Southwest Flights

[DisneyStarWisher]

We thought about flying down to WDW over Fall Break the first week of October. The prices are sky-high! We have traveled many times during this week but always drove. I don't know if these high prices are typical or not. If we went later in October, the prices would be cut in half. Does anyone know why such a difference?

 

[FCDub]

Simple: Demand.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Simple: Demand.

I understand that. I just don't understand what makes the first week of October so popular. I know there are fall breaks but does that really make that much of a difference? I am looking at spring break prices and they aren't that high, and that's only a couple weeks away. I also remember looking at flights right before Christmas last year because that's when we will be traveling this year, and they weren't crazy high. I would think the demand would be higher then than any other time. We can usually fly from Nashville for less than $250 each. But the first week of October is at least $300 each way!

 

[a1tinkfans]

Supply and demand, agree with FCDub
That being said...typically..
Best to book either 70 days out or 21 days... and Wednesday and Saturday’s are typically least expensive with Monday and Sunday at higher rates.
Best thing about SW is if ur flight cost goes down , no change fee.
Good Luck!

 

[FCDub]

I understand that. I just don't understand what makes the first week of October so popular. I know there are fall breaks but does that really make that much of a difference? I am looking at spring break prices and they aren't that high, and that's only a couple weeks away. I also remember looking at flights right before Christmas last year because that's when we will be traveling this year, and they weren't crazy high. I would think the demand would be higher then than any other time. We can usually fly from Nashville for less than $250 each. But the first week of October is at least $300 each way!

No one knows exactly. Every airline uses a complex, proprietary algorithm to price their flights.

 

[Roocatty]

The first week of October is fall break for most of our region. I know the rates have been crazy that week because more families have been going fall break than spring break in my area. I think because then they can do the Halloween party and food and wine.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We thought about flying down to WDW over Fall Break the first week of October. The prices are sky-high! We have traveled many times during this week but always drove. I don't know if these high prices are typical or not. If we went later in October, the prices would be cut in half. Does anyone know why such a difference?

Can you give more information about your travel dates?

I saw that you are from Kentucky so I assumed Louisville as the originating airport. I looked at SWA's flexible dates view and here's what I got:


To get from MCO back to KY:



I'll be honest at least from that glance..that's not skyhigh pricing per way. Actually the average from my home airport of KCI for September was nearly $400 RT though a sale came along and we got it down to under $300 RT and that's non-stop. In our market non-stop is almost always the cheapest however looking at Louisville's market that's not the case. The above pictures are just showing the cheapest option available so of course the particular flight you want could def. be higher.

Now that all being said Columbus Day is October 8th so I can totally see why getting down to Orlando on Saturday the 7th is higher than the Saturdays after the holiday has passed.

Keep in mind different markets have different flight options, different pricing and different sales too.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Can you give more information about your travel dates?

I saw that you are from Kentucky so I assumed Louisville as the originating airport. I looked at SWA's flexible dates view and here's what I got:
View attachment 310540

To get from MCO back to KY:
View attachment 310541


I'll be honest at least from that glance..that's not skyhigh pricing per way. Actually the average from my home airport of KCI for September was nearly $400 RT though a sale came along and we got it down to under $300 RT and that's non-stop. In our market non-stop is almost always the cheapest however looking at Louisville's market that's not the case. The above pictures are just showing the cheapest option available so of course the particular flight you want could def. be higher.

Now that all being said Columbus Day is October 8th so I can totally see why getting down to Orlando on Saturday the 7th is higher than the Saturdays after the holiday has passed.

Keep in mind different markets have different flight options, different pricing and different sales too.

We actually fly out of Nashville. We are almost on the TN border. It's about half the drive time than Louisville. We can fly out of Louisville but prefer not to. And I HATE flying. I can only do nonstop flights due to anxiety issues. But I'm comparing apples to apples here (nonstop flights to nonstop flights) and I'm just shocked at the difference. I have honestly never seen a flight from Nashville to Orlando this high, but I'm also not super experienced since I don't fly often.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We actually fly out of Nashville. We are almost on the TN border. It's about half the drive time than Louisville. We can fly out of Louisville but prefer not to. And I HATE flying. I can only do nonstop flights due to anxiety issues. But I'm comparing apples to apples here (nonstop flights to nonstop flights) and I'm just shocked at the difference. I have honestly never seen a flight from Nashville to Orlando this high, but I'm also not super experienced since I don't fly often.

