Southwest anyone book feb? Break using points?

[HeatherC]

We are planning to use points over April break from the New England area. Was curious to know if anyone used points for Feb. school vacation week and if so, how many points did you use?

I can't book until they open the dates on Oct. 27th, but trying to plan ahead. I figure the points required would be similar since they are both peak school vacation weeks.
thanks!

 

[msmama]

I looked into it, but didn't do it because they were too much!

I remember seeing flights (one way) for $400 so didn't even bother looking at points (i don't remember the conversion but I'm sure its on the SW website somewhere). Those were flights that would usually be in the $2-300 TOTAL range.

Here in NY, anyway, Feb break was just as expensive as Spring break!

 

[OhMari]

Southwest has a selection button, you can see how much the flight is, or you can select to see how many points it would take. To give you some idea, a flight from Milwaukee to MCO was $139 one way which equaled out to about 7500 points. If you do not have enough points, they will let you purchase points. We needed just a few more for our flight in February and it cost me about exactly what we would have paid out of pocket for that flight.

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks! I know..the rates are ridiculous for school breaks. $400 seems what I remember too. I will have to find the conversion chart to figure it out.

We should have enough points, but it kills me to use so many. But it is our last Disney trip before the oldest leaves for college. We already have passes and the free airfare with points so the trip overall will be reasonable. Just using all my points is killing me!

 

[Bearvet]

We are going to Ft. Myers, not Orlando, during Feb vacation week. Not sure if it helps but it was 19,470 points there and 16,670 return! I booked the first day the new dates opened, but around 8:15 AM. Looks like 6:00 AM is when the new dates release and I think I may have done better if I was earlier.

Bottom line - be on the SW site by 6:00 AM and keep refreshing your browser until the new dates open to get the best fares. Good luck!

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks again! That is VERy helpful to know how many points!

I just played around with the flights available to book for Feb. break and figure April should be similar points wise. We should need about 162,000 for five of us roundtrip...nonstop.

Wish we could go another week, but just not doable with kids schedules, work, graduations,etc.

 

[marmalade]

I used points to book our February break trip (flying to Tampa and going to Clearwater). I booked the day flights were released and I used approx 37,000 for 6 of the 8 flights we needed. The 2 flights I had to pay cash for were $113 each.

Those flights are now sold out for the wanna get away fares. Booking flights for February break for us at least was much more cost effective doing it the day flights were released rather than waiting.

We're flying out of Buffalo, NY if that makes any difference.

 

[HeatherC]

I definitely plan on being online at 6am on Oct. 27 when they release the fares. From past experience, I know the flights can sell out or double in price in a matter of minutes. Such a game isn't it?

 

[marmalade]

Our Spring Break Starts April 6th, I'm hesitant to book anything because our flights home haven't been released yet. I don't want to be locked into something if the flights home are ridiculously expensive.

I'll definitely be stalking the SW website on 10/27 to see if a trip anywhere is feasible. I plan when I vacation on the prices of flights.

 

[mary0305]

I just booked last week for our family of 5 RT from Nashville to Ft. Lauderdale for a DCL cruise for our Spring Break in March. I also had been stalking the SW website to get an idea of what the flights would cost with points/dollars. I found that they were more expensive the day the window opened up. I just watched the site daily until the fares dropped. The window opened on August 25 and I purchased on September 4th. Another thing I noticed was that when I searched for fares for all 5 of us at one time, the rates were much higher. When I searched for 1-2 or 2-3 passengers at a time, the points needed would change and were lower. I ended up buying three fares with points and paid for 2 since we had some Luv Vouchers also. Ended up paying 79,000 for 3 fares and $ 650.00 for 2 fares. I am continuing to watch and hope the fares go down to refund some points. Hope this helps!!

 

[MinnieForMe]

I booked for February with points through Southwest from Boston/NH. Last year, it was Florida. This year it is Aruba.

