SW changing prices as I book??

[3angelsmom]

I have been obsessively watching SW flights go up and down and saw a great price just now (different from this morning). It hasn't been this low since the day they announced Nov. flight dates. I am trying to book using points (the new rapid rewards, not the old program). When I try to purchase I get this message:

* We are unable to secure the price for the flight you selected.
* The next lowest available fare(s) for the flights you selected are listed below. If you accept the new price, please select Accept and Continue to proceed. If not, select Modify Flight(s) to make new fare and flight selections. We sincerely apologize about the inconvenience.
* For additional information about pricing issues which may be the cause of this message, please see more information about our fare combinability rules.
* If you continue to have difficulties, please contact a Southwest Airlines Customer Representative for assistance at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792).

I'm not doing what they suggest in bullet 3.....the fare combinability issues listed.....just trying to book 5 tix. The new price is 2000+ more points. Um, no. I get the same message no matter how many seats I try to book. Has anyone received this message and why am I getting it?? Please tell me I didn't miss out on a great price by a few minutes

 

[miztressuz]

may be too late, but we found in the past when this happened if we called to book the ticket the rep on the phone was able to give us the advertised price (not the increased one). we would just explain the situtation and they were usually nice about it, otherwise i'd cry foul. the only downside to calling is you have to service you reservation through the phone, you can't make changes online. (can still check in online)

now last time we had to do this was 2008 so some things may change. but it's usually worth a call. they claim it's a delay when the prices update, but we've had the same thing happen to us over a 3 hour span so i have my doubts. but as long as the phone reps have the ability to honor the advertised price, we were happy. (i miss the $59 phl to mco days)

 

[Minniekins]

I don't know for sure about your case, but a couple weeks ago i checked SW and the fares were pretty good and i was considering booking. But, having never flown SW, and not knowing if I could use ME to our resort, I wanted to check this board first. So, I came to post a couple questions. I posted then went to look at my SW tab and refreshed the page. The flight down had gone up $53 per ticket! I was so mad and it had only been 5 mins! I guess I didn't see that msg since I wasnt actually signed in or in the process of booking. Sorry about your bad luck timing!

But, like you've been watching SW obsessively, I was doing that also. Thu or Fri night the return flight that i was considering booking since it was still 117, suddenly went up to the 170 the flight down was. Argh, so mad! But, good news for me! Tonight, about 20 min ago, I was getting on the computer and the SW page was up so I figured I'd check just to check, not expecting anything different and I couldn't believe my eyes! Both the out going and return flights had dropped to the 117 fare I had seen and at the exact times I wanted! In fact all the flight times both ways had dropped to that fare. I almost couldn't believe and called my daughter over to verify what I was seeing, lol! But, I was leary it would change so I tried to sign in quickly and get my credit card out, fill in all the info, just praying things wouldn't change! And actually, I had come to this board and just seen your post so I quick went back to finish it all - your post scared me! Luckily, all went well and we got the flights we wanted at a decent price and no bag fees!

So, as the above poster suggested, I'd call right away and explain what happened and hopefully they will be kind enough to be able to help you get the fares/flights you want. If not, I say keep obsessively watching, that's my advice and hopefully the prices will drop again! Good luck, hope things work out for you!

 

[3angelsmom]

may be too late, but we found in the past when this happened if we called to book the ticket the rep on the phone was able to give us the advertised price (not the increased one). we would just explain the situtation and they were usually nice about it, otherwise i'd cry foul. the only downside to calling is you have to service you reservation through the phone, you can't make changes online. (can still check in online)

now last time we had to do this was 2008 so some things may change. but it's usually worth a call. they claim it's a delay when the prices update, but we've had the same thing happen to us over a 3 hour span so i have my doubts. but as long as the phone reps have the ability to honor the advertised price, we were happy. (i miss the $59 phl to mco days)

that's exactly what just happened! same explanation. fortunately she was able to honor the price. what a relief!! it was a pain to book over the phone...took over an hour, their system was very slow tonight....but on the other hand this was the friendliest customer service I've ever received.
thanks for your response!

 

[3angelsmom]

I don't know for sure about your case, but a couple weeks ago i checked SW and the fares were pretty good and i was considering booking. But, having never flown SW, and not knowing if I could use ME to our resort, I wanted to check this board first. So, I came to post a couple questions. I posted then went to look at my SW tab and refreshed the page. The flight down had gone up $53 per ticket! I was so mad and it had only been 5 mins! I guess I didn't see that msg since I wasnt actually signed in or in the process of booking. Sorry about your bad luck timing!

