Southwest April 2018

[NickBCV]

we flew last april also and got decent fare... 1,3ish for 3 roundtrip nonstop flights out of BDL on SW. last year was the first year in MANY that JB was too high and we went with SW. I am hoping for the 1300 range again with SW or less! right now American has flights for that price with a small layover. we dont ever do layovers but who knows! JB is over 2,000 for 3, and Spirit now is around 1,500. We have been doing spring in disney since 1997. The airfare game always is stressful!

We flew last April too and I got a SW flight for four roundtrip non-stop for around $1,200 for all of us. Here is hoping I can get that again.

 

[no one]

we flew last april also and got decent fare... 1,3ish for 3 roundtrip nonstop flights out of BDL on SW. last year was the first year in MANY that JB was too high and we went with SW. I am hoping for the 1300 range again with SW or less! right now American has flights for that price with a small layover. we dont ever do layovers but who knows! JB is over 2,000 for 3, and Spirit now is around 1,500. We have been doing spring in disney since 1997. The airfare game always is stressful!

Certainly is stressful. I was just shocked back in 2016 and honestly we had not flown much before but I was watching these boards for months before the booking and saw what people were getting in other parts of the country and it was nowhere near what we had to pay in NE. I just looked back at the thread I started in 2016 and it did get up to 4 pages, people all confirmed that the prices were crazy, a few were leaving from BDL. The WGA fares were never released for those flights, despite several people saying they would be released in the future. Again the Sat to Sat nonstop was the killer. This time leaving Wednesday should be much better, yes it is taking the kids out of school a couple of days but it will be worth it. Plus I will have a couple of days head start on getting the FP for FOP over all the other NE travelers, lol.

 

[NickBCV]

Certainly is stressful. I was just shocked back in 2016 and honestly we had not flown much before but I was watching these boards for months before the booking and saw what people were getting in other parts of the country and it was nowhere near what we had to pay in NE. I just looked back at the thread I started in 2016 and it did get up to 4 pages, people all confirmed that the prices were crazy, a few were leaving from BDL. The WGA fares were never released for those flights, despite several people saying they would be released in the future. Again the Sat to Sat nonstop was the killer. This time leaving Wednesday should be much better, yes it is taking the kids out of school a couple of days but it will be worth it. Plus I will have a couple of days head start on getting the FP for FOP over all the other NE travelers, lol.

Good strategy. I was thinking going over rather than leaving early...that way the kids go back to school a little late from Spring break.

 

[no one]

Good strategy. I was thinking going over rather than leaving early...that way the kids go back to school a little late from Spring break.

That works well also, we did that this last spring. We went to London Friday night and came back the following Monday. Frustrating that those flights were much cheaper than Florida fares.
Back in 2016 we did think of NYC, that was recommended by a few people here. In the end we wanted our first trip to Disney with the kids to be easy, driving down there, staying ovenight possibly and then getting to the airport all would have been a pain to save a few dollars.

 

[NickBCV]

That works well also, we did that this last spring. We went to London Friday night and came back the following Monday. Frustrating that those flights were much cheaper than Florida fares.
Back in 2016 we did think of NYC, that was recommended by a few people here. In the end we wanted our first trip to Disney with the kids to be easy, driving down there, staying ovenight possibly and then getting to the airport all would have been a pain to save a few dollars.

For sure....It would have to really be a big savings to hit NYC. I'd probably pay an extra $400 to have the convenience of BDL.

 

[momtwoboys]

Certainly is stressful. I was just shocked back in 2016 and honestly we had not flown much before but I was watching these boards for months before the booking and saw what people were getting in other parts of the country and it was nowhere near what we had to pay in NE. I just looked back at the thread I started in 2016 and it did get up to 4 pages, people all confirmed that the prices were crazy, a few were leaving from BDL. The WGA fares were never released for those flights, despite several people saying they would be released in the future. Again the Sat to Sat nonstop was the killer. This time leaving Wednesday should be much better, yes it is taking the kids out of school a couple of days but it will be worth it. Plus I will have a couple of days head start on getting the FP for FOP over all the other NE travelers, lol.

for REAL last april was the first time in years that JB was nuts... it was crazy. thankfully SW was doable. Last summer SW released in July too so this extra few weeks waiting isnt helping

 

[no one]

for REAL last april was the first time in years that JB was nuts... it was crazy. thankfully SW was doable. Last summer SW released in July too so this extra few weeks waiting isnt helping

Thankfully this year is better than in 2015 when I booked for April 2016. Back then they did not release the flight schedule until 10/27, so it complicated the ADR plans a little since we had to make those before knowing our flights.

