Southwest Flights available NOW through Oct

[MammerJammer]

I was up at 8:00am booking my flights. I got 99 each way BUF to MCO, I booked the 8:00am departure and 7:45pm return times. My total for 6 people was 1327 including early bird check-in. By mid morning they had jumped to 115 down and 247 back! I remember this happening last year when I booked for the same week, August 27-Sept 4. The prices seemed to stay in that range. So relieved to have this piece of my vacation planning behind me....

My flights are gone now The best I can do is an early morning flight there and a late night flight home.

Has anyone done late night flights with young children?

 

[Hockeyfan17]

My flights are gone now The best I can do is an early morning flight there and a late night flight home.

Has anyone done late night flights with young children?

We have done late night flights home with our girls, and it hasn't been too much of a problem. They are very good travelers, but we have not had any issues. They were 3 and 6 when we first did the late night flights home.

 

[MammerJammer]

Thank you! My youngest will be 3. Maybe we can tack on a hotel room at the end of the flight vs. driving 4 1/2 hrs home.

 

[han22735]

Thank you! My youngest will be 3. Maybe we can tack on a hotel room at the end of the flight vs. driving 4 1/2 hrs home.

My daughter was 3 for her first flight last November and our flight left MCO at 8:55 pm and arrived in Boston around midnight. She feel asleep about 10 minutes after takeoff and we woke her after landing. However we only had a 30 minute ride home. She was great the next day with no issues from the late flight.

 

[mastermind307]

I'm glad I booked my flights as soon as they were available. Flight at 9:50am from Indy to MCO, $132/person. Flight at 10:40am from MCO to Indy, $123/person. Price jumped from $132 to $150 an hour after I booked. When I checked yesterday, those flights were sold out. $834 for 3 people including early bird check in.

 

[han22735]

Glad I booked the first day as same flights went up $80 per person.

 

[Pixiedust530]

OK...so I had Feb. 26 as the date for flights to be released. I realize after reading here that they were released a full week early. SOOOOO frustrating.

I fly out of Louisville and on Saturdays there have consistently been 9 flights out of Louisville to MCO and 6-7 return flight from MCO to Louisville. Of those 9 and 7, there are usually 3 NS options TO MCO and 2-3 NS options FROM MCO. We have always booked early morning NS to MCO and late afternoon/early evening return NS from MCO. NEVER been a problem.

When I go look at flights today, there are a whopping 5 flights TO MCO and 3 return flights from MCO. Of those flights, there is only 1 NS there and 1 NS home (which is SOLD OUT in the WGA fare). The times on these NS flights STINK!!! I am NOT happy...and haven't booked anything yet.

The only reason I even stumbled on the fact that flights were already out was because I stumbled upon a "suggested post" in my Facebook News Feed advertising a Southwest Fare Sale through 2/26/15. I go to check out prices...because why not? Who cares if our dates aren't released, only to discover October flights have already been released.

SO...here is my million dollar question... Am I the only one that thinks maybe SWA only released SOME of their scheduled flights for Aug-Oct (since I noticed MANY folks here complaining of limited flights and yucky NS flight times) and that once the fare sale ends on Feb. 26 (the ORIGINAL Fall flight release date) that SWA will open more flights on the Aug-Oct dates? I really would like to hear your all's feedback

I mean....if I was a business woman this would be logical to me...release the crappy flights first ON SALE and fill some of those up, then take the sale away and release the flights that ALWAYS sell well at higher prices. Isn't that just "GOOD BUSINESS" (at least for the business). LOL

HELP...I need Pixiedust and hope that more flights are coming.

 

[smitch425]

I hope they release more, but as far as I know, the normal schedule from Dayton was fully released. The Southwest site had the release date as the 19th for a couple weeks. So sorry you missed out! Fingers crossed for you!!!

 

[laurenfratt]

Okay...just checked out the flights from NH to Orlando. The prices are good for me...$ 115.00 each way.The morning flight is a tad early, 6:45 a.m. but I'll take it. I was hoping to catch an afternoon flight home so I could enjoy a leisurely breakfast before the plane ride home....but the only afternoon flight back is $ 80.00 more! So, I will adjust my plans home or I'll suck it up and pay the extra $ to enjoy my morning. I am a November trip....so the times and prices may be different. But...I have been checking various dates and times for the last six months and the offerings seem to stay relatively around the same (at least for the times of the non-stop flights). The non-stop flights are limited to only one and sometimes two times. The prices seem to go up the closer you get to your dates. So as soon as November comes out...I'm booking!

Us too! October 31st to November 9th. Hoping for decent flight times from MHT! We don't mind early flights on the way there, but coming home it def ruins the day! Good luck getting the ones you want!!

 

[Poohlovr]

IDK about them not adding all flights. We got an 0600 flight NS out of SDF to MCO for $91 and the return NS flight at 4:45 pm for $124. Both flights are on a Saturday, but not until August.
I kinda go with the thinking of others that the merger has simply caused changes and this is now what it is.

 

[MammerJammer]

Can someone please tell me how their anniversary sale works?

So, you take the flights that are already on the site and discount those?

