Southwest Flight Sold Out in an Hour?

[CapnJacksGirl]

I'm waiting to see what happens too. We're flying from MSP in October and the schedule is crazy right now. No flights available either way after 2:30 pm. On the way down, it shows no flights at all. On the way back, there are three but they are either showing Sold Out (on WGA) or Unavailable. And there is no nonstop at all. I guess I got spoiled with how easy it has been in recent years to get a good flight and will have to be patient and keep checking for something that will work.

 

[DonaldandGoofy]

I'm waiting to see what happens too. We're flying from MSP in October and the schedule is crazy right now. No flights available either way after 2:30 pm. On the way down, it shows no flights at all. On the way back, there are three but they are either showing Sold Out (on WGA) or Unavailable. And there is no nonstop at all. I guess I got spoiled with how easy it has been in recent years to get a good flight and will have to be patient and keep checking for something that will work.

It appears to be everywhere as I am facing the same issues flying from Denver to Orlando and Tampa back to Denver. My flights opened up but opened really expensive so I chose to wait. After waiting a couple of weeks with the flights open, they went to "sold out" on WGA for all non-stop flights. The flight to Orlando finally opened back up for $161 so I grabbed that, now looking for a flight back. Tampa to Denver still has not opened back up and I have been waiting about 3 weeks now. Funny thing is all the non-stop flights for a two week window when I want to fly back are sold out for non-stop which is impossible. I am sure it will eventually open back up but the waiting is brutal. I check probably 6 times a day. Still waiting.......I cringe at the option of having to do a 1 stop somewhere to get back.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

SWA uses a tier stucture for the WGA fares. First they offer some many seats at one price then when they sell out they will increases the price slightly for the next number of seats and so forth.

So keep checking you never know what will happen.

 

[seashoreCM]

IYesterday I woke up and purchased our flights for a Wednesday arrival and return in late August and the flights sold out in an hour..

Are you sure that the website said the entire plane was sold out? Did you try to test-book an unrestricted fare or a business fare (although not go so far as to click the Buy button)?

Perhaps the reservationist on the phone said that seats were being saved meaning saved for those wishing to buy into a higher fare bucket.

Not sure which if any airlines have the claim feature on their public booking websites. This could cause fare buckets to show sold out for brief, say, 30 minute, periods of time after which the seats reappear. Travel agents generaly have the privilege of claiming the seats while they type in the clients' names and credit card numbers. Without the claim feature, you might click the Buy button and the system rejects everything you did because someone else typed faster and bought the seats out from under you.

 

[3happydancers]

We own at BWV but are staying at BCV this time. Our favorite for summer trips. Love AKV and visit it every time we are in WDW. Sanna is my absolute favorite restaurant.

We stayed at the BCV 2 years ago and loved it!!! The Epcot resorts are the best in the way of location. My family enjoyed the closeness of Epcot and HS and my daughter loved the ability to stroll the boardwalk and pin trade (not to mention the pools are fabulous!) This year we are back home at AKL, club level, to celebrate DD and her BFF's 16th birthday.

 

[3happydancers]

I am on Long Island as well

I think we will see these flights open up for a high price in the next few weeks. Or flights were sold for 109.00 but we used our SW points for travel this time. Amazing deal for my family but my BIL and is family are now stuck either going to JFK or connecting on SW.

By the way, you were right. SWA opened those non stop flights sometime between late last night and this morning. I booked my SIL on a Sunday flight, more than I wanted to pay, but I used points. I will keep an eye open; maybe the price will drop and I'll get some points back. How did you make out?

 

[Mich Mouse]

By the way, you were right. SWA opened those non stop flights sometime between late last night and this morning. I booked my SIL on a Sunday flight, more than I wanted to pay, but I used points. I will keep an eye open; maybe the price will drop and I'll get some points back. How did you make out?

The flight I am on was 109.00 the morning it was released, it is now 270.00. BIG difference.

I texted BIL this morning to see what he wants to do. I've been checking the website everyday!!

