Southwest is KILLING ME!

[JenB]

I've been trying to book our October flights since yesterday and the system seems to be crashed. Can anyone else get in? And I just get a busy signal when I call. It takes a lot for me to finally decide to pull the trigger and book lol!

 

[katallo]

Unless it just crashed again I was in. I was checking to see if my flights were worth rebooking. They only dropped by 10.00 so I decided not to worry about it. Good luck

 

[JenB]

Thanks! I can get it and select the flights but then it won't let me book them. This is for a Universal Trip...could it be because we are leaving our Disney home lol?

 

[pilferk]

Man, I just wish I could find airfare FROM ANY carrier, in Oct for less then $390 a person. Flying out of BDL (in CT) to MCO, Oct 8th - 18th. Jeesh, the prices are nuts! Hoping we hit "the window" over the next couple of weeks and see those fares drop!

 

[kamik86]

Man, I just wish I could find airfare FROM ANY carrier, in Oct for less then $390 a person. Flying out of BDL (in CT) to MCO, Oct 8th - 18th. Jeesh, the prices are nuts! Hoping we hit "the window" over the next couple of weeks and see those fares drop!

Those prices seemed really high so I checked... Southwest prices for those days are lower $179 each way for the cheapest nonstops... now you may have been quoting both ways but still that is 358

 

[pilferk]

Yeah, quoting round trip. I'm looking for 6 fares. When I quote it out it's $209 and $179. Apparently they only have 4 of the $179 for my departure date.

And $350 is still WAY above our budget, per person. If we can't find $250 or less...we'll drive. It's cheaper!

 

[JenB]

Have you ever looked into Tampa? That's what we were planning on doing before the rates dropped. Even with renting a car, it was significantly cheaper. It's about an hour and 15 from airport to WDW.

 

[pilferk]

Yup, we checked that this week. It was less, but still over $300 ($320, I think, round trip)?

We can drive for roughly $600 ($400 in round trip fuel costs, assuming around $3/gal, 2 nights in a hotel in Roanake Rapids, NC (one down, one back)) in about 18 hours of drive time (+8 hours of overnight). Yes, there's some wear and tear for that 2200 miles of round trip, too. Food costs are usually pretty close to a wash for us, because we end up doing an "airport" meal, both down and back, too.

We don't mind paying a premium to fly, for the convenience...but for 6 of us, even at $320 (plus car rental costs)....that's $1920+, or at least a $1300 "premium".

I hate how much the "low fare" window has collapsed. Until this year, we've booked 6 months, or more, in advance and gotten good fares. Now, it looks like the 90 day mark is "the sweet spot". Yuck.

Sorry for derailing the thread a bit...and thanks for listening to me vent and trying to help.

 

[JenB]

I'm with you on the premium. Sanity IS worth something. Good luck! I've been watching these for months. Luckily, we fly out of BWI so fares are usually ummmm fair? Lol lately though, Orlando has stayed pretty high which is why we started with the Tampa option. That and our daughter is looking at a college around there so that's how we discovered it. Nice, quiet airport

 

[Ranger111]

SWA Web site issues apparently caused by heavy traffic caused by their announced fare sale.

By, some quirk, I had gone on the SWA site before the sale became general knowledge and was shocked to find a flight I was planning for September was at a steep discount. Saved about $450, between the three tickets I purchased compared to prices they were showing before.

Nice. Very nice. Tried to check late last night and was not able to get into the site. Early this morning, prices were up $20 on each ticket, but still not a bad price.

 

[hsmamato2]

yup -heavy traffic= crashing site right now....just keep trying! I know I was on rebooking 3 different trips the other day...sale!!!

 

[bookgirl2632]

I tried all last night to no avail. First thing this morning, I tried again. I have to do two separate bookings since I have points for my flight and I was paying by gift card and credit card for the other two. Mine went through no problem. But when I went to put in the gift cards for the other two, it kept locking up. It took four or five tries, but I finally got it done. Keep trying and I hope you get through. It's frustrating, I know.

By the way, we are out of BWI too. Have a good trip! Universal is great. You'll have a blast!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I was able to get through on the website this morning after trying all last night. Keep trying!

 

[PoohsFan1]

SWA Web site issues apparently caused by heavy traffic caused by their announced fare sale.

By, some quirk, I had gone on the SWA site before the sale became general knowledge and was shocked to find a flight I was planning for September was at a steep discount. Saved about $450, between the three tickets I purchased compared to prices they were showing before.

Nice. Very nice. Tried to check late last night and was not able to get into the site. Early this morning, prices were up $20 on each ticket, but still not a bad price.

Yeah, I was able to get onto SW's website early Tuesday morning and found that the flights that I wanted for our October trip was super cheap (we are flying out of Chicago) so I jumped on them. Fortunately I had a nice credit with them from our January trip that I applied (was only for my 2 DDs and I) and the amount of the fare was exactly the amount of my credit, all I had to do was pay for my DH. I was able to get his tickets for under $200 RT...not bad. This is why we love flying SW . I am so glad I saw it then because I have been reading a lot about how people can't get on, and when you go to their website, there is a warning that they are experiencing high volume traffic.

 

[JenB]

Bookgirl, that's what i was doing too. Booking 3 of the family on one ressie, one leg for me with points and one leg for me with cash. All on an iPad that kept freezing when I DID get through lol. It was worth it though! Love BWI!!

 

[JenB]

Yeah, I was able to get onto SW's website early Tuesday morning and found that the flights that I wanted for our October trip was super cheap (we are flying out of Chicago) so I jumped on them. Fortunately I had a nice credit with them from our January trip that I applied (was only for my 2 DDs and I) and the amount of the fare was exactly the amount of my credit, all I had to do was pay for my DH. I was able to get his tickets for under $200 RT...not bad. This is why we love flying SW . I am so glad I saw it then because I have been reading a lot about how people can't get on, and when you go to their website, there is a warning that they are experiencing high volume traffic.

Awesome!!

 

[katallo]

This must be a nightmare for SW. Tried to book a long weekend. Site crashed 3 times and I've been on hold for 35 minutes after being disconnected twice.

 

[FTM22]

I was just on again and got the maintenance message. Glad I booked our tickets already - would be going berserk otherwise. Best wishes to all still trying!

 

[katallo]

Thanks, but after 2 hours on hold...I'm done. I have no idea what is happening since they have had these sales in the past. Luckily, we have options for other carriers. Good luck everyone.

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I'm so glad I was able to get my flights yesterday morning. It was pure luck though because I just happened to be checking for flights without knowing about the sale. I hope everyone gets the flights they want. I was able to save nearly $300 thanks to the sale.