Southwest -When to book?

[bksomody]

I've been watching flight prices for a trip in March -Easter Week, so about 6 months away. I want to fly Thurs. to Thurs. out of Cleveland and the prices are pretty high even for a Thurs. I know it's peak spring break season but I was wondering if there is a chance for prices to go down by then? I read that the best time to book is around 57 days away. Is there Anyone out there who's watched air prices in the past that has some input on this?

 

[hollypoast]

For peak times book flights as soon as possible with Southwest. The price will only go up.

 

[jtdl]

I agree book it ASAP. I have always booked flights when they are released or very soon after and only once has one of my booked flights gone down in price. I've noticed the flights I have been looking at for the first part of next year seem to be a lot higher than they have been in other years.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm traveling the week before easter and the SW prices have been really high right from the minute they where released. I managed to get decent priced fights by traveling a day earlier and returning a day earlier. It's not really what I wanted but the price is what I consider a normal price and what I'm willing to pay. After I booked, the fare dropped twice but went back up within a day or so.

 

[bksomody]

I agree book it ASAP. I have always booked flights when they are released or very soon after and only once has one of my booked flights gone down in price. I've noticed the flights I have been looking at for the first part of next year seem to be a lot higher than they have been in other years.

I agree and not just SW. We flew United last year & flights are double right now.

 

[kddlm]

I booked SW on opening day for our dates over Easter break and paid $570 pp rt out of Philly!!! INSANELY HIGH!! We were just in WDW last week and I just happened to check SW site again on a Monday night and it had gone down. I am flying back a day later, but am now at $418 pp rt and have a $152 credit pp to use within a year of my original booking (Aug 11). I have compared to other carriers in our area (jet blue, spirit), but by the time I add in 2 checked bags pp, the other carrier flights come out even higher! I will keep checking and adjust accordingly if they should drop again.

 

[dashofsunshine]

We are flying Southwest at the end of March from BNA -> LAX and then taking Singapore Airlines on to Japan. I waited for the Southwest dates to be released and snagged the ones I wanted EARLY release morning. I just checked and those flights are now triple what we paid, more than triple for some of them. The general rule of thumb is that the price will only go up.

 

[bksomody]

I booked SW on opening day for our dates over Easter break and paid $570 pp rt out of Philly!!! INSANELY HIGH!! We were just in WDW last week and I just happened to check SW site again on a Monday night and it had gone down. I am flying back a day later, but am now at $418 pp rt and have a $152 credit pp to use within a year of my original booking (Aug 11). I have compared to other carriers in our area (jet blue, spirit), but by the time I add in 2 checked bags pp, the other carrier flights come out even higher! I will keep checking and adjust accordingly if they should drop again.

I have never flown SW, it's great that they adjust the airfare if rates go down. I'm holding off to book because we usually use the bill me later option & pay 6 months after, interest free. Right now I'm at about 6 months & I don't want to have to pay until after the trip.

 

[sharona]

Yes you can get the price adjusted but it's a per person credit that must be used within a year of original purchase. If you don't often fly SW that can be an issue, especially when booking 6 months out now you have only 6 months to use the credit from the first flight. That being said, if you're definitely going, then better to book as soon as you see a price you can live with and hope for a price drop than to wait for one and end up paying more. This especially applies to busy travel dates.

What we usually do when traveling during school breaks is fly in a day or 2 early. Depending on your party size, it can be cheaper to pay for a hotel room for 1 or 2 nights than to pay premium airfare for those popular dates for your whole family.

 

[jdb in AZ]

SWA just had a great sale so I checked my Christmas flights. Their sale prices were higher than what I paid a few weeks ago. So, I agree it's best to book sooner rather than later.

 

[bksomody]

Yes you can get the price adjusted but it's a per person credit that must be used within a year of original purchase. If you don't often fly SW that can be an issue, especially when booking 6 months out now you have only 6 months to use the credit from the first flight. That being said, if you're definitely going, then better to book as soon as you see a price you can live with and hope for a price drop than to wait for one and end up paying more. This especially applies to busy travel dates.

What we usually do when traveling during school breaks is fly in a day or 2 early. Depending on your party size, it can be cheaper to pay for a hotel room for 1 or 2 nights than to pay premium airfare for those popular dates for your whole family.

So the credit is good for one year from the original book date. I always wanted to try Disney in the
summer .

We are actually traveling wed-wed because its cheaper and not a bad price but I have to take a later flight out. We would prefer a Thursday flight but it's just not worth the price we would have to pay in airfare.

 

[kddlm]

Yes you can get the price adjusted but it's a per person credit that must be used within a year of original purchase. If you don't often fly SW that can be an issue, especially when booking 6 months out now you have only 6 months to use the credit from the first flight. That being said, if you're definitely going, then better to book as soon as you see a price you can live with and hope for a price drop than to wait for one and end up paying more. This especially applies to busy travel dates.

What we usually do when traveling during school breaks is fly in a day or 2 early. Depending on your party size, it can be cheaper to pay for a hotel room for 1 or 2 nights than to pay premium airfare for those popular dates for your whole family.

This is what we did! Being a DVC member, I don't see a problem with using our credit, if even for a quick weekend getaway! I even factored in the price of boarding my dog for the extra night and it still came cheaper to stay the extra night and fly home on a Monday rather than Sunday. $418 is still the highest I have ever paid to fly to MCO, and we have flown at peak spring break times in the past as well! Three more years until DD out of high school, then DH and I hope to be able to travel random times of year....not just peak!

 

[Polyluvr]

I booked our flights last week for a WDW trip March 30-April 7th. I was able to grab 4 tix for 1032 RT from ROC to MCO.
The flights leaving before Easter were ridiculously priced. We'll just have the kids out of school for 4 days. But early, I have never bought
tix 6 months in advance. But we've also never traveled to WDW peak season either. Good luck

 

[kddlm]

I booked our flights last week for a WDW trip March 30-April 7th. I was able to grab 4 tix for 1032 RT from ROC to MCO.
The flights leaving before Easter were ridiculously priced. We'll just have the kids out of school for 4 days. But early, I have never bought
tix 6 months in advance. But we've also never traveled to WDW peak season either. Good luck

That is a great price! Unfortunately I could not be too flexible with our dates because we are cruising day before Easter!