But, like you've been watching SW obsessively, I was doing that also. Thu or Fri night the return flight that i was considering booking since it was still 117, suddenly went up to the 170 the flight down was. Argh, so mad! But, good news for me! Tonight, about 20 min ago, I was getting on the computer and the SW page was up so I figured I'd check just to check, not expecting anything different and I couldn't believe my eyes! Both the out going and return flights had dropped to the 117 fare I had seen and at the exact times I wanted! In fact all the flight times both ways had dropped to that fare. I almost couldn't believe and called my daughter over to verify what I was seeing, lol! But, I was leary it would change so I tried to sign in quickly and get my credit card out, fill in all the info, just praying things wouldn't change! And actually, I had come to this board and just seen your post so I quick went back to finish it all - your post scared me! Luckily, all went well and we got the flights we wanted at a decent price and no bag fees!

So, as the above poster suggested, I'd call right away and explain what happened and hopefully they will be kind enough to be able to help you get the fares/flights you want. If not, I say keep obsessively watching, that's my advice and hopefully the prices will drop again! Good luck, hope things work out for you!

So glad you got the price you wanted too!!

I am so glad this part of the vacation planning is over.....

 

[-Donna-]

Same thing happened to me tonight - could NOT believe my eyes when I checked the rates for already-booked flights in December. Was able to change my reservation for the flight down but by the time I did the flight back, the higher rate popped up. Thought I missed my chance. But when I changed it to 1 ticket rather than 4, the lower rate was actually still available . . . for up to 3 tickets only. This doesn't help me since I have all 4 of us on one reservation and the higher price will apply to all of us. So now I'm debating whether I should change my one reservation for all 4 passengers to 4 separate reservations so I can get the lower rate? I knew enough to book one way tickets, but never thought to separate us all out on separate reservations.

 

[Minniekins]

Thanks, 3angelsmom, me too! Also this part is over! Now i can check in just to either was the fares go up and feel good I got mine already, or watch the fare go down and wish I'd waited, lol!

I'm also glad that SW was so helpful to you and helped you get the good rates you wanted! That's good to know that they will work with you on something like that! I've never gone with SW before so good to know they have some good customer service like that! Have a great trip!

I did book our trip down and back all on one reservation. I've always booked our trips with AT and booked each way separately for each of us, so 4 bookings. I was wanting to be sure to get through with the prices I wanted so I just hurried and did them all together, kinda forgetting I was gonna do them separately. Does it really matter if I did that all on one booking for the 2 of us?

 

[ancestry]

Not all seats all the plane are the same price. Airlines often only have x number of seats at one price and if you need y number of seats the the fare jumps to the next fare category. The only way around this is to book x seats at the lower price and then the additional seats at the higher price. This of does create two reservations which usually isn't a big deal.

 

[miztressuz]

Not all seats all the plane are the same price. Airlines often only have x number of seats at one price and if you need y number of seats the the fare jumps to the next fare category. The only way around this is to book x seats at the lower price and then the additional seats at the higher price. This of does create two reservations which usually isn't a big deal.

for most airlines this is true but with SW all the seats are exactly the same and there's no assigned seating so it would be a screwy system to have multiple fare types. it is possible, but i have doubts since with the system you describe, i would think i should be able to get 3 seats at x price and 1 seat at y price. however, on SW site, it shows price x up until you go to put your CC info in then, all of a sudden, all 4 seats are at y price. i wouldn't be so ticked if it showed 3 at x and 1 at y cuz that would make sense if they followed that fare system. but since all 4 tickets magically go to the y price I have my doubts.

from my various playing with the site it seems like SW operates on the supply and potential demand. one example, i was pricing some flight options for a relative that would be flying with a total of 8 ppl. So i did my research using just 1 ticket and got some pricing. So i picked the most likely flights and did the pricing for 8 people to get a total. The site still showed the same price until I clicked over to the CC screen when they magically all went up. I wanted to check to see if the above scenario was true so I went back and just priced 1 ticket again. The 1 ticket now showed up at the higher rate. So i went 'drat, missed it' and went on my way. Well later that day i was on again verifying the numbers, and all the tickets were back to the lower price. so i don't know how fast their system works, but it almost seemed to me that the prices went up based on the number of potential seats being purchased. i'm sure there's some formula that triggers at certain percents the fare numbers - just don't know what it is. until then i cross my fingers and hope for the best

so far on short flights SW will usually beat out the other carriers. On long flights we found it hit or miss. If you catch them just right it's awesome (2 rt tix to vegas from phl for $450 total), if not and you're a light packer, going USAir and paying bag fees is cheaper. so as long as they have super nice phone reps and a good policy on honoring the pricing, i still prefer them even with all the booking quirks

 

[5boyz]

Glad to hear you got the advertised price. I booked in April for July flights...I paid $938.80 for 4 of us out of Buffalo. I checked them this morning and they are now $1798.80....the exact same flights............

 

[mcd2745]

Their prices have been all over the place lately. The prices for flights the day we are going down to MCO out of ISP (Aug 26) actually went up dramatically this morning to the highest level they've been since they were released. They've been as low as $109 (most of the time, they've been in the range of $119-$144) and today, most flights that day are $190.