So, I could get a decent time, at a reduced rate, but with a stopover, if I wait (assuming seats are still available at the time of the sale).

Thanks.

 

[katallo]

When is their anniversary sale?

 

[phillymummer]

I think since the merger flights have really changed. I'm a little surprised we have to wait until May 14th to book the next segment of our trip. Thought they might release in April.

I thought that was a long time, too. Any chance the date will be moved up?

 

[DebbieB]

IDK about them not adding all flights. We got an 0600 flight NS out of SDF to MCO for $91 and the return NS flight at 4:45 pm for $124. Both flights are on a Saturday, but not until August.
I kinda go with the thinking of others that the merger has simply caused changes and this is now what it is.

Even though Disney and Orlando is the center of many people's world on here, it's not for the airline industry. They make their big profits on business people who book last minute and don't care about high fares because the company is paying. Orlando is not a big business destination, so they are putting their planes where they can make the most money, at times business people prefer.

 

[Pixiedust530]

IDK about them not adding all flights. We got an 0600 flight NS out of SDF to MCO for $91 and the return NS flight at 4:45 pm for $124. Both flights are on a Saturday, but not until August.
I kinda go with the thinking of others that the merger has simply caused changes and this is now what it is.

These are the exact flight I would LOVE to have. I am assuming you are traveling Aug 1 and 8. Aug. 1 was part of the last group of flights released. Aug. 8 I know was in the most recent release of flights. However, if you look at the fare calendar for a mere 2 weeks out from your Aug dates...and continuing all the way through October, the number of flights offered on Saturdays is drastically reduced and gone are the NS early mornings and NS late afternoon returns. We are looking at travel Oct. 3 and 10 and the choices are just BLECH!

 

[Pixiedust530]

Even though Disney and Orlando is the center of many people's world on here, it's not for the airline industry. They make their big profits on business people who book last minute and don't care about high fares because the company is paying. Orlando is not a big business destination, so they are putting their planes where they can make the most money, at times business people prefer.

I beg to differ about Orlando not being a big business destination. There are almost ALWAYS big business conference going on in Orlando. And just doing a quick spot check of airports surrounding me, (Indy, Nashville, etc) it appears that the sheer number of flights to/from Orlando for these latest release dates have almost cut in half. I find it hard to believe that SWA has CUT that many flights in/out of Orlando.

 

[DebbieB]

I beg to differ about Orlando not being a big business destination. There are almost ALWAYS big business conference going on in Orlando. And just doing a quick spot check of airports surrounding me, (Indy, Nashville, etc) it appears that the sheer number of flights to/from Orlando for these latest release dates have almost cut in half. I find it hard to believe that SWA has CUT that many flights in/out of Orlando.

Conference travel is similar to vacation travel, it is planned in advance when you can get a good fare. If SW or any airline was making good money on Orlando flights, they would not be cutting them. It's a matter of where they can make the most money with the planes they have. If they push the fares up, vacation people will start driving. Those are just my thoughts on the reason. What are yours?

 

[phillymummer]

I have another question.... does the flight schedule change with each release? I am looking at the flight times for October (Philly- MCO) and wondering if the same times will be available the first week in Nov.

 

[Pixiedust530]

Conference travel is similar to vacation travel, it is planned in advance when you can get a good fare. If SW or any airline was making good money on Orlando flights, they would not be cutting them. It's a matter of where they can make the most money with the planes they have. If they push the fares up, vacation people will start driving. Those are just my thoughts on the reason. What are yours?

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part....hoping that more flights will be released. After you mentioned Orlando not being a big business destination, I started looking at other locales that SW flies to out of Louisville. To name a few I checked New York, Newark, Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Vegas...just to get an idea. It looks like compared to previous flight schedules, SW has cut the number of flights to and from all of these destinations out of Louisville by about half with their most recent release. This just leads me to believe further that SW didn't release their full schedule for Aug-October with last week's release.

I guess I just find it hard to believe that SW is cutting that many flights total in and out of Louisville. I even looked at surrounding airports (Indy and Nashville) and it looks like their offerings are about half as well. IDK...call me crazy. I guess you are right though that if they keep pushing fares up that vacation people will start driving. Funny thing though....even though they have cut the number of flights, the fares are cheaper! Weird.

 

[smitch425]

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part....hoping that more flights will be released. After you mentioned Orlando not being a big business destination, I started looking at other locales that SW flies to out of Louisville. To name a few I checked New York, Newark, Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Vegas...just to get an idea. It looks like compared to previous flight schedules, SW has cut the number of flights to and from all of these destinations out of Louisville by about half with their most recent release. This just leads me to believe further that SW didn't release their full schedule for Aug-October with last week's release.

I guess I just find it hard to believe that SW is cutting that many flights total in and out of Louisville. I even looked at surrounding airports (Indy and Nashville) and it looks like their offerings are about half as well. IDK...call me crazy. I guess you are right though that if they keep pushing fares up that vacation people will start driving. Funny thing though....even though they have cut the number of flights, the fares are cheaper! Weird.

Did you check Dayton? It's about 2 1/2 hours from Louisville. All of our family lives in So. Indiana, so we make that drive several times a year. It isn't bad at all.