Southwest travel from Indy

[WINTER]

What happened with direct flights? Where did they go?

 

[dznyacct]

What happened with direct flights? Where did they go?

I know, they have really trimmed down their nonstop flights . Looking for flights to Orlando in May, it looks like there were no nonstops Monday through Friday. It doesn't make sense to me . I just wish AirTran would adopt SWA's no baggage fee and no change fee policy ASAP .

 

[DebbieB]

As part of the merger between Southwest and AirTran, they are moving flights around between the 2 airlines. Same thing happened here in Pittsburgh and someone else mentioned it in Philadelphia. With each schedule change, they are converting certain cities from AirTran to Southwest, which means they need to send Southwest planes there. Eventually AirTran will be phased out completely.

 

[Gary M]

DW and I just flew from IND to MCO on Dec. 13 and returned on the 18th. We were on SWA direct flights both ways. The plane to Orlando was maybe 75% full and the return flight was less than 1/2 full (60 people according to flight attendant). I was expecting to be packed in like sardines. Just a few years ago Indy had 4 airlines flying nonstop to Orlando, with a total of 15 to 20 direct flights per day. How the times have changed and the air fare has increased.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Just wanted to add Cleveland (OH) to the list of cities with few non-stop flights to MCO. i think United is the only carrier w/ non-stop and only one flight on Saturday mornings (and that flight is currently $473 for June).

 

[Indy Denise]

Seems if yu want non-stop out of Indy to MCO you have to fly AirTran.

I did grab a r/t Indy to MCO via AirTran for under $200.00 total (with seat assignment ) for July 2013 though.

 

[Gary M]

Seems if yu want non-stop out of Indy to MCO you have to fly AirTran.

I did grab a r/t Indy to MCO via AirTran for under $200.00 total (with seat assignment ) for July 2013 though.

SWA had one non-stop flight each way from IND to MCO, as of a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

As others have said, this is a byproduct of the merger between SW and AirTran. Say goodbye to those daily non-stops between IND and MCO on SW, and say hello to baggage fees and seat assignment fees (for better or worse) on those M-F Round trips on Airtran.

I wasn't too pleased with the changes when the latest schedule came out either. I liked flying SW the last time I flew and actually didn't mind the open seating.

As another poster had stated, I hope AirTran will adopt the 0 baggage fees in the future as the merger completes and SW absorbs all the Airtran fleet.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Looks to me like Southwest is using Airtran for the IND-MCO business these days. I've noticed about 2 non stops for Southwest and about 6 to 8 non stops for Airtran depending on the day. The Airtran prices have been lower than the Southwest prices by about $20 to $30 each way so, when you pay for baggage, you really are paying about what you'd pay for Southwest and their free baggage anyway.

 

[Indy Denise]

Looks to me like Southwest is using Airtran for the IND-MCO business these days. I've noticed about 2 non stops for Southwest and about 6 to 8 non stops for Airtran depending on the day. The Airtran prices have been lower than the Southwest prices by about $20 to $30 each way so, when you pay for baggage, you really are paying about what you'd pay for Southwest and their free baggage anyway.

When I bought my DH's airfare it is possible that SWA's schedules were out yet (we bought in November ) .

I am driving with others in party so I will be taking his luggage with me, my poor hubby only has enough vaca time for Disney, I get to do Universal too.

 

[disney314]

I just found this out! No more nonstop flights on Southwest from Indy to MCO. I guess at least Airtran still offers them, but I hate how you have to pay for luggage with them. Oh well....nothing we can do about it.

I can't book yet, I need airfare for next March (2014), just booked a Disney Cruise for next year's spring break.

Anyone have a guess when the March 2nd-9th Airtran schedule may be out for 2014?

 

[Braden's Momma]

I love SW out of Indy because of their non stop flights. Any chance my flight for next week will no longer be non-stop?

 

[jayhawk74]

disney314
If you book your AirTran flight on southwest.com you will not have to pay the bag fee. Unfortunately if you do that then you will not be assigned a seat until you check in, EBCI doesn't apply to AirTran flights.

Braden's Momma
If you have already booked your flight for next week and it is a non-stop then it will still be a non-stop.

 

[Prose]

We just booked flights for our October cruise, and are flying IND to MCO non stop both ways. The Southwest nonstop to MCO is around 7am and the flight back around 4pm. There's only one nonstop a day, so once they sell out, they no longer show on the website. I suspect they might go quickly.

They released flights through Oct. last week and they'll release through part of December the first week of May. If that pattern stays, they'd release flight through February-ish in July and through April-ish sometime in September....you can find the release dates by choosing Travel Tools then All Travel Tools....

 

[celestialred]

I'm itching to book this and am really disappointed the SWA flights have seemingly been phased out. Also, the prices went up for our time frame, boo-hiss (even though we're still just over 6 months out). The plane itself on their website is showing plenty of seating available still. Does anyone happen to know if AirTran has fare sales at around the 90-day mark or so? I'm signed up for their e-mail list.

 

[disney314]

Thanks for letting us know that there may still be a few non-stops in the future. I will have to watch the day they open sales for our March trip and see if they have one. I always hated how Airtran changed flight times so often and how the charge for luggage and picking seats. So I prefer Southwest, but would pick Airtran if it was the only non-stop option.

 

[Zerosinthecloset]

I love SW out of Indy because of their non stop flights. Any chance my flight for next week will no longer be non-stop?

If it was non stop when you booked it, it should still be non stop. If it was a direct flight or a connecting flight, it will continue to be direct or connecting.

 

[ICF]

How can you book Airtran flights via SW.com?

I have a direct flight in early June that I wish were at a different time, but when I look at the Indy / Orlando options I get the same few options I've always seen on there since the flights for June opened last fall.

If I go to Airtran.com, I do see more non-stop options....but they dont show up on sw.com

 

[debjk4]

I'm itching to book this and am really disappointed the SWA flights have seemingly been phased out. Also, the prices went up for our time frame, boo-hiss (even though we're still just over 6 months out). The plane itself on their website is showing plenty of seating available still. Does anyone happen to know if AirTran has fare sales at around the 90-day mark or so? I'm signed up for their e-mail list.

New flier here! Where do I look to find that seating for the plane? You mentioned that you saw plenty of seating available still.. I can't seem to find that info.
Thanks!