Southwest Wanna Get Away Fares

[cfriend416]

Help!

I booked a flight for my February trip at a great price with my sister and BIL. I had two friends who wanted to come as well, but were not able to make a commitment at the time I booked the flight. I figured they would probably be able to get the same flight later, even though it would not still have the same great rate. However, I did not think the Wanna Get Away fares sold out, I thought that was just the non-refundable price. Well now they're sold out and all that's left is the Anytime fare, which is about 5x as much!

Will they open up more seats later at the Wanna Get Away fare? I feel awful that they may not be able to fly with us now. Especially because neither have flown since high school and they both are pretty timid and nervous people... But I couldn't pass up the amazing rate I got when they weren't willing to make a commitment to the trip yet!

 

[Lynne G]

I doubt it, but just keep checking. Seems like SW already has almost a full flight, so the last minute seats they can charge more for.

I find booking when flights first open is now the best time to get tickets when it is a busy time. None of my flights have been as cheap, and with SW, if you do find a cheaper flight, you can change at no cost.

I wish your friends luck. Maybe try another airline that has generally the same time/day flights.

 

[mejones1115]

Cfriend416...we are in a similiar boat. The airfare was just released Monday 07/22/2013 and we were going to wait for a sale out of Albany, NY as it was $220 per person one way...which we've never ever paid so much. But now there are absolutely no wanna get away fares from Orlando to Albany, Hartford, Boston, Manchester, Islip, JFK...seems a bit hard to believe they are all sold out in just a couple days. And for me it doesn't show sold out, it shows unavailble throughout the whole wanna get away fares. I sure hope something gets released or else after 10 years of love for Southwest we will just have to find a different airline to fly. No way am I paying almost $2000 to fly Southwest when many of the competitors are half the cost.

 

[mejones1115]

UPDATE!!! Just got off the phone with SWA customer service. The very nice woman told me that because it's at the end of their open schedule that they tend to have to re-evaluate the airfare. She said not to worry and look for something to come out come Tuesday of next week.

I thought it was odd because they just released these fares, and not only that but it didn't say sold out...it said unavailable. So finger crossed that come Tuesday we will all be able to get some airfare booked. (BTW I even checked Tampa and Jacksonville...both were unavailable...that's when I decided I had to call).

 

[zy144622]

I have also been waiting to book. Flight were much cheaper for feb 2013 than they are listed for feb 2014. Trying to wait a bit to see if a sale comes out.

 

[cfriend416]

UPDATE!!! Just got off the phone with SWA customer service. The very nice woman told me that because it's at the end of their open schedule that they tend to have to re-evaluate the airfare. She said not to worry and look for something to come out come Tuesday of next week.

I thought it was odd because they just released these fares, and not only that but it didn't say sold out...it said unavailable. So finger crossed that come Tuesday we will all be able to get some airfare booked. (BTW I even checked Tampa and Jacksonville...both were unavailable...that's when I decided I had to call).

Woo! Thanks for the hope! I was thinking of calling as well. I might still do that to see if it's the same kind of situation at my airport. But I agree that it seemed really odd that they were unavailable just 2 days after they were released. I mean, it's a vacation week here in NH, but it still seemed odd.

 

[mejones1115]

Woo! Thanks for the hope! I was thinking of calling as well. I might still do that to see if it's the same kind of situation at my airport. But I agree that it seemed really odd that they were unavailable just 2 days after they were released. I mean, it's a vacation week here in NH, but it still seemed odd.

Let me know if you find out anything (same or different). We are flying out at the tail end of kid's break here in NY and there are fares available to get us down there (higher than usual, but still wanna get away fares). But we're coming home March 2 which is a whole week after kids go back and there's nothing to any of the airports up here...Manchester, Hartford, Boston, Islip, JFK, Albany...checked them all and nothing...even trying to fly from either Tampa or Jacksonville...absolutely nothing available. Fingers crossed with a whole lot of pixie dust for both of us.

 

[gigi1313]

I have been watching ISP to FLL on 12/31/13 for days (weeks), and the price fell at 4am today! In points it went from over 12,000 to 8,040... Price from $229 to $145... So excited!

 

[wdwfan1]

We are also leaving from Islip. I was lucky enough to lock in $133 each way for our January trip, but still need our return flight for November. It is holding at $193 one way. Hope to see some movement.

 

[robhawk]

Woo! Thanks for the hope! I was thinking of calling as well. I might still do that to see if it's the same kind of situation at my airport. But I agree that it seemed really odd that they were unavailable just 2 days after they were released. I mean, it's a vacation week here in NH, but it still seemed odd.

It's Mass vacation week too. I know a lot of people who are now going to Manchester! So easy!!! I booked our four tickets on Monday too!
Good luck!

 

[cfriend416]

Let me know if you find out anything (same or different). We are flying out at the tail end of kid's break here in NY and there are fares available to get us down there (higher than usual, but still wanna get away fares). But we're coming home March 2 which is a whole week after kids go back and there's nothing to any of the airports up here...Manchester, Hartford, Boston, Islip, JFK, Albany...checked them all and nothing...even trying to fly from either Tampa or Jacksonville...absolutely nothing available. Fingers crossed with a whole lot of pixie dust for both of us.

