SW price increase...insane!

[Disneygrl71]

Checked on Monday and the flight going down was $129, I didn't have enough points to book (waiting on my 50,000 to be added) went back today and the price jumped to $189....that's crazy!!! That kind of jump in just a few days It's the only non-stop for that Sunday flying down in Oct, so I'm hoping it doesn't sell out, maybe the price increase will help!!! My points probably won't hit my RR account for a couple of weeks!!!

 

[mickey2000]

Checked on Monday and the flight going down was $129, I didn't have enough points to book (waiting on my 50,000 to be added) went back today and the price jumped to $189....that's crazy!!! That kind of jump in just a few days It's the only non-stop for that Sunday flying down in Oct, so I'm hoping it doesn't sell out, maybe the price increase will help!!! My points probably won't hit my RR account for a couple of weeks!!!

That's not insane but normal in todays economy ! The past few months the airlines have lost a lot of money due to bad weather ! IMO an average RT ticket at a good price is between $300 - 350 .........
Thr $89 days are looooong gone!

 

[Disneygrl71]

That's not insane but normal in todays economy ! The past few months the airlines have lost a lot of money due to bad weather ! IMO an average RT ticket at a good price is between $300 - 350 .........
Thr $89 days are looooong gone!

Really??? Well, that stinks...lol! Glad I had enough points to lock in our airfare coming home...we got that for $110! I'm hoping they will run a sale or drop the price back down, I don't think I've ever seen airfare on SW from Louisville KY to Orlando that high...keeping my fingers crossed!!!

 

[DebbieB]

One advantage of booking with points is if the price drops, you just need to go in and do a modify reservation and the extra points go back into your RR account unrestricted.

 

[DSLRuser]

normal

Tuesdays are the cheapest days to book flights.

 

[LoverDisney]

normal

Tuesdays are the cheapest days to book flights.

 

[LisaS]

As already posted, it's not unusual for airlines to raise prices at the weekend when a lot of people are doing their vacation planning and drop them back down on Tuesday afternoon.

 

[bookwormde]

If you have al little flexibility be patient they go up and down all the time

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

normal

Tuesdays are the cheapest days to book flights.

I know this urban myth exists but...

It's based on the fact that it used to be a huge manual undertaking to load fare changes. So on Monday, the "bean counters" and marketing would look at sales for the last week and make the changes which were effective Tuesday.

Now, sophisticated computer systems monitor constantly and fare changes, both up and down, happen constantly. So if Delta announces a sale on Thursday, SW will match immediately!

The Tuesday affect is not near as great as it used to be.

 

[loveswdw]

I don't think I've ever seen airfare on SW from Louisville KY to Orlando that high...keeping my fingers crossed!!!

We are flying out of SDF into MCO in a few weeks. We are flying home from TPA. The prices to fly from MCO to SDF on Sat or Sun have been $300+ OW for months. I checked daily several times a day. Pretty much all flights sold out of the Wanna Get Away fares early (which weren't cheap to begin with). It was brutal this time. I snagged the TPA flight for $145 and that was a steal. Airfare to MCO wasn't bad, got a Wed nonstop for $100. But finding a reasonable flight home was a challenge.

 

[leebee]

We are flying in October over Columbus Day weekend, which is also fall break for most of the nearby colleges and universities. I jumped online first thing in the morning when Southwest opened booking for these dates, and by the time I'd finished making my reservations, prices had jumped on both flights. I am so glad I booked early (and on points)! Now I will begin the game: Watch the SW site and rebook the flights as things go on sale. Prices were higher than I'd hoped for, but with points it's not as crucial, and I am pretty sure the price will drop as the months go by. Fortunately, SW will put the points back in my Rapid Rewards account if the fares go down (and I catch them)!

 

[RumpleMom]

Also remember you can rebook if they have a lower price fare(not just points) on Southwest and then use the credit on a future flight.

I luv Southwest!

 

[Lewisc]

I know this urban myth exists but...

