Southwest Airline discounts at Free DDP time

[katiedid0801]

I think that it is just like booking a room at WDW. Book what you are comfortable paying, and don't worry about the next guy or second guess yourself.

My DSis and I were in that boat last year. SW was $99 and we knew (or felt sure) that they would go down. But the waiting and checking was getting on both of our nerves. Air-Tran came out with a $79 and we were happy getting that. The airfare was booked at a price we were both happy with. Yep, SW came in a little lower on the DING, but there would have been no guarantee that "our" flight was not booked (it wasn't). Regrets...I've had a few...but we were able to live with our original decision.

I've never flown SW, so this will be an experience for me!

I think you'll like SW! The planes are all 737s (bigger-3 seats on each side), they actually still give you snacks and the flight attendants are awesome! Be sure to check in online at 24 hours out to get in boarding group "A". The boarding process is really a piece of cake. The only time I've ever had to take a seat I wouldn't have chosen normally was a last minute flight and I was in group "C". I love SW!
(And you can use up to 4 credits at once!)

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Quick question: Does SW show any inflight movies? Both legs of our trip are close to three hours long. Trying to decide whether or not we need to bring the portable DVD player.

 

[Debbie]

This one I know! NO movies. NO radio. NOthing to amuse you but the flight attendants.
Since I don't have a portable DVD, I think that we'll be reading, sleeping, leaning over the shoulder of the person in the window seat.

 

[tmt martins]

You are all fortunate. Just a warning that I got the shaft from SW vacations. I had never used them before and booked a package a few months back including airfare, room, free DDP and tickets. I figure I paid about $180 for each of the 6 plane tickets after subtracting out the other components. I am a newbie and at the time I thought it was a good deal because all airlines were well over $200....Well you know how this story ends--airfare drops to $59 OW so about $50 less per ticket. SW Vacations said oh well, too bad, no price reductions. I am soooo mad.

Thats not the only problem with using SWV you know they are also ticketed travel not Ticketless so you CAN'T check-in 24 hr in advance you have to go to the airport as normal and check-in there. So it will be B's and C's for you .

We found this out going to Vegas last year and were also not to happy about it.

 

[lynninpa]

If those $89 tickets are southwest, and they are now $59, you can go in with your reservation number and cancel your tickets. They give you a credit and a confirmation number. you then go in and book the new $59 tickets using the credit that you received.

Something like that.

Anyway, you can get the lower priced tickets. You will not get a refund but you will get the difference on a southwest credit to use for a year.

HELP! When you call to get the lower fares, you have to actually cancel and then rebook, correct? So there is a chance-no matter how slight- that while you are actually doing this, others could come along and book and you might be out of luck. Does that make sense?! We booked for nine people the day our trip dates came out on SWA and paid quite a bit more than we wanted to! Just terrified that if we call to get the lower fares, we might "lose our seats!"

 

[kcrew]

Thats not the only problem with using SWV you know they are also ticketed travel not Ticketless so you CAN'T check-in 24 hr in advance you have to go to the airport as normal and check-in there. So it will be B's and C's for you .

We found this out going to Vegas last year and were also not to happy about it.

Oh, that's just great! That's not what the TA told me, but I have not received my travel documents yet, so I'm sure you're right. That should be fun with 3 kids! Talk about buyer's remorse.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

If you are close to the Airport you can go to the airport and check in 24 hours in advance, same as the onliners... and get your A cards.

 

[kcrew]

If you are close to the Airport you can go to the airport and check in 24 hours in advance, same as the onliners... and get your A cards.

No, its 90 miles. We are going out to stay in an airport hotel the night before, so maybe we'll swing by even though it'll only be 10-12 hours in advance by that time. It's not that I care about the seating all that much but my kids have never flown and it would have been nice for them to get window seats. I will be livid though if they have to sit by themselves.

 

[tracys2cents]

"HELP! When you call to get the lower fares, you have to actually cancel and then rebook, correct?"

Did you originally book over the phone? If you booked online, you simply go forward with booking a new reservation and if it comes up available, you then tell the system that you are "Paying" with your previous reservation number. There is a field that comes up that says "click here if you want to pay with your previous electronic ticket funds".

 

[tracys2cents]

KCrew you should call Southwest about the check-in policy. I'm pretty sure that you can't go to the airport and check-in 10 hours in advance. I know that each traveler must be there with their bags to check in, and I believe that they won't allow you to just check your bags and leave. Security issues with people just dropping off bags and leaving. If you tell them that you're checking in and won't be leaving the airport terminal, then you might be okay....but if you tell them that you're checking in and checking your bags and then leaving for 12 hours, they'll say that it's a no-no.
If you've got only carry on baggage you might be able to check in pretty early I guess.

 

[lynninpa]

"HELP! When you call to get the lower fares, you have to actually cancel and then rebook, correct?"

Did you originally book over the phone? If you booked online, you simply go forward with booking a new reservation and if it comes up available, you then tell the system that you are "Paying" with your previous reservation number. There is a field that comes up that says "click here if you want to pay with your previous electronic ticket funds".

tracys2cents: We booked over the phone.

 

[tracys2cents]

New Southwest Sale Fares are up for travel next week! July 25 through 31! Check to see if your city is included! If your total round trip is less now than when you booked, REBOOK!
Change-without-penalty is one benefit of flying SouthWorst, so jump on it! I Hope your city is included!

 

[KTSMOM]

I got a great deal this am on my roundtrip tickets for my Aug trip. So much so, that now i'm trying to plan a nice dinner for our arrival date! Keep checking those Dings..it does pay off!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Kcrew-are any of your children under 5? You may be able to preboard.