The trick to getting a decent price for February or April vacation is to book it the day it comes out. I've found about a 3 day window and then the prices go insanely high.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Been watching MCO to MKE on a Tuesday in February. Initial price was $138, not in the budget to purchase so I wait. Fare went up to $198 and today is showing sold out. My suspicion is it will be available again at some point. I feel pretty strong about this, as I watch daily and have seen it happen. I think they want people to book/fill the other flights.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I wanted to add that if you are traveling outside of school vacation week, I have seen the price drop by waiting. However, 'the Wanna Get Away" fares always sell out for the last two weeks in February and April for Manchester, NH airport. I got mine for $112 and $125 for travel school vacation week (February) on the day they came out last year. I monitored it for a friend and they were completely sold out and/or as much as international travel by the time she made the decision to go.

Southwest seems to know that Mass and then New Hampshire are on vacation those weeks and sock it to us. Supply and demand stinks sometimes.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I just booked last week for our family of 5 RT from Nashville to Ft. Lauderdale for a DCL cruise for our Spring Break in March. I also had been stalking the SW website to get an idea of what the flights would cost with points/dollars. I found that they were more expensive the day the window opened up. I just watched the site daily until the fares dropped. The window opened on August 25 and I purchased on September 4th. Another thing I noticed was that when I searched for fares for all 5 of us at one time, the rates were much higher. When I searched for 1-2 or 2-3 passengers at a time, the points needed would change and were lower. I ended up buying three fares with points and paid for 2 since we had some Luv Vouchers also. Ended up paying 79,000 for 3 fares and $ 650.00 for 2 fares. I am continuing to watch and hope the fares go down to refund some points. Hope this helps!!

I've called Southwest on this before and they told me that the reason the price was higher was because they only had so many tickets at the lower price. I'm curious if this is really true. Did you get 3 at a lower price and then 2 at a higher price? Airlines make me crazy with their games!

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I've called Southwest on this before and they told me that the reason the price was higher was because they only had so many tickets at the lower price. I'm curious if this is really true. Did you get 3 at a lower price and then 2 at a higher price? Airlines make me crazy with their games!

I agree, it's a game.

 

[ellynsoh]

We needed March 17-27 for spring break, but we had to shorten by a day to save 10,000 points! I think I will be switching airlines.

 

[Mom2m&k]

Did you try both Boston and Manchester? We fly over this last april vacation and it was a total of $800 cheaper for us to fly out of Boston. Sure it sucked having to drive 45minutes versus 15 but it was worth the savings!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I wanted to add that if you are traveling outside of school vacation week, I have seen the price drop by waiting. However, 'the Wanna Get Away" fares always sell out for the last two weeks in February and April for Manchester, NH airport. I got mine for $112 and $125 for travel school vacation week (February) on the day they came out last year. I monitored it for a friend and they were completely sold out and/or as much as international travel by the time she made the decision to go.

Southwest seems to know that Mass and then New Hampshire are on vacation those weeks and sock it to us. Supply and demand stinks sometimes.

Yes, it's like that for us too. NJ public schools close 2 days for a teachers convention in Atlantic City the 1st week of Nov which coincides with Election Day. So many families take the other 2 days off and travel that the week has been nick named Jersey Week by CMs. All the airlines know and jack up prices. I'm just glad DCL doesn't take advantage. It's a relatively inexpensive time to cruise.

 

[Maggie Lizer]

Southwest has a selection button, you can see how much the flight is, or you can select to see how many points it would take. To give you some idea, a flight from Milwaukee to MCO was $139 one way which equaled out to about 750 points. If you do not have enough points, they will let you purchase points. We needed just a few more for our flight in February and it cost me about exactly what we would have paid out of pocket for that flight.

When was this the conversion rate from dollar fares to points? I am looking at direct flights from BWI to MCO, for $98 one way, and the point price is over 5,000.

For 3 people, round trip from BWI in Feb on weekday flights, I am finding roughly 33,000 points are needed to cover the flights.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Did you try both Boston and Manchester? We fly over this last april vacation and it was a total of $800 cheaper for us to fly out of Boston. Sure it sucked having to drive 45minutes versus 15 but it was worth the savings!

We have also driven to Providence, RI (Greene). It's a nice, little airport. Cheap to park! If you are a New Hampshire school vacation traveler, the prices are low that week because RI doesn't share the same school vacation as NH.