Love AKL, your 'home' and can't wait to stay there again. DVC never gets old for our family.

 

[Kat913]

Hi am also from long island with same SW issues. Was on at 6 am when flights were finally opened up for our august dates. We needed 6 tickets & couldn't get a direct flight either way WGA rates all sold out ! Not only that when we went to book the connecting one my dh was in the middle of typing in our credit card info & they took the tickets off as he was typing- the tickets had gone up 30 dollars a ticket AS he was typing! We called & were able to book at the price we were typing. Connecting flights both ways more than we wanted to spend. Not only that but when I checked our e-mail confofmation later that afternoon the SW lady had us booked on the wrong day coming home!! Called again & straightened it out. A few days later we were able to call again & switch to a direct flight coming home at a cheaper rate. Totally crazy especially since SW is the last airline to open up flights in august at this late stage. Pretty much all other airlines going at same time out of jfk & LG are either sold out or about 1000 dollars round trip.

 

[seenellie81]

We had the same issues from buffalo on the day they opened late august. While we wer typing our info in the prices went up $20. We still grabbed them. That was to Mco. Flying home from Tampa to buffalo they were the same. Still can't complain to much I wanted to airfare for the 4 of us for under a grand, it came out to about 950. At least is stayed in budget.

 

[3happydancers]

The flight I am on was 109.00 the morning it was released, it is now 270.00. BIG difference.

I texted BIL this morning to see what he wants to do. I've been checking the website everyday!!

Love AKL, your 'home' and can't wait to stay there again. DVC never gets old for our family.

Our flight down was 109.00 too! Can't beat that all considering but coming home I couldn't get it below 144.00 for the non stop so I took it. I figured being I paid with points if the rate goes down and I catch it, SWA will credit my account.

I did change SIL's flight from a Sat to Sun (the day she wanted to come home) this morning when I saw they opened the WGA prices but guess what...NOT SO CHEAP! One way was 306.00 I did not want to chance her getting locked out. I had enough points so I booked it that way in hopes the price will go down.

We are going from Aug 19th to the 29th. How about you?

Hi am also from long island with same SW issues. Was on at 6 am when flights were finally opened up for our august dates. We needed 6 tickets & couldn't get a direct flight either way WGA rates all sold out ! Not only that when we went to book the connecting one my dh was in the middle of typing in our credit card info & they took the tickets off as he was typing- the tickets had gone up 30 dollars a ticket AS he was typing! We called & were able to book at the price we were typing. Connecting flights both ways more than we wanted to spend. Not only that but when I checked our e-mail confofmation later that afternoon the SW lady had us booked on the wrong day coming home!! Called again & straightened it out. A few days later we were able to call again & switch to a direct flight coming home at a cheaper rate. Totally crazy especially since SW is the last airline to open up flights in august at this late stage. Pretty much all other airlines going at same time out of jfk & LG are either sold out or about 1000 dollars round trip.

Hi Neighbor! I definitely feel your pain. I have to say, this is the year we've experienced such a problem booking flights with SWA. I'm sorry you had such a mix-up with your flights. You know, don't give up on the non stop flights; you might luck out. I know they opened some WGA non stop flights this morning. As for flying from JFK or LG, I've never had luck. Every time I check, the prices are much higher plus like you said, they release their flights much earlier than SWA. Maybe I should start checking out Jet Blue for future trips.

We had the same issues from buffalo on the day they opened late august. While we wer typing our info in the prices went up $20. We still grabbed them. That was to Mco. Flying home from Tampa to buffalo they were the same. Still can't complain to much I wanted to airfare for the 4 of us for under a grand, it came out to about 950. At least is stayed in budget.

I saw many posts complaining about the same thing. You would think that once you've chosen a flight and are in the middle of finalizing your transaction that it would be locked in. Two thumps up for staying within budget; very hard to do these days!

 

[Mich Mouse]

Our flight down was 109.00 too! Can't beat that all considering but coming home I couldn't get it below 144.00 for the non stop so I took it. I figured being I paid with points if the rate goes down and I catch it, SWA will credit my account.

