Southwest Flights

[dorymom67]

Does anyone know what time of day Southwest releases flights? 5am, 10am, noon??? Any guesses?

 

[rosiegmendez]

I spoke with a SW agent today and he said 7am central, but there are not guarantees.

Could be earlier, could be later.

 

[AshleyD1983]

I'm subbing in because I would like to know the answer to this question as well.

 

[Jestocost]

I spoke with a SW agent today and he said 7am central, but there are not guarantees.

Could be earlier, could be later.

It's typically been closer to 5 a.m. CT in the last year or two.

 

[TJDisneymama]

are they supposed to releasing flights today?

 

[Jestocost]

are they supposed to releasing flights today?

No. Next Monday (10/22) they are scheduled to open for booking through 5/31/13.

 

[momtwoboys]

so 6:00AM eastern time?? Maybe I can get my flights booked before school drop offs

 

[Donna M]

I'll have to get up early. I need the cheap flights.

 

[TJDisneymama]

any chance they will release earlier than monday?

 

[lizzygreen]

Not likely.
Everytime I've been waiting to book with them, they release on the day they say they're going to.

 

[Jestocost]

any chance they will release earlier than monday?

Keep an eye on the Travel Tools page on their Web site. Sometimes they will change the release date (they have at least once this time already) but I've never seen them just randomly open bookings earlier than scheduled.

 

[TJDisneymama]

are AirTran flights released the same day/time as SW?

 

[waltfan42]

With Southwest/Airtran---is it better to buy immediately when the tix become available? Or is it better to wait until the Tues/Wed when it's typically cheaper to buy flights?? Thanks to any frequent fliers with the answers!

 

[TJDisneymama]

i'd like to know that too. I'm torn between booking as soon as they come out monday and spending $ we can't really afford to spend, just so I can get the best "deal"....... or waiting until my other 25k RR points come in next month so I can use those to offset how much $ we spend. But if the best deals really are when first released, then those 25k points may not even be close to what I need to save $.
I.e., say I can get a $200 flight on opening day, and have enough points for 1 flight. so I'd have to pay for 3 flights = $600. a month later my other points come in and those same flights are now $400, plus the points have gone up as well and so even with my extra points I still only have enough for 1 flight. now i Have to buy 3 @ $400 = $1200.
In a perfect scenario flights would still be $200 next month, I'd have enough for 2 flights and only have to pay $400.
It's a gamble and I'm not a good gambler, lol.

 

[AshleyD1983]

With Southwest/Airtran---is it better to buy immediately when the tix become available? Or is it better to wait until the Tues/Wed when it's typically cheaper to buy flights?? Thanks to any frequent fliers with the answers!

I would like to know this too. I am going to be booking 3 round trip flights, mostly using our points. I would be highly aggravated if I bought the tickets on Monday, then Tuesday the price dropped. Does anyone know what would be best? Thanks in advance.

 

[Jestocost]

With Southwest/Airtran---is it better to buy immediately when the tix become available? Or is it better to wait until the Tues/Wed when it's typically cheaper to buy flights?? Thanks to any frequent fliers with the answers!

It depends when you are traveling and from where. Ticket pricing is a matter of supply and demand. If you are flying at a busy time of the year--holidays, summer, etc.--then it is less likely that you will see discounted fares released later on. Even the day of the week or the time of day you plan to travel can make a difference, as vacation travelers generally want to fly on the weekends and on early or late flights. Likewise, if there is a lot of competition out of where you are flying and you have other choices for getting to MCO then you have a better chance of seeing lower fares and discounting.

We generally travel on weekends during high-traffic periods and fly out of STL, where SWA is the only carrier with non-stop flights (other than one AirTran flight per day that seems to come and go). As a result, for our trips we generally see the cheapest prices the day the fares come out and they will go up from there.

If you are traveling in an off season, midweek from a city where you have other choices for non-stop flights (or any flights), then you are more likely to see fares discounted along the way.

 

[TJDisneymama]

thanks, that helped me make my decision (I should book as soon as they come out as it's a somewhat busy week and not a mid-week flight).

Do you know the answer about if AT is released at the same time as SW?

 

[AshleyD1983]

It depends when you are traveling and from where. Ticket pricing is a matter of supply and demand. If you are flying at a busy time of the year--holidays, summer, etc.--then it is less likely that you will see discounted fares released later on. Even the day of the week or the time of day you plan to travel can make a difference, as vacation travelers generally want to fly on the weekends and on early or late flights. Likewise, if there is a lot of competition out of where you are flying and you have other choices for getting to MCO then you have a better chance of seeing lower fares and discounting.

We generally travel on weekends during high-traffic periods and fly out of STL, where SWA is the only carrier with non-stop flights (other than one AirTran flight per day that seems to come and go). As a result, for our trips we generally see the cheapest prices the day the fares come out and they will go up from there.

If you are traveling in an off season, midweek from a city where you have other choices for non-stop flights (or any flights), then you are more likely to see fares discounted along the way.

Hmmmm we will be flying from Houston to Orlando MCO on Thursday, May 2nd. Then we will be returning to Houston on Saturday, May 11th. Our only other option for non stop flights is Continental/United. There are a couple of options that have stops as well. I am so terribly indecisive that I can't decide if it would be better for me to book on Monday when the flights come out, or if I should wait a couple of days. What do you think would be my best bet?

 

[DisMomAmy]

My experience, flying NH school vacation weeks, has been that the return flight on Sunday never goes down. We pull the kids out of school for two days & fly down on Thursdays and those flights have occassionally gone down slightly. For school vacation week, I always book first thing the day the flights come out. I don't think the Thursday flight went down last year so I'm planning to book all of our April flights tomorrow morning. The price of the Sunday flight will go up significantly in a matter of hours.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Hmmmm we will be flying from Houston to Orlando MCO on Thursday, May 2nd. Then we will be returning to Houston on Saturday, May 11th. Our only other option for non stop flights is Continental/United. There are a couple of options that have stops as well. I am so terribly indecisive that I can't decide if it would be better for me to book on Monday when the flights come out, or if I should wait a couple of days. What do you think would be my best bet?

1. There is no Continental/United. The merge is complete; it is United Airlines.

2. Research flight prices and buy when you find a price you can live with.