Southwest booking tips?

[lodgelady]

O.K. - I tried to be a good DisBoard member by doing the search on this topic, but it didn't get me the info I am looking for.....

What is the VooDoo involved in being in -the- know about when Southwest opens up it's booking windows? Is there a rule of thumb?

Is it better to call? Will the reservationists tell you a date you can start to book your flight?

I do like Southwest, but it is a hard situation for an obsessive planner to not be able to make plane ressies when the room has already been booked for months!

Thanks Thanks Thanks!!

 

[lindaso]

I will second that emotion. Waiting for Southwest is driving me a little batty b/c our entire trip depends on whether I can catch a decent fare. We haven't told the kids out of fear we'll have to scrap the plans. Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated!!

 

[mareed]

The rule of thumb is that Southwest books 4-6 months ahead of time. I have seen some posts here with historical dates that the schedule has been extended. To get an idea of the usual airfare prices, check for dates that are on the schedule now that correspond to the days of the week that you plan to travel. Also go ahead and check other airlines for your travel dates so you know what price you're trying to beat. Realize that most often the other airlines will lower their prices to meet Southwest's once Southwest extends the schedule, so if another airline has preferable flight times, you might be able to book there at a better price later.

Another thing I do is check the Rapid Rewards FAQ to find out which days are blacked out for using Rapid Reward award tickets. These generally correspond to heavily travelled days and most likely Southwest won't be releasing the low-price fares for these days. I generally adjust my travel dates to NOT travel on one of these blackout days even if I'm not using an award ticket. This means we're returning from our Spring Break trip on March 12 which is Saturday because the 13th is blocked out.

Hope this helps! We love Southwest and between our flights and our Southwest visa, we average 2 free flights a year!

 

[bratray]

I guess there is no real "rule of thumb" for when SW will post dates past 4/1/2005

i have a DCL planned for 5/6/2005 and the best advise i can give is to check the SW boards at least twice a day

the SW reservationist told me that there is no guarantee as to when my dates will open & to just keep my eyes open to the SW online reservation system

as soon as the dates open many Dis members are kind enough to post on this board; alerting everyone who is waiting

oh well, i guess we will just have to be patient

 

[jimmiej]

Originally posted by lodgelady

Is it better to call?

The reservationist will be looking at the same screen you are. Although I like to talk to a real person when booking hotel, air, etc., I've found SWA's site to be quite easy to manuever.