I did change SIL's flight from a Sat to Sun (the day she wanted to come home) this morning when I saw they opened the WGA prices but guess what...NOT SO CHEAP! One way was 306.00 I did not want to chance her getting locked out. I had enough points so I booked it that way in hopes the price will go down.

We are going from Aug 19th to the 29th. How about you?



Hi Neighbor! I definitely feel your pain. I have to say, this is the year we've experienced such a problem booking flights with SWA. I'm sorry you had such a mix-up with your flights. You know, don't give up on the non stop flights; you might luck out. I know they opened some WGA non stop flights this morning. As for flying from JFK or LG, I've never had luck. Every time I check, the prices are much higher plus like you said, they release their flights much earlier than SWA. Maybe I should start checking out Jet Blue for future trips.



I saw many posts complaining about the same thing. You would think that once you've chosen a flight and are in the middle of finalizing your transaction that it would be locked in. Two thumps up for staying within budget; very hard to do these days!

We are at BCV from the 20-27 with the large family group, but I am arriving on the 14th with my DS (5) and will spend 6 nights at AOA. I have an annual pass, and teach so off for the summer and spending as many days at WDW as possible.

If SW goes down in price and we paid in points will they credit us back points?

 

[3happydancers]

We are at BCV from the 20-27 with the large family group, but I am arriving on the 14th with my DS (5) and will spend 6 nights at AOA. I have an annual pass, and teach so off for the summer and spending as many days at WDW as possible.

If SW goes down in price and we paid in points will they credit us back points?

Yes, that's the beauty about paying with points!

 

[mmbl]

This is not a good sign. We also fly out of Islip. I already told DH that we should start considering other alternatives like driving down. I'd rather that then driving into JFK or LGA. Just to far for us!

Confused: too far to drive from Islip to JFK or LGA or too far to drive from LI-Orlando?

 

[3happydancers]

We are at BCV from the 20-27 with the large family group, but I am arriving on the 14th with my DS (5) and will spend 6 nights at AOA. I have an annual pass, and teach so off for the summer and spending as many days at WDW as possible.

If SW goes down in price and we paid in points will they credit us back points?

Wow, what a nice stretch of a vacation! Your little guy will have a blast. I miss my DD being that little! We try to spend around 12 days a year at the World too. I'm an assistant for our school district but have been home with a broken foot for the last 2 months.

 

[3happydancers]

Confused: too far to drive from Islip to JFK or LGA or too far to drive from LI-Orlando? ��

We always have to change flights in SWA because of local regulations (Wright Amendment) but sometimes the prices are too good to pass up. They almost always beat American, but AA is more convenient. It's a balancing out. Have never gotten a 'sold out' message except on occasion for their fun fares.
Good luck.

The drive from our house to JFK or LGA is about 1 hr 15 min without traffic. (We only live about 10 minutes from Islip). Then we'd have to pay to park our car long term which would cost well over $100.00 as we usually go to the World for about 12 days. Logically, the travel time isn't that bad but you can find yourself sitting in traffic forever! If we had absolutely no other choice then we'd consider the other two airports or plan a road trip to Orlando. I am a teacher assistant so I have off in the summers and DH gets plenty of vacation time. It would be easy to add a few travel days if driving.

We also get the best prices flying SWA and we like the non-stop flights. If we take a connecting flight it can almost double our flying time when usually it takes about 2 hrs 40 min.

 

[LisaS]

If SW goes down in price and we paid in points will they credit us back points?

Yes. Be sure you use the "Change Flight" option (even though you will be selecting the same flight as your "new" flight), do not cancel and rebook. When you "change" your flight, the segment fees you paid (and EBCI if you purchased that) will carry over. If you "cancel" and then rebook, you will have a travel fund credit for the segment fees and will need to pull that up and apply it to the segment fees for the new flight. Since a cancel+rebook results in a new confirmation number you will lose EBCI as well if you applied it to your original flight. When you change your flight you keep the same confirmation number and since EBCI is tied to that number, it will still be there on your "new" flight.