 

[momtwoboys]

Thankfully this year is better than in 2015 when I booked for April 2016. Back then they did not release the flight schedule until 10/27, so it complicated the ADR plans a little since we had to make those before knowing our flights.

ahhh yes that year we booked JB in July. That had been the routine for years... July release book for following April oh JB you stink now! hahahaaaaa

 

[no one]

ahhh yes that year we booked JB in July. That had been the routine for years... July release book for following April oh JB you stink now! hahahaaaaa

Lol, I remember looking at JB and thinking where the heck are the low fares everyone talks about with them. But I guess just started that year with the higher fares. They were about $800 more than SW back then. Its not good there is not more competition on these flights.

 

[buzzrelly]

OP here…we flew BDL to MCO in April 2016, as well. I don't recall our fares being over $400 RT each. If I had to pay $900 each I would never have gone, or I would drive. That's insane!

Also, maybe since we are still all here planning for April 2018, I will change the thread title so more people can join in the fun of waiting with us!

 

[no one]

OP here…we flew BDL to MCO in April 2016, as well. I don't recall our fares being over $400 RT each. If I had to pay $900 each I would never have gone, or I would drive. That's insane!

Also, maybe since we are still all here planning for April 2018, I will change the thread title so more people can join in the fun of waiting with us!

Thanks, that will be helpful for everyone, it is fun to see everyone look for their flights the day they are released. I dont know what happened back in 2016, I had started the thread "Crazy NE airfares" and everyone was seeing crazy prices. After booking the day of release I kept checking until about 90 days before and the fares just never changed much, at most went up about $20, never down. Again part of it was being Sat to Sat, non-stop, the flights were prime, morning 7:45 from PVD and the return was leaving MCO at 1:05. Part of it also was they never released WGA fares for those flights, despite everyone saying they would eventually.

 

[no one]

A PP mentioned the issue of being able to book the flights quickly when you have multiple members in your party. I do remember last time that the fares changed instantly when they were released. I was on at 6am and kept refreshing every minute until they came out. So does anybody else have any tricks to be able to book quickly, ie can you enter your party names and RR numbers ahead of time?

 

[buzzrelly]

A PP mentioned the issue of being able to book the flights quickly when you have multiple members in your party. I do remember last time that the fares changed instantly when they were released. I was on at 6am and kept refreshing every minute until they came out. So does anybody else have any tricks to be able to book quickly, ie can you enter your party names and RR numbers ahead of time?

I don't, but I hope someone does! One year I was too slow and ended up losing my daughter's fare. By the time I called and got through to someone, it was much more expensive!

 

[Princess Minnie321]

I am also worried about losing a good fare while trying to book. I already transferred my chase points to my south west account. I am hoping to maybe fly down the Sunday or Monday of April vacation to get a lower cost instead of the Friday or Saturday it starts. I was looking at all flight times for the end of march with southwest and they did not have good Monday nonstop times. I am hoping since it is April vacation that maybe they will have better times. It should not be this stressful to go on vacation!

 

[momtwoboys]

I am also worried about losing a good fare while trying to book. I already transferred my chase points to my south west account. I am hoping to maybe fly down the Sunday or Monday of April vacation to get a lower cost instead of the Friday or Saturday it starts. I was looking at all flight times for the end of march with southwest and they did not have good Monday nonstop times. I am hoping since it is April vacation that maybe they will have better times. It should not be this stressful to go on vacation!

last april we flew out on the Monday morning, and it was an early nonstop flight!

 

[richmo]

I booked on that date (PHL-MCO) when late March opened up. Just yesterday I was able to take a $28 credit on the return flight since there was a price drop...so, it never hurts to check back now and then and see if fares have improved.

 

[NickBCV]

It's 6:18 AM and no Southwest bookings available yet for later in April 2018...i keep refreshing and nothing!

 

[LadyBeBop]

Sorry. Nothing to see here.

 

[KayW]

This is my first time booking Southwest. What time do they usually go online?

They are open now

 

[buzzrelly]

This is my first time booking Southwest. What time do they usually go online?

They are up now.

I just got my return flights…ouch! All totaled it came to $1000 for 4 of us, but that included EBCI for 4. So my round trip for April 4-15, BDL to MCO and back cost about $1600. I guess that's what I thought it would, but a small part of me was still hoping to see some lower prices. Oh well…at least I can stop thinking about airfare now!

Good luck, everyone!