SouthWest schedule MCO/IAD

[clutter]

They stopped the non-stop flights!!!!!!! I love SW for the flexibility, and I booked out of BWI because we have a ?? about one of our party travelling, but I sure will miss being able to fly non-stop out of Dulles. Bummer.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Sorry they took away your non-stops. That's a bummer.

 

[branv]

The Austin-MCO schedule is all wonky for the fall as well, and I'm worried that this is a trend that will continue into Spring when we go. Normally there are 2 nonstops at decent hours flying AUS to MCO, but now I only see one. The rest are quite long, weird connections, etc. And the MCO to AUS route is down to 1 nonstop as well, and that one is only at a morning hour that's too late for business passengers and too early for tourists. Definitely too early for cruisers who have disembarked that morning at PC. Nonstop, the flight time is about 2.5 hours. But the connecting flights that are at normal departure hours seem to mostly be 5-6 hours

I had actually planned to pay OOP to fly Southwest rather than use our AA miles to fly just because SW had a nonstop and wasn't too expensive. But if I have to connect anyway, might as well go with AA instead.

I really hope they adjust some of these, since it is the first day of release.

 

[Broncobilly83]

They stopped the non-stop flights!!!!!!! I love SW for the flexibility, and I booked out of BWI because we have a ?? about one of our party travelling, but I sure will miss being able to fly non-stop out of Dulles. Bummer.

I saw that too today. We did non stop in December, and are going back in October, but I did not want to wait, so I booked JetBlue instead, and I am glad I did, as even the 1 stop flights would cost me $250 more than non stop with JetBlue

Wow, NonStop out of BWI is still over $100 more than JetBlue was when I booked yesterday

 

[TDC Nala]

I book Airtran far more now. They have nonstops at decent times (so far) and fly from both Dulles and Reagan National.

 

[princessmorgan]

What? Starting when? I just booked my outbound flight for April with SW. What is going on with IAD? This is the most I have ever paid for flights to Orlando and we go to Florida at least twice a year. I guess it was my own fault for not snagging the $59 fare when I saw it, hoping Jetblue would match it, but never did.

 

[went503]

Unbelievable!!!!!! I am leaving in a few weeks flying nonstop to disney and have done this several times. I cant believe they are stopping non stop flights from dulles. I just got the $59.00 each way and now im giong to have to fly with someone else and then pay luggage fees just to get nonstop, this is so heartbreaking.

 

[n2mm]

Unbelievable!!!!!! I am leaving in a few weeks flying nonstop to disney and have done this several times. I cant believe they are stopping non stop flights from dulles. I just got the $59.00 each way and now im giong to have to fly with someone else and then pay luggage fees just to get nonstop, this is so heartbreaking.

No, you can certainly join us on Jetblue out of Dulles on the non-stops there and you don't pay for the first bag. You also know where you're sitting before arriving at the airport and the direct TV, wow! I'm flying Jetblue for our return home flight (May 7) and paid $59. Also paid $59 for my Sept, Oct, late Oct fares too!

I am flying SW in April on a non-stop that I bought for $59. (IAD to MCO) I also noticed the newly released fares and times today. Maybe it's a glitch and they will be added later. dunno

Even if I don't fly SW often enough, the competition is always good. We are very forunate at Dulles to have FIVE non-stop carriers, so we really shouldn't complain.

 

[clutter]

Oh, I love JetBlue, too. But... we're bringing one of my dd's friends, and I'm not sure of what dates she's going. Plus, we're coming back on Labor Day weekend. So I could have booked on JetBlue weeks ago, but didn't know for sure of our 3rd person's plans. So I waited for SW so that I could change flights if I needed to. Now JB's fares are way up.

Ah, Southwest, I loved you out of Dulles. The free bag was big, but I liked the credit instead of a fee better! However, we'll be using JetBlue after we do this trip.

 

[Lewisc]

Unbelievable!!!!!! I am leaving in a few weeks flying nonstop to disney and have done this several times. I cant believe they are stopping non stop flights from dulles. I just got the $59.00 each way and now im giong to have to fly with someone else and then pay luggage fees just to get nonstop, this is so heartbreaking.

SW (like most airlines) are reducing flights that only sell with deeply discounted fares. They are reducing the number of flights to leisure destinations like Orlando and Vegas. They're going so far as to discontinue N/S service between some cities.

The fact that you were able to book fares as low as $59 suggests IAD-MCO is such an example.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'll be booking out of Baltimore, I have one flight in October that I need to be able to change without penalty. And the Dulles flights all go through Chicago and take five or six hours, not do-able. All others will be on AirTran.

 

[DebbieB]

SW (like most airlines) are reducing flights that only sell with deeply discounted fares. They are reducing the number of flights to leisure destinations like Orlando and Vegas. They're going so far as to discontinue N/S service between some cities.

The fact that you were able to book fares as low as $59 suggests IAD-MCO is such an example.

Exactly. They are not profitable at $59 and would not be competitive at a higher fare, so they walked away. Unfortunately, that leaves room for the other airlines to raise fares. After USAir stopped Pittsburgh non-stops, SW and AirTran's fares went way up.

 

[gone2disney]

I am SO disappointed with the new SW schedule from IAD. I was counting on an early evening non-stop this fall like they had this spring. I booked JB for the way back-no one has evening non-stop. I've been waiting weeks for the bookings to open and I am shocked they took them all away! There is a United flight at 5:10, but it kills me to pay $25/bag and I was looking for 6 or 7:00. Plenty of flights from BWI-not helpful at all. Bummer!

 

[Lewisc]

There is a reason why BWI still has a lot of flights to MCO. A lot of passengers to MCO now get a connecting flight at BWI. I suspect a number of DC area vacationers are willing to drive to BWI.

Other airlines would have just cancelled the flights. SW waited for a schedule extension. Passengers with existing reservations weren't affected.

 

[poohbear8]

I also an IAD/MCO person and can't do the layover in Chicago. I need the flexibility to change my dates in October, so I can't book with anyone else just yet. I can Jet Blue at a good rate, but they will charge $75 if I need to change the date.

 

[n2mm]

I recently wrote and asked if they would be adding the non-stops back in the future and they told me at this point, no. I hate losing these non-stop flights. I have flown them 5 times over the last 6 months, so I did my part. While I love Jetblue more, no one beats SW for their flexibility. I will be watching for flights out of BWI now when I want to fly SW -- but it is a 90 minute drive to BWI for us (only 60 minutes to Dulles).

We still have 4 carriers that are non stop to Dulles (UA, AT, JB, Cont). Of course we always choose JB for many reasons. Now we have to worry if they will drop their non-stop flights during their next release. (esp, since JB has annouced that they will be flying out of DCA in the fall). I'm sure they will pick up some of the SW flyers too that are looking for non-stop out of Dulles.

 

[PlutoPony]

We still have 4 carriers that are non stop to Dulles (UA, AT, JB, Cont). Of course we always choose JB for many reasons. Now we have to worry if they will drop their non-stop flights during their next release. (esp, since JB has annouced that they will be flying out of DCA in the fall). I'm sure they will pick up some of the SW flyers too that are looking for non-stop out of Dulles.

Add a little more uncertainty into the IAD mix if UAL and US merge. With a US hub in Philly and also doing a lot of flying out of DCA, IAD might be a good candidate for drawing down flights in a merged airline. This is a great opportunity for the airline industry to get rid of capacity, and with that bring fares up to more profitable levels.