Thank you for the clarification. I searched Nashville and can see a bit more of what you're saying.

 

[mamamelody2]

When SW flights opened for our dates (Aug 30 to Sept 8) it was over $300 each way. I couldn't believe it. We were waiting for bonus points to hit our account, so didn't book until a month later. By that time, the same flights were $350 round trip. I don't understand airlines pricing algorithms and it seems they play a lot of games. I do think there's a decent chance flight costs will go down for your dates.

 

[yankebabie]

In June S.W. Typically has a big birthday sale so you may see better prices then . We have gotten as low as $89 from Albany, NY to MCO during the birthday sale. We are going mid sept and prices now are ridiculous so I am holding out

 

[Steph01002]

Prices for our flights didn't just go up a little bit for our Sept/Oct flights, but were double what we paid for our July trip round ticket. I keep checking back for cheaper fall flights and they went up. I actually looked into the bus service that goes from our area to a few stops in FL once a week. Might be worth it to spend a whole day on a bus each way than book an expensive flight for our family!

 

[focusondisney]

It seems to be the new way SW is doing things. They open reasonable but have very limited amounts of Wanna Get Away fares. The prices increase on opening day & seem to go higher & higher over the next few weeks. At some point, WGA fares for many flights become sold out or unavailable. And then weeks later, they reappear. The problem is, you have to be very diligent about checking for those drops. I mean, sometimes check them several times a day.

I fly out of Buffalo & I started noticing this about SW last spring. When I saw this the first time last year, I checked many cities & noticed the same thing for each city I checked. We have flown to Orlando last May, December & this January. We have flights booked for April & September. It has happened for every one of those trips. The September trip we booked at 14,000 points round trip are now at about 50,000 points. Dollar wise would have been about 250 or less RT & they a e now $340 + each way. These are nonstop flights too. I am absolutely positive there is no way flights will stay at that price for Sept 8 & 14 from Buffalo. Those are Christmas prices. So I now know I have to play the SW game & stalk the site like a fiend to get the best prices. Which is anywhere from $89 - 130 each way. I have played the game & gotten my flights for those good prices for every trip by checking several times a day. The drops happen on random days & times. I have checked & then rechecked 2 hours later & caught a $100 price drop.

OP, start watching flights from your city for different dates & see the trends & prices . You will probably notice something similar & you will then have to stalk, the site to book a decent fare. Good luck!

 

[yankebabie]

Absolutely agree with that!! Bought Christmas Time flights as soon as our date opened cuz that used to be when u got best price. We paid almost $500 and as the weeks went on the price got lower and lower and we ended up with a final price of $164 each way

 

[NJ Goofy]

I would also recommend checking from different computers or finding an app that disguises your computer's address. I was checking SW's rates from my desktop every day, I then checked it from a laptop and got lower rates. It seems once they know you're looking for a certain flight on a specific day, you don't get the best pricing.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would also recommend checking from different computers or finding an app that disguises your computer's address. I was checking SW's rates from my desktop every day, I then checked it from a laptop and got lower rates. It seems once they know you're looking for a certain flight on a specific day, you don't get the best pricing.

Using incognito mode if with Chrome is how I always look for my flights.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Plus Columbus day holiday is Oct 8.

 

[DLgal]

I would also recommend checking from different computers or finding an app that disguises your computer's address. I was checking SW's rates from my desktop every day, I then checked it from a laptop and got lower rates. It seems once they know you're looking for a certain flight on a specific day, you don't get the best pricing.

The problem with this is once you login to your rapid rewards account to buy the flight, the price will go up if you have already searched for flights while signed in elsewhere.

 

[areno79]

I'm finding the same issue with September flights. The only thing I can think is that maybe prices are higher during that time due to the risk of hurricanes and flight cancellations? Totally a shot in the dark here.

 

[WDW_Diane]

We thought about flying down to WDW over Fall Break the first week of October. The prices are sky-high! We have traveled many times during this week but always drove. I don't know if these high prices are typical or not. If we went later in October, the prices would be cut in half. Does anyone know why such a difference?

My experience was the opposite of yours out of OKC on SWA--lowest Fall Break prices I have ever paid to go to WDW (October 3-8). I just booked on Friday.