Southwest - friends fly free and play free!

[Dubb]

Has anyone else seen this deal? I am very tempted to book a trip now!

 

[grimley1968]

I haven't seen this, but you have me intrigued. Please post details.

 

[JimboCh]

http://www.southwestvacations.com/s...710&Referrer=S0114&int=HOMEWNEW03WDWFFF090713

 

[unctigger]

Right??

 

[grimley1968]

Looks like it's any SW airport to WDW. Travel must be on Monday through Thursday. Looks like you also have to book it as part of a package (flight + something else). Not a bad-looking deal, but we won't be able to use it.

 

[robinb]

Hmmm ... that could be interesting. If I was traveling within the promotional period, it would be worth looking into .

 

[grimley1968]

Hmmm ... that could be interesting. If I was traveling within the promotional period, it would be worth looking into .

The more I look at that deal, the more sad I become. I just can't travel to WDW on Mondays through Thursdays, with our family's school-reliant schedule.

But if I could ... whew! For instance, we weren't planning on flying (driving's not so bad from southern Kentucky), but the Poly with "free" dining (and rack rates) would have been over $4,200 for a garden view room. The Poly with this deal (not including dining but including the flight and rental car) would be around $3,600, for the same week-long time period. Very, very nice savings, especially for people who live farther away than us and cannot drive. I didn't see every WDW resort listed eligible for this, but I saw a lot of them, including the Port Orleans resorts.

I'm so I can't do this.

 

[Tara]

I just priced this for the same trip I'm planning now and it is not a better deal than just booking my flights and car myself. (you can combine package elements - doesn't have to include hotel)

I had already priced airfare for 3 at $758, and the vacation quote for airfare (with one person free!) AND an economy size car was $955. Clearly the vacations are not using web only, wanna get away fares. This obviously doesn't include the "play free" option of saving money on the passes - which might make the overall deal better. But for the flights, it isn't the way to go IMO.

Also, if you book a Southwest Vacation, you get paper tickets, meaning you are not eligible to check in online 24 hours in advance. You can only check in at the airport.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also, if you book a Southwest Vacation, you get paper tickets, meaning you are not eligible to check in online 24 hours in advance. You can only check in at the airport.

I do believe they have changed this, just inside of the last year...

 

[Tara]

I do believe they have changed this, just inside of the last year...

Oh, then that's good news! I stand corrected!

 

[rlduvall]

At first glance, it seems like a great deal, especially with a free park hopper ticket included.

I ran 6 nights at POR, one adult, one child and it quoted me $1,887. for 10-14 through 10-20. I figured the room @ $145. [may be a little low for regular season] a night x 6 x 12.5% tax = $978. Park Hopper ticket for one adult = $303. + $978. = $1,281. That leaves $606. as the supposed cost for one person's airfare from Oklahoma. Of course, that's really 2 airplane tickets and a 6 day park hopper for a child.

It's a decent deal.

 

[Dubb]

I just priced this for the same trip I'm planning now and it is not a better deal than just booking my flights and car myself. (you can combine package elements - doesn't have to include hotel)

It clearly says that to be eligible for the friends fly free, the package must include flight and hotel. Sure, you have to option to search for flight + car, but it does not include a free flight.

 

[MS_mom_1965]

I priced out this SW offer and it comes up with with exact same price I had through my PIN offer from Disney. The difference? I booked my airfare separately so I am paying around $240 more, but I am also getting free dining by booking through Disney. So, it's pretty much the same value as the free dining offer from Disney.

 

[JimboCh]

I priced out this SW offer and it comes up with with exact same price I had through my PIN offer from Disney. The difference? I booked my airfare separately so I am paying around $240 more, but I am also getting free dining by booking through Disney. So, it's pretty much the same value as the free dining offer from Disney.

In the biginning there is a place to upgrade the room to get the free Dining.

 

[rlduvall]

In the biginning there is a place to upgrade the room to get the free Dining.

My impression - and I have been playing around with it - is that you have to pick your promotion with the Friends Fly Free deal. In other words, either you get free dining and buy MYW tickets for everyone, or get one free MYW ticket for every one bought. They price out pretty similar for small groups.

 

[Dubb]

I guess it depends on when you are going. This deal has dates in December, but free dining is not offered until then.

 

[Baloo76]

I was actually looking at this too, and I can save a few hundred $ through this deal...but...by booking through disney I believe I can pay a deposit and don't have to pay the full vacation price at once, correct?

And with SW I assume I would have to pay the full vacation price up front?

 

[Tara]

It clearly says that to be eligible for the friends fly free, the package must include flight and hotel. Sure, you have to option to search for flight + car, but it does not include a free flight.

Yeah, after I realized this, I went back and did it for my sister's family for the same dates/trip, choosing flight + hotel (+ admission). Booking at POP it still came to $1600 using the package but $1400 if I book flights and admission separately. Since we're DVC members, we don't pay hotel costs anyway, so that's where the package doesn't work for us. I ran it again to include car rental, but it still wasn't a saving...given car rental prices, I would have considered paying for the unused POP room if the package with car had been anywhere close in price!

I think it isn't as good a deal for an odd number of people (this quote was for 2 adults and a 2yo), especially if the 3rd is a child who would be ticketed for air travel but wouldn't need theme park admission. Glad it can help others, though!

 

[DMRick]

We booked it in June for September. Both the 2 adults and the 2 adults 2 older children worked out to be a bit cheaper than the free dining through Disney. We also saved on SW's Univeral ticket, which was BOGO on the same package.

 

[Nie0214]

Has anyone else tried this deal? I'm not sure if I would want to book with SW over Disney. I have a Free Dining PIN, and I'm trying to weigh them against eachother.