The customer service rep I talked to just said unavailable and sold out mean the same thing so it meant all seats at that fare are sold out at that time. She said they release web deals every Tuesday, so to keep checking. She said because the flight isn't until February, there's a really good chance another deal will come up. I did notice today some flights that day had a Wanna Get Away fare for the departure, but it was quite high and my flight as well as a few others were listed as sold out for Wanna Get Away. The return flight was still unavailable and when I checked again the departure was all unavailable too. So I guess we'll just keep checking!

 

[cfriend416]

It's Mass vacation week too. I know a lot of people who are now going to Manchester! So easy!!! I booked our four tickets on Monday too!
Good luck!

Thanks! I love Logan but it's such a hassle to get to and I miss the right ramp every single time. Plus the parking is more expensive. So I'm pretty psyched to be flying out of Manch. I just hope it works out that my friends can fly with us!

 

[mejones1115]

The customer service rep I talked to just said unavailable and sold out mean the same thing so it meant all seats at that fare are sold out at that time. She said they release web deals every Tuesday, so to keep checking. She said because the flight isn't until February, there's a really good chance another deal will come up. I did notice today some flights that day had a Wanna Get Away fare for the departure, but it was quite high and my flight as well as a few others were listed as sold out for Wanna Get Away. The return flight was still unavailable and when I checked again the departure was all unavailable too. So I guess we'll just keep checking!

Did you speak to a booking agent? I went right to the website issues option and she said it was a problem. Idk about your flights, but the one we're looking at to come home...every single airport I put in from the east coast to the west coast have absolutely no wanna get away fares showing unavailable and all grayed out.

 

[brymolmom]

Does anyone have any actual experience with a specific flight selling out of the Wanna Get Away fares and then more opening up at that level later?

I watched a SW direct flight right when the fares opened up for August....But the Wanna Get Away fare was sold out quickly. I watched that flight for MONTHS but none ever opened up for that flight.

I ended up snagging a Delta flight (but not direct) - because it was the same-ish time.

So from my personal experience OP, I wouldn't count on it and would start looking for other flights/other airlines for decent deals.

And don't worry about having separate flights - TOTALLY not your fault and understandable since they weren't ready when the prices were good. I'm sure they'll be fine on a different flight.

 

[pigletto]

I've had specific experience with a flight that said unavailable opening up later. In fact it was just a few weeks ago. It said unavailable during a sale, but there were Wanna Get Away fares there for that flight a few days later.
In fact, I spoke to a customer service rep who said as long as it didn't say "Sold Out" then it would come back
I don't know who got the bad info here but I would call and speak to someone else to make sure.

 

[pigletto]

Just found this on Southwests site.. the customer service rep that told you "Unavailable" and "Sold Out" mean the same thing was wrong.

From SW website: Important Fare & Schedule Information

All fares and fare ranges are subject to change until purchased.
Flight ontime performance statistics can be viewed by clicking on the individual flight numbers.
All fares and fare ranges listed are per person for each way of travel.
"Unavailable" indicates the corresponding fare is unavailable for the selected travel date(s), the search did not meet certain fare requirements, or the flight has already departed.
"Sold Out" indicates that flight is sold out for the corresponding fare type.

 

[Donna M]

I'm ecstatic that I got my flights out of Manchester to MCO for Feb vacation week for $201 round trip. I can't remember when I paid that low of a price. Last year we paid $300 and the year before was $289. I just lucked out looking online last Tuesday.

I just looked at what SW wants for the flights I have ....$905 pp Who would buy that?

 

[cfriend416]

I'm ecstatic that I got my flights out of Manchester to MCO for Feb vacation week for $201 round trip. I can't remember when I paid that low of a price. Last year we paid $300 and the year before was $289. I just lucked out looking online last Tuesday.

I just looked at what SW wants for the flights I have ....$905 pp Who would buy that?

Me too! I paid $290 for a direct flight from Logan to MCO for the same week this year, through Delta. My past two trips, Manch was a lot more than flights from Boston so I was psyched to get such a good deal!

I'm really hoping that no one will pay over $900 for a flight and that way they'll reduce it to Wanna Get Away again.

 

[terri33inne]

Same here... the fares for our travel dates in Feb were released on Monday (Manchester, NH to Orlando)... I went to book yesterday & the wanna get away fares for the flights we want are 'sold out'... I was able to get alternate flights for our dates but we're loosing 2 park days

 

[terri33inne]

Let me know if you find out anything (same or different). We are flying out at the tail end of kid's break here in NY and there are fares available to get us down there (higher than usual, but still wanna get away fares). But we're coming home March 2 which is a whole week after kids go back and there's nothing to any of the airports up here...Manchester, Hartford, Boston, Islip, JFK, Albany...checked them all and nothing...even trying to fly from either Tampa or Jacksonville...absolutely nothing available. Fingers crossed with a whole lot of pixie dust for both of us.

Not sure if you would consider Providence, RI, but they have flights open for our dates in Feb for $101 one way.