SW Airlines for Oct...Geesh

[Disneygrl71]

Flying out of SDF and the prices are ridiculous, plus the nonstop is already showing sold out...how is that?? We are flying out on a Sun and returning on a Sat. I can't think of anything going on to cause the high prices for that time. Keeping my fingers crossed they will offer a code, etc.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Flying out of SDF and the prices are ridiculous, plus the nonstop is already showing sold out...how is that?? We are flying out on a Sun and returning on a Sat. I can't think of anything going on to cause the high prices for that time. Keeping my fingers crossed they will offer a code, etc.

Cheap fares are becoming increasingly rare. The airline industry has consolidated down to three legacy carriers, Southwest, and a handful of smaller airlines. With the stronger economy now, there's more demand from passengers, but less capacity from the carriers.

Is the nonstop really showing sold out? Or is it just showing no Wanna Get Away availability?

Keep in mind that Orlando is not only a tourist destination. It's also a major convention city. If there's a big, week-long convention filling much of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando the week you want to go, the airlines already know it. Many convention attendees wait until much closer to the convention dates to buy tickets and then pay a higher fare.

If Southwest knows that there will be high demand for a given flight, there is no reason for Southwest to offer Wanna Get Away inventory for that flight -- even if almost the entire aircraft is unsold this far in advance.

 

[Disneygrl71]

Sorry, yes I was speaking of the Wanna Get Away flight. We have traveled this same week in past years and never paid the amount they have out now. Thanks for the detailed explanation, that all makes sense.

 

[LisaS]

Southwest released flights for October back on Feb 18th. It's possible that a lot of people looking for cheap fares booked their flights the day the schedule was released, snapping up all of the Wanna Get Away slots on that non-stop flight. At some point if they aren't selling enough seats at the Anytime fare price, Southwest may open up more WGA seats on that flight so just keep checking. Good luck!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Sorry, yes I was speaking of the Wanna Get Away flight. We have traveled this same week in past years and never paid the amount they have out now. Thanks for the detailed explanation, that all makes sense.

There's a misconception among some airline ticket buyers that airlines release flights with a consistent percentage of seats in each fare bucket -- such as 25% at the cheapest discount fare, 50% at a higher fare, and 25% at the highest far.

Therefore, the thinking goes, if there are no Wanna Get Away fares of Southwest (or no booking code "O" fares on American) on a given flight they must have all been snapped up when the flight was released.

In reality, on some flights, there are no cheap seats (or very few). The airline knows that there will be enough demand between now and when the flight leaves to sell most or all seats at higher fares. On other flights, the majority of seats may be in the cheapest fare class.

I know this thread is about Southwest, but American often offers its cheapest fare only on early, early morning flight, and late, late evening flights. Price sensitive customers are driven to fill what might otherwise be empty seats on these awkward, sleep-depriving flights. Meanwhile, other flights cost more.

Southwest also uses pricing to drive price-sensitive customers to flights with lower demand.

 

[Shanti]

Flying out of SDF and the prices are ridiculous, plus the nonstop is already showing sold out...how is that?? We are flying out on a Sun and returning on a Sat. I can't think of anything going on to cause the high prices for that time. Keeping my fingers crossed they will offer a code, etc.

October has become an extremely popular month to visit WDW. It's not "off-season" anymore. Therefore, flights to MCO in October cost more than they used to.

 

[LisaS]

There is also a Gartner conference at the Epcot resorts in October. It's Oct 16-20 this year.

 

[Yellowjj]

That Sunday your flying is the problem. Friday's and Sundays are always more expensive because that's when business travelers are flying at the end of the work week and at the beginning of a work week.

 

[BrerNashville]

Southwest seems to have caught a habit of keeping fares really high for times that they think will be very popular when the fares come out, then lowering them to fit/drive/reflect actual demand. This happened to us last fall, when I booked a flight into JAX for a cruise b/c Southwest WGA fares were over $300 each way for spring break on the day they were released. A couple of weeks later, they decreased by over $100 per ticket (each way) and I switched. That's the nice thing about southwest -- you can switch without paying a fee.

