waiting too long on flights that are so close to Christmas.

 

[cmarsh31]

All WGA non-stop flights Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Albany-MCO Presidents weekend are unavailable/sold out. All non-stop returns the following weekend and ALL WGA flights on Sunday are sold out/unavailable. While 300 each way sucked - it's better than the $500 that's the only option now, and we're going to Disney World!

 

[catfan98]

I saw that SW will release their next flight schedule on August 4th. What time is it released? I plan to be up and ready to book when they go on sale.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I saw that SW will release their next flight schedule on August 4th. What time is it released? I plan to be up and ready to book when they go on sale.

Around 6:30am EST usually.

 

[JustMeFran]

I saw that SW will release their next flight schedule on August 4th. What time is it released? I plan to be up and ready to book when they go on sale.

This last release was at 6:15am eastern.

 

[Huff]

Any other west coasters looking at fall dates? So far PHX-MCO for 1st week of OCT. is still around $540+RT. OUCH! Been looking for the past couple months and still has not dropped. Other airlines aren't much better.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Is there a way to tell if we are the first flight of the day for our plane or even are a connecting flight? We fly out of bwi Tuesday after labor day around 610 am.

Is there a way to tell how full the plane is?

 

[Iowamomof4]

We're currently planning to fly down to MCO the Monday after Thanksgiving. We have a 50-minute window in which to make our connection in STL and the STL-MCO leg is the last flight of the night for SW. How nervous would you be that you would end up stuck in STL overnight (keeping in mind this is the end of November, so weather and holiday travel delays could all factor in)? We're considering switching to a couple nights earlier just to give ourselves a travel buffer, but maybe the likelihood of problems happening is very low so I wanted to ask people who fly on a semi-regular basis. Thanks!

 

[DLmama]

I saw that SW will release their next flight schedule on August 4th. What time is it released? I plan to be up and ready to book when they go on sale.

Does anyone know the dates that will be released on Aug. 4th? I'm looking for June 16-25, 2017 specifically. I know it's a long way off, but I like to plan.

 

[catfan98]

Does anyone know the dates that will be released on Aug. 4th? I'm looking for June 16-25, 2017 specifically. I know it's a long way off, but I like to plan.

https://www.southwest.com/air/flight-schedules/index.html?clk=GFOOTER-FLY-FLTSCHEDULES

The flight schedule says through April 24th. Check that link regularly, it tells you the on sale date and what dates open up.

 

[ajenks22]

Hi am traveling to WDW in Dec....Are there any SW codes for that time...Would appreciate your help.....Thanks

Did you get one? I need one too! Anyone?

 

[Iowamomof4]

I would get EBCI now. It is first come first serve. The earlier you buy, the better number you will get.

Change vs Cancel: After you have your flight booked, you will see 2 different options. One is change. One is cancel. If you cancel, you will get the entire cost of the flight as a travel credit. You could then use that travel credit to book another flight. You will lose EBCI if you do this. If you click change, it will bring you into flight search. You can change it to ANYTHING. Different dates. Different airports. etc. If you go through the change process, you should not lose EBCI.

If you are concerned about it, you can always do change over the phone. They will ensure you do not lose it.

Okay, I went through the process the CHANGE my flight from Monday night to Saturday night (leaving 2 days earlier). Is there a way for me to verify we still have EBCI?

EDIT: I found it, never mind! EBCI transferred no problem.

 

[Jennny]

Omg.. I haven't pulled the trigger b/c I feel as though prices are way higher than I normally book. I'm just under 4 weeks out for a return flight home. Do I bite the bullet, or give it a few more days ??? Eeek!!

 

[macraven]

I would book very soon and before I would be 21 days out

On my flights, I still pull them up and look at them
I have a rock bottom price but curious on what i could have paid if I did not book earlier

I always tell myself to book at the price I can live with

I would dread having to book a seat on a greyhound bus if my needed flight would sell out

 

[Jennny]

I agree... Sadly I didn't book at 144 one way b/c that's where it started and I thought it would go down ...I don't usually pay more than 120 one way. Now it's been sitting at 164 for what seems like forever -but for 4 people that's an extra 100 American ( dollar for us is crummy). But I need to look at it as I guess I CAN live with this price... And a greyhound would be very expensive for me back to Canada. Lol

 

[cel_disney]

Hi - we need to buy tickets on Thursday when flights open up and considering purchasing some gift cards.

How easy is it to use gift cards to purchase on SW? Is there a number that can be placed on a given order? I expect that I will need to be SUPER fast at this purchase before the prices skyrocket over Easter - I don't want them to slow us down, but with raise/target stacked discounts, I could get some $$ to cover EBCI!