It's based on the fact that it used to be a huge manual undertaking to load fare changes. So on Monday, the "bean counters" and marketing would look at sales for the last week and make the changes which were effective Tuesday.

Now, sophisticated computer systems monitor constantly and fare changes, both up and down, happen constantly. So if Delta announces a sale on Thursday, SW will match immediately!

The Tuesday affect is not near as great as it used to be.

Current thought (still urban myth?) Over the weekend customers book the deeply discounted fare buckets. As those buckets sell out passengers book alternate flights, still available at the lower fare buckets, or wait. Passengers don't follow the computer model and don't book the higher fares. By Tuesday the "bean counter" gives up, over-rides the computer allocation and makes more seats available at lower fare buckets.

or A competing airline makes the adjustment on Monday and by Tuesday the "bean counter" gives up and matches the fare.

 

[NancyIL]

I bought my Dec. 2013 airfare from BMI-MCO on Delta @ $264 on a Thursday in June 2013. Two days later (Saturday) - the fare dropped $40. So much for "the best time to buy is on a Tuesday afternoon" theory.

 

[mmmagique]

We are flying round trip from Louisville (SDF) to Orlando (MCO) and back in a few weeks for 3 something per person. (just a bit over 300 each) (we're leaving on a Sunday and coming back on a Sunday, so if I had the option to pick better days, we could have gone quite a bit cheaper.)

I could have gotten them cheaper had I bought them earlier (it would have been around $250 each) but I had to wait until I had the money. We bought our tickets about a week and a half ago.

Check several times a day, and jump on a good fare when you find it.

 

[mikehn]

The fact of the matter is, fares jump around every day, and even a few times throughout a single day. In my experience, I've seen the best prices posted at 6 am eastern, and it goes up throughout the day. And then it starts all over again the next day at 6am. In theory, Tuesdays are the cheapest days, but I've seen the cheapest fares on other days as well. Now of course my experience is based on fares out of Baltimore, a big southwest hub

 

[Shadowcat70]

Fuming at SW right now. A few days ago our flight out of PDX was only 8371 points. When to go book it today and it's now 14,742 points! Meanwhile, my parent's flight out of SEA hasn't changed at all points-wise.

Has anyone ever experience the point cost dropping after an increase like that with Southwest? Just wondering if I should just fork over the money to buy points now, or wait a while. This tightens our budget up bit.

 

[lauti]

Fuming at SW right now. A few days ago our flight out of PDX was only 8371 points. When to go book it today and it's now 14,742 points! Meanwhile, my parent's flight out of SEA hasn't changed at all points-wise.

Has anyone ever experience the point cost dropping after an increase like that with Southwest? Just wondering if I should just fork over the money to buy points now, or wait a while. This tightens our budget up bit.

I'd wait. Its all supply and demand. If you're really concerned then book and you can get the points back if it goes down.

Southwest doesn't owe anyone anything, they are trying to make $

 

[preemiemama]

I had a similar experience with a cash reservation a month ago on my return flight for July. Checked the fare in the am at work and it was $120. Got home and tried to book and it had jumped to $250! Found another return 3 hours earlier for $120 so booked that. 2 days ago it was $130 and I forgot after work to change it. Looked yesterday and it fell to $120. Jumped on it and now finally have the flight I originally wanted for the right price.
One thing I did that seemed to help was to select the "don't save recent searches" option. I got much better price options that way. Also, when I checked at work it seemed better than at home, FWIW.
Bottom line, if you can pick flights that are not perfect time wise but you can live with if you need to at the right price, you can then keep checking back and change to better flights when prices drop. As many PPs have said, just keep checking back!

 

[DebbieB]

Fuming at SW right now. A few days ago our flight out of PDX was only 8371 points. When to go book it today and it's now 14,742 points! Meanwhile, my parent's flight out of SEA hasn't changed at all points-wise.

Has anyone ever experience the point cost dropping after an increase like that with Southwest? Just wondering if I should just fork over the money to buy points now, or wait a while. This tightens our budget up bit.

Mine for May dropped a little. I did a modify and the extra 600 points went back into my account.