 

[PSULion]

We are flying SW out of BWI in October, Sat-Sat. I got our tickets the morning they were released and paid $100 pp each way. Now, the same flights are $218 pp each way!

 

[Disneygrl71]

We are flying SW out of BWI in October, Sat-Sat. I got our tickets the morning they were released and paid $100 pp each way. Now, the same flights are $218 pp each way!

Wow! I'm hoping to find a deal like that. Was you alerted or just happen to go check?? Thanks and congrats on the great price find!

 

[Disneygrl71]

That Sunday your flying is the problem. Friday's and Sundays are always more expensive because that's when business travelers are flying at the end of the work week and at the beginning of a work week.

This is good to know! I may need to play with our dates a bit!

 

[PSULion]

I knew that was the release date and got up early to book as soon as they popped up. They actually stayed that low for about 2 days... But have been consistently high since. And from the get go Saturday was much cheaper than Sunday in either direction.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

A novice SWA traveler who wants to take a future trip always knows to look for the release date for time period covering the flight dates they want to book. Then we make sure we are on the SWA web page at the stroke of 6:00 a.m. EST on the day that booking window opens because that is when the best fare prices are usually found.

Just like a PP said, I too booked right as the flights were released and my fare was $97 each way. They now cost $300 each way!

 

[n2mm]

There is also a Gartner conference at the Epcot resorts in October. It's Oct 16-20 this year.

Thank you for posting this info. I'm always thrilled when I manage to miss this mess. We arrive on October. 21th at Bwv.

 

[loveswdw]

Flying out of SDF and the prices are ridiculous, plus the nonstop is already showing sold out...how is that?? We are flying out on a Sun and returning on a Sat. I can't think of anything going on to cause the high prices for that time. Keeping my fingers crossed they will offer a code, etc.

We also normally fly out of SDF and the prices have been insane to MCO. They weren't cheap when the schedule opened up either. We are foregoing WDW this October to head to DL instead. Crazy thing is we can fly from Nashville to LAX nonstop for way cheaper than we can fly SDF to MCO. Booked nonstop to/from LAX for the 4 of us for $1055. Nonstop SDF/MCO is $1669. Ridiculous. (Can't fly stop SDF to LAX that's why we're flying out of BNA)

 

[kristenrice]

Thank you for posting this info. I'm always thrilled when I manage to miss this mess. We arrive on October. 21th at Bwv.

The rest of my family is at BWV for our trip...the 15th-22nd.

 

[PSUGuy]

Didn't read the whole thread so apologies if this has been addressed. First, did you sign in as soon as the window opened? I was on 15 mins early and the rates were released about 15 mins late, we did OK out of PHL. Being online at opening is no guarantee. For our Oct 2015 trip I was on at the opening, grabbed 2 good rates at good times, by the time I got to checkout the Wanna Get Away rate was gone, or rather higher.

Bill From PA

 

[kristie73]

Sorry I really don't fly often, but I'm looking for October flights as well with Southwest. Is $200 a flight considered a bit high? Should I hold out until May to see if there is a better offer for October?

 

[kydisneyfans]

Fall break is the reason for insane prices from SDF to MCO in October, especially if the target weekend is Oct 1-2 and return is Oct 7-8.

Like a PP stated, we are also flying west for fall break this year. We got RT prices under $400 although we have a layover both ways in Vegas. That's less than half the flight cost to Orlando. We are doing a long weekend at Disney World in November with flights down at $147. It's too early for the return flight cost. The drive to Nashville for a direct flight just isn't worth it to us since we're 3 1/2-4 hours from Nashville.

I am running in the Disney Star Wars races next month and I am flying out of Lexington for $119(Delta, it was a shock to find that price). My wife is coming after work the next day from Louisville for $90. Our flights back Sunday evening were $99.