Should I go ahead and book SW for Oct. trip or wait a bit longer???

[edk35]

So we decided this week to book 5 days at Disney for Oct. 18th. I'm really surprised there are so many flights that are NOT direct. I checked other months between now and then and I feel there are MORE nonstop other months. The booking window is ONLY opened up thru Nov. 4th right now. Do you think the prices will go down and more NONSTOP flights will open up if I wait? Or should just book and make changes later? I flew cheaper this month compared to Oct prices.

 

[HollyMD]

We are going in Oct as well, and we booked sometime last month. I've been watching the prices, and they have mostly just gone up so far, with the exception of one really late flight(not nonstop) that went down for one evening. All the days I am checking, there has been only one nonstop flight each day. And right now, one of those Saturdays shows the wanna get away fare as sold out on all flights. So I might would go ahead and book but just keep watching to see if they change any prices, etc.

 

[JessM]

I wouldn't expect them to add any extra flights. SWA's fleet is stretched as it is right now, they don't have many spare planes to add more routes. I would book when you see a flight price you can live with. I was surprised how much I paid for a weekend flight in October last year to Orlando. I think the fall activities are growing in popularity. Our group flew down on 3 separate routes (2 flights per route ie a layover) and every flight was full going into Orlando.

 

[aaarcher86]

We went ahead and booked today for around the same dates. I was eyeballing $112 each way and the next day it jumped up to $138 and $166.

Not taking the chance.

 

[maxiesmom]

I highly doubt any non stop flights will be added. That is something Southwest really doesn't do. As far as cost goes, I can tell you I booked my October flights within 2 days of them being released. And they have only gone up.

 

[PatMcDuck]

We booked at $102 each way on SW from PHL awhile ago. If you see a fair fare, book it, and get the credit if it drops even more.

 

[eyeblaura]

We are flying SW in September from St. Louis. I booked our airfare within a couple weeks of it opening the lowest I have seen for a non-stop was $171 each way, I booked went up to $186 and I haven't seen it go down since. It goes up and down but has never dropped below that now the range for our travel days are $171-$316 each way and they are only going up as time goes by so I would book now if you are comfortable with it.

Our airfare was really high this year for some reason, even avoiding weekends and traveling mid-week saved us very little. There are about 15 flights a day for us to choose from but only 4 non-stop and 3 of those are afternoon/evening flights which we don't want coming in. I was afraid that morning non-stop would fill up and increase and didn't want to chance missing it.

 

[macraven]

i booked last week with sw for october flights.
$70 each way out of ATL.

did read on another flight board that prices are expected to rise in the next 9 days.
who knows if that will come true or not.

also booked yesterday out of ATL for a Milwaukee trip June 1 for a week.
prices for some of the flights were at $238 one way.
odd times had much lower fares hovering around $74-84 so grabbed those flights

both flights are direct.

I"m waiting for memorial day when last year they did a special $50 a way flights for that day only out of the airport i use.
I can adjust my costs into points and use on another future trip.

 

[PSUGuy]

I booked SW from Oct 12 - Oct 22 as soon as the window opened and the prices only went up from there.

Bill From PA

 

[loveswdw]

We are heading to DL this October instead of WDW. The flights to WDW in October (10/21-10/29) are crazy expensive this year already. The 1 nonstop out of Louisville is currently sitting at $208 on the way down. The 1 nonstop home from MCO the Wanna Get Away fare is sold out so the next cheapest is $456. They are absolutely crazy if they think I'd pay those prices for a 2 hour flight. The connecting flights aren't much cheaper ($252 each for 3 different flights).

We are flying from Nashville to LAX the same dates (10/21-10/29) and I paid $132 each way for non stops.

I'd book sooner rather than later and keep an eye out for price drops.

 

[Lynne G]

For me, I booked the day they went on sale. Few days later, have a $20 credit, but since then significantly higher. I'd keep checking, if you see a price you can live with, book it. If you think you can use the credit within a year or get points back because of a price drop, great change to the lower fare. If the price climbs higher, or stays the same, no loss for you.

 

[quagmire0]

Agree with Lynne above. Soonest is best. Booked the day they came out and got a great deal (used points from a CC promo). We ended up deciding to stay a couple more days and when I re-booked the return flight it was cheaper and got back a few thousand points.

 

[keishashadow]

So we decided this week to book 5 days at Disney for Oct. 18th. I'm really surprised there are so many flights that are NOT direct. I checked other months between now and then and I feel there are MORE nonstop other months. The booking window is ONLY opened up thru Nov. 4th right now. Do you think the prices will go down and more NONSTOP flights will open up if I wait? Or should just book and make changes later? I flew cheaper this month compared to Oct prices.

coming in on a monday, you may see prices drop if flights not filling up, depends on your market - what airport?

i haven't seen SWA add any flights for dates i've checked. non peak travel times don't have any many flights offered, finding few NS with inconvenient times for October also.

If you fly SWA often enough to utilize any credit within a year from time of booking, might want to book.

Have you done 'dummy' bookings for other monday arrivals in October to see if rates are in same ballpark? Columbus Day may skew it, but look at Sept also to see if 'your' dates are priced especially high. If so, those flights could just be selling well and it's time to book - now.

SWA sale prices roll out on Tuesday mid morning, but i've seen prices prices fluctuate daily on flights i've booked. Have never had any 'LUV'with memorial day sales for my existing travel plans, but i keep checking every year lol.

 

[pooch]

Seems to be far fewer nonstops from CT. We always had 3 a day, now 1 and not cheap. I was thinking about a trip late September and the fares are awful. I can always get less than $200 RT but not this year.

 

[n2mm]

October flights are crazy right now. We have flights down, but nothing home yet. We are flexible and can fly Sat/Sun/Mon home. We have a room booked to cover it, so will be modifying once we book our flights.

 

[DebbieB]

I have flights for October 22 to 29, I got them the first day they opened in February. A friend decided to join me and she was looking yesterday to match my flights and they were much higher. She's going to take later flights that are less.