Question About Southwest

[minniefan65]

We always book the latest flights possible on our way home from Disney. I just looked at the new Southwest times and the latest flight out is 3:40 instead of the normal 9 something that we usually fly out. Does Southwest ever add more flights after the initial release?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

No.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I've never seen them add flights. I hate how they drastically change their schedules from what they have done in the past also. We have always taken a super early 6:30 or so in the morning flight and gotten to Orlando about 10:00. Last fall, there were no flights that got us there any earlier than 1:00 on Southwest.

 

[georgina]

We had a late flight home in January, and I got a message from SW around 11 AM that it was cancelled. We had to hustle to the airport to catch a 2:30 flight because that was the only non-stop available. They didn't say why our later flight was cancelled, I suspect it was not full.

I just booked my next trip today, leaving home at 7 AM to head down, and leaving MCO to come home at 7 PM, but I know nothing is set in stone.

 

[lttlmc3]

How far out ahead do they usually post their schedules?

 

[Minnesota!]

Yes, they do. For our trip next month, at release there were about 5 flights, all with 1 stop. When I went and checked to see if prices had come down on Deecmber 17, they had added quite a few flights...including a nonstop. I grabbed it!

So, yes, in my experience, they do.

 

[DebbieB]

They have had some fluctuations in their schedules in the last 6 months or so because of the merger with AirTran. That's over now, AirTran is no more so the schedules should be more stable. Keep in mind to add a flight, they need to have an airplane available.

 

[ABCastillo]

i've seen them add flights in the past. Just depends on the demand I figure.

 

[usd2bmd]

How far out ahead do they usually post their schedules?

right
now they have dates through the end of October. They were just released yesterday.

 

[usd2bmd]

While waiting for our August dates to be released I would often go on and price imaginary flights for the same weekday departure and returns. The week of August 7th they had an early (5:30ish) flight departing and a late (8:30ish) return flight. when our dates were released those flights weren't there so we just booked the earliest departing and latest returning non stop flights. The returning flight went up in price within a couple of hours and both are now sold out. This is a day and a half after being released and six months before departure. Part of me hopes they will release other flights so that this one may not be totally packed, but part of me hopes they don't because I would like to be on the earlier flight.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

They have had some fluctuations in their schedules in the last 6 months or so because of the merger with AirTran. That's over now, AirTran is no more so the schedules should be more stable. Keep in mind to add a flight, they need to have an airplane available.

Yes, merging with AirTran caused a lot of flight adjustments, but the merge is complete. Once they release their schedule, that is usually it.

 

[rdevine10]

I booked on the release date too (2 days ago) and my flights have doubled in cost already. Time schedule was not what I had hoped for either. Return home flight all of July and August was in the 8pm time frame- latest they had for my date- in August was 6:20ish. I lost my earlier outbound flight as I was booking on points and they went up right when I went to book them at 8 in the morning. I had to book later in the day to use my points! ughh. Not happy, but happy we got something.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You can also look at flight from/to Tampa. Its only an extra 45 minutes from Disney to TPA. TPA is also a much quieter airport!

 

[Jedimike]

We always book the latest flights possible on our way home from Disney. I just looked at the new Southwest times and the latest flight out is 3:40 instead of the normal 9 something that we usually fly out. Does Southwest ever add more flights after the initial release?

In my experience, there is always a limited number of lights available at the initial (~6 months out) release of flights. For popular routes (like those that fly to Orlando), they add flights as the months go by. I've seen them add flights multiple times.

 

[Tammy4642]

when is the best time to buy tickets? I've heard that prices are normally lower mid-week...

 

[kaytieeldr]

We had a late flight home in January, and I got a message from SW around 11 AM that it was cancelled. We had to hustle to the airport to catch a 2:30 flight because that was the only non-stop available. They didn't say why our later flight was cancelled, I suspect it was not full.

I just booked my next trip today, leaving home at 7 AM to head down, and leaving MCO to come home at 7 PM, but I know nothing is set in stone.

Possible, but not likely. They would have been able to determine more than a few hours in advance that a flight wasnt going to be full. What about pasengers who were more than three hours away? Plus, that plane you were supposed to beon would have needed to be at your destination airport that night or e arly the next morning to transport other passengers.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We had a late flight home in January, and I got a message from SW around 11 AM that it was cancelled. We had to hustle to the airport to catch a 2:30 flight because that was the only non-stop available. They didn't say why our later flight was cancelled, I suspect it was not full.

.....

Your flight was not canceled because the plane was not full.

 

[Jedimike]

when is the best time to buy tickets? I've heard that prices are normally lower mid-week...

I think this may be a relic of days past. Flights in the middle of the week are usually cheaper than flights no a weekend, but when you buy doesn't seem to depend on the day of the week anymore. Flight prices may change in the weeks/months prior to a flight though! I usually book my flights 6 months out, then watch for price changes. The nice thing about Southwest is that they allow you to "rebook" and recuperate some of your cash (albeit in the form of an airline credit). If you book with points, they refund the points to your account. I've saved as much as $200 a trip (per person) this way, by checking the flight prices on a monthly basis prior to my trip. The "sweet spot" for lowest prices seems to be about 2-3 months out.

 

[BCV2003]

Your flight was not canceled because the plane was not full.

We, in fact, had a Southwest Flight canceled at the last minute because the flight did not have enough people on it. We were told that by Southwest. Fortunately we were on our way to the airport anyways because we were going to stop for dinner so we skipped dinner and were able to get on the earlier flight.

Southwest did compensate us though after the fact because we had to pay to upgrade our boarding number because we were at the end of the C's and because of my husband's broken arm, we needed to sit together so I could buckle him in to his seat.

 

[georgina]

Possible, but not likely. They would have been able to determine more than a few hours in advance that a flight wasnt going to be full. What about pasengers who were more than three hours away? Plus, that plane you were supposed to beon would have needed to be at your destination airport that night or e arly the next morning to transport other passengers.

So why would they cancel an 8 PM flight on the morning of the flight then? I can't come up with any other explanation. As for people who were more than 3 hours away, there were other afternoon flights, just not non-stop ones, and they would have gotten us home just as late as the original flight. No matter what other flight we took, I could not use the last park day on my 4 day ticket.