 

[helenk]

I am surprised at how many flights are sold out for my dates as well. I am taking my grand-daughter 8/17 to 8/22. I booked the flight down right away because I was sure of the date we were leaving. I booked from Philadelphia, the 10:40 flight. When I booked the cost was $141, the next day it was up to $214. Now it is sold out. In fact there are 3 flights going down that are sold out already.
The flight home I was not sure about, I was going for just 4 nights, but the flights coming home did not leave us any time in the parks that last day, unless we were leaving MCO at 8:20, getting into Philly close to 11:00 pm just was too late with a 6 year old. So we opted to come home early on Friday, the 10:00 flight coming home is higher than I wanted but I promised my son and wife I would come home early.
I booked with points so fingers crossed the cost will come down...I am trying to get my son and daughter in law to let me take the 12:35 flight home, lower points and we can sleep in a bit our last day

 

[3happydancers]

I am surprised at how many flights are sold out for my dates as well. I am taking my grand-daughter 8/17 to 8/22. I booked the flight down right away because I was sure of the date we were leaving. I booked from Philadelphia, the 10:40 flight. When I booked the cost was $141, the next day it was up to $214. Now it is sold out. In fact there are 3 flights going down that are sold out already.
The flight home I was not sure about, I was going for just 4 nights, but the flights coming home did not leave us any time in the parks that last day, unless we were leaving MCO at 8:20, getting into Philly close to 11:00 pm just was too late with a 6 year old. So we opted to come home early on Friday, the 10:00 flight coming home is higher than I wanted but I promised my son and wife I would come home early.
I booked with points so fingers crossed the cost will come down...I am trying to get my son and daughter in law to let me take the 12:35 flight home, lower points and we can sleep in a bit our last day

I was just curious to know if there was a reason your DGD's parents needed her home early. If you are taking the magical express, you'd need to be at the stop about 3 hours earlier. I know when we did this with our DD when she was your DGR's age, she was not a happy camper. The following year, we flew home late; got in about 10 pm and she did just fine. (Just wanted to share an experience with). If mom and dad are worried that their DD would be too tired, she might surprise them!

 

[DonaldandGoofy]

I am surprised at how many flights are sold out for my dates as well. I am taking my grand-daughter 8/17 to 8/22. I booked the flight down right away because I was sure of the date we were leaving. I booked from Philadelphia, the 10:40 flight. When I booked the cost was $141, the next day it was up to $214. Now it is sold out. In fact there are 3 flights going down that are sold out already.
The flight home I was not sure about, I was going for just 4 nights, but the flights coming home did not leave us any time in the parks that last day, unless we were leaving MCO at 8:20, getting into Philly close to 11:00 pm just was too late with a 6 year old. So we opted to come home early on Friday, the 10:00 flight coming home is higher than I wanted but I promised my son and wife I would come home early.
I booked with points so fingers crossed the cost will come down...I am trying to get my son and daughter in law to let me take the 12:35 flight home, lower points and we can sleep in a bit our last day

I still don't have a flight back and am flying out of Tampa, I have been dealing with the "sold out" nonsense for six weeks now. We fly back the first week of June so things are starting to get closer than I want. Still holding out hope that the "sold out" will open up. I am running out of time to figure this out. Have the flight down, the flight back has been a nightmare.

 

[JaimeA]

I still don't have a flight back and am flying out of Tampa, I have been dealing with the "sold out" nonsense for six weeks now. We fly back the first week of June so things are starting to get closer than I want. Still holding out hope that the "sold out" will open up. I am running out of time to figure this out. Have the flight down, the flight back has been a nightmare.

You are not alone, we have a flight going but haven't booked coming home yet. The flight times we want are sold out of wanna get away fares and we will not take a connecting flight home since it is only a 2 1/2 hr flight. So we sit and wait for it to open up. if not will will extend our trip or fly into another airport on another airline. It does stink being in limbo right now though. I hope it works out for both of us!! Good Luck!!