SW November Booking Strategy

[mousemom11]

We are flying multi-city in November and I would like your advice on a booking strategy with SW. We will not be flying SW again within the next 12 months, so I would prefer not to end up with a credit, since we won't be able to use it.

We will be flying SEA-MCO on 11/4, MCO-RDU on 11/22 (Sunday before Thanksgiving), and RDU-SEA on 11/27 (Friday after Thanksgiving). Here is what I'm thinking about doing when SW releases their November fares on 6/23:

• Book the 11/22 MCO-RDU and 11/27 RDU-SEA flights as a RT when November is opened on 6/23. My rationale for this is that due to flying so close to Thanksgiving, fares will only go up as time goes by.
• WAIT to buy the 11/4 SEA-MCO flights to see if any sales develop over the summer. Should that happen, I can get the lower price on the Thanksgiving tix and THEN buy the 11/4 tix and use the credit. I'm assuming that early Nov prices aren't likely to go up over the summer.

Does this seem reasonable to you? If not, what would you recommend?

TIA

 

[Letsbgoofy]

Sounds reasonable to me, as long as you can live with the original fares.

I booked for late August when the fares first came out - knowing I could use the credit but also being somewhat happy with the prices. Our flight down has gone from $109 to $59, but the return flight is up almost $60.

I would not have made the reservation if I didn't like the original price - there is no guarantee that the price will go down to get credits for your next trip. I'm guessing that Thanksgiving fares will start high too.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are flying multi-city in November and I would like your advice on a booking strategy with SW. We will not be flying SW again within the next 12 months, so I would prefer not to end up with a credit, since we won't be able to use it.

We will be flying SEA-MCO on 11/4, MCO-RDU on 11/22 (Sunday before Thanksgiving), and RDU-SEA on 11/27 (Friday after Thanksgiving). Here is what I'm thinking about doing when SW releases their November fares on 6/23:

• Book the 11/22 MCO-RDU and 11/27 RDU-SEA flights as a RT when November is opened on 6/23. My rationale for this is that due to flying so close to Thanksgiving, fares will only go up as time goes by.
• WAIT to buy the 11/4 SEA-MCO flights to see if any sales develop over the summer. Should that happen, I can get the lower price on the Thanksgiving tix and THEN buy the 11/4 tix and use the credit. I'm assuming that early Nov prices aren't likely to go up over the summer.

Does this seem reasonable to you? If not, what would you recommend?

TIA

While this would make sense, it doesn't always happen. We cruised over TG 08, Sat. to Sat. with my parents so 6 of us total. I had a Rapid Reward which I was hoping to use at least for 2 of us for the southbound flight. As soon as the dates were released, I bought for the rest of us at $59. By the time I checked for RR availability, it was up to $179 for the other 2. I had no choice but to suck it up.

For the flight home, there were never any 'Wanna Get Away' fares. It was around $235 pp for that leg from the 1st minute they released the fares. At least the 'Anytime' fares are fully refundable so it gave me time to shop around more. (Ended up finding $199 on Airtran so we switched.)

Anyhoo, eventually the southbound flights (Sat before TG) dropped to $55 so we all got credits. I think I ended up with $300 in credits which we used for a quick getaway in Jan/Feb which made our return flights totally free.
Total cost for that getaway for 4 of us was only $257 RT!

I wasn't looking to get credits but sometimes it turns out that way and I couldn't take a chance. When cruising there's not as much flexibility in flight times so we had to grab what we could.

This is happening again with our Aug trip. I'm trying to not end up with credits but I already have $269 and another RR so we planned a quickie 3 nt. cruise on the Wonder in March.
It's a vicious cycle! Dh just laughs at me that I'll spend another $2000 just to save a $300 credit.

 

[mousemom11]

I'm guessing that Thanksgiving fares will start high too.

That's my guess as well. I remember watching airfare for Xmas last year and it started high and went higher.

It's a vicious cycle! Dh just laughs at me that I'll spend another $2000 just to save a $300 credit.

I know exactly what you mean. That's why I'm trying to avoid a credit.