SW out of PHL

[jmw33]

Why is Southwest's latest non stop flight out of PHL only 2:50 in the fall? Wanted to take an evening flight so we could start fresh the next day already being there but didn't want to take the kids out of school an extra day. This is really making me mad. Does anyone know if they would they add extra non stop flights?? I'm not taking a 5.5 hour flight with a layover.

 

[Unas]

SW seldom, almost never, adds flights after schedule is posted. It's likely a demand issue, not many people want to arrive in MCO late in the day.

 

[richmo]

Agreed it is highly unlikely they'll add a flight. I would imagine the fall schedule is pretty well set in stone.

I guess your best bet would be to go with US Airways for the flight down. Their prices seem to be exactly the same as Southwest, except you get hit with the bag fee and you better not have to change it.

 

[Dayman99]

Why is Southwest's latest non stop flight out of PHL only 2:50 in the fall? Wanted to take an evening flight so we could start fresh the next day already being there but didn't want to take the kids out of school an extra day. This is really making me mad. Does anyone know if they would they add extra non stop flights?? I'm not taking a 5.5 hour flight with a layover.

We just booked Frontier Air out of Trenton/Mercer Airport and it was much cheaper and non-stop to MCO. Check into it!!

Steve

 

[lions1995]

I miss Airtran out of PHL. SW does not offer the same level of service as Airtran did.

 

[DebbieB]

SW has cut service at PHL, they have a hard time competing in another airline's hub (PHL is USAirways). They have backed off at other hubs too. How far is BWI for you, they added service there.

 

[QVCshopper]

This is good to know. I'm looking for November and my husband and I were wondering what was going on. The fares were just released yesterday and they are already gone. We've never had this issue before.

I guess booking out of another airport and/or US Airways is our only choice?

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm actually now looking into flying out of Philly and into Tampa. We have three kids (youngest is 2) so driving early in the morning to BWI or farther isn't too appealing. Plus, I could probably really use a car after I run the Wine and Dine half marathon because we aren't staying at a "race" hotel.

Opinions on that? It's nearly $400 cheaper than flying out of Baltimore, and $200 cheaper than flying out of Long Island. Plus, we are 180 miles away from Long Island and 100 miles from Baltimore...

 

[MamaBear58]

This is good to know. I'm looking for November and my husband and I were wondering what was going on. The fares were just released yesterday and they are already gone. We've never had this issue before.

I guess booking out of another airport and/or US Airways is our only choice?

They were very low yesterday. I have been watching since Feb and the lowest I saw was 217 each way. They opened yesterday at 144 each way. I am not surprised that many are gone.

 

[QVCshopper]

They were very low yesterday. I have been watching since Feb and the lowest I saw was 217 each way. They opened yesterday at 144 each way. I am not surprised that many are gone.

Thanks. I should have been better prepared, but I didn't even check until 5pm and the flights home were already sold out, so I passed on the $144 on the way down. Guess that was a mistake.

Anyway, since I read this thread, I went ahead and booked Philly to Tampa. Like I said before, I could use a car for the race. The time for the way home isn't ideal (early) but the kids have school the next day so maybe it's for the best. If something from PHL to MCO ever opens up at a reasonable price, I'll cancel and rebook. But, five tickets to Tampa for $1,332.50 beats anything else I saw. I used the $20 off code through My Coke Rewards, which saved me an extra $100. And we have premium annual passes, so parking is free at Disney.

 

[richmo]

We just booked Frontier Air out of Trenton/Mercer Airport and it was much cheaper and non-stop to MCO. Check into it!!

Steve

Did the same. I have a one way Frontier to MCO from Trenton for $69 including choosing a seat. I'll have another $15 for a checked bag, but its a lot less than the $164 Southwest is charging. Unfortunately, Frontier doesn't fly back to Trenton the day I want to come back, so I booked that on Southwest to PHL. (Luckily I have rides to/from the airport)

Basically, the non-stop options that I know of from the Philly area are:
- Southwest from PHL
- US Airways from PHL
- Frontier from either Trenton (TTN) or Wilmington, DE (ILG)
- Allegiant from Allentown/Lehigh Valley (ABE)
- Spirit from Atlantic City (ACY)

If you're a little more willing to drive, you could also consider JetBlue out of EWR and Southwest out of BWI.

Of course, Southwest's pricing is the simplest and most flexible, US Airways has the most flight options. When booking the others, especially Allegiant and Spirit, be very careful with fees. Allegiant even charges for online bookings and for credit cards, and even more if you do it over the phone.

 

[lions1995]

Just booked flight from PHL to MCO (11/21 to 11/28) via Usair. $308 RT. Used my two companion passes, so for 5 of us it came to $1166. I am happy with that price plus reserved seats. Premium card holders get one checked luggage for up to 4 guests. So I am set.

 

[mom2elle]

We are flying PHL to MCO on 11/1 and were able to get a 4:35pm flight down, thankfully because I also wanted a late flight. Our flights were 144 each way, bought within minutes of them coming out. I checked tonight to see if the fares changed at all, and they are sold out! I'm shocked. There must be much less availability.

 

[beccasmom]

We are traveling in July and booked SWA in March for $282.00 round trip per person. At the time US Airways was well over $300.00 round trip. I lucked out with the time too as I was able to book a non-stop lunch time flight.

I do agree that SWA in Philly has less flight options than they once did. It is tough to compete with USAirways. I did read that one of the reasons is that SWA had made a deal with their fuel supplier some years back and purchased a large quantity of fuel up front at a very competitive price; in effect, locking in a price for a period of time. That was then and now they are on a more "even" field paying the same as the other airlines. It was nice while it lasted. I am still grateful for their great luggage policy.