SW Prices don't seem to be dropping !

[Huff]

SW releases their new rates every tuesday morning. There are individual route specials that show up on a daily basis. Its good to follow Ding daily too.

In the past the cheapest flights I've found for Sept. have been in late May and early June but theres really no pattern.

I'm hoping for a good rate with US Airways as they have the best flight times available for us.

 

[Princess Amy]

So if I were to book my SW flights at the insanely high prices they are now , then down the road the prices drop, what are the steps to get a credit online? And can you do it more than once?

And to think...last year I paid $120 round trip, and this year I'm paying $128 one way!

 

[famsen]

I am watching SW for the end of September too.

I did get in on a special fare for May. Last week they were running a special but you had to travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday. We were able to be flexible with our dates so we booked. We had a $100 credit already pending from a reduced fare last year so with that credit and the $94 each way fare, we got the 2 round trip tickets from Chicago to Orlando for a grand total of $318.

I am afraid there will not be many great deals for September due to SW getting rid of many daily flights. We will need to find airfare for 3 of us and my friend's family is coming with and they have a total of 5.

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

My advice is to stalk the flights you want. We were looking at flights for mid-August from PVD to MCO. From the day they came out they were $139 each way. We kept watching them and noticed fluctuation in the prices particularly around Wed. and Thurs. They dropped to $129 a few times. Then they would bump back up. We kept watching and about a week ago on a Thursday they dropped to $109 each way. We booked it. It's not as great as we've done in the past but airfares just seem to be higher this year. I will say that I haven't seen them drop back down again after the day that we booked. They've been back to $139. It's frustrating that you seem to have to have good timing or just good luck to get a decent fare.

 

[5boyz]

my return flight went down $30 ea. I want to book but my neighbour is trying to get a good price out of TO and I dont want to miss that. I missed it last year cuz I booked when SW came out with $59. ea ea way. Just wanted to let you everyone know that a price actually went down..Buf to Orl

 

[sharonmickey]

I agree Southwest prices are going up. I purchased my flight for $74 in January, it briefly went down to $69 so I rebooked it and received a credit. Now it is up to $214. I booked an early flight and am hoping the later flights go down in price so I can rebook on one of them. No luck so far but hey...at least I'm going to Disney!

 

[kim929]

I have learned you have to always watch sw site. Flights for our May trip start at 99 each way. they are currently at 139 but for a brief moment they went to 79 and I was able to rebook and get credits. When the flight went down it wasn't a ding, special or any type of notification, it was just there.
I keep looking for August they are holding at 139.00.

 

[sk8jdgca]

just checked the flights i wanted for aug/sept just dropped form 89 to 68 one way-yes i booked!

 

[DebbieB]

It really depends on the individual flight. If it's close to full, the price will probably not go down. If it's half empty and the date is getting closer, it may go down.

 

[pickles]

I have learned you have to always watch sw site. Flights for our May trip start at 99 each way. they are currently at 139 but for a brief moment they went to 79 and I was able to rebook and get credits. When the flight went down it wasn't a ding, special or any type of notification, it was just there.
I keep looking for August they are holding at 139.00.

this is our experience..up until about a month out. so far prices less than a month out are holding higher

 

[Lintasare]

My sister and I just booked for our Sept/Oct trip. $337 RT for one person from ABQ to MCO. Back in 2007 the same flights were $400 RT for both of us. I know before SW had their fuel contracts which saved them money. But those contracts have expired and they are paying the same rates as other airlines so it is not surprising rates have gone up. Plus the fact they don't charge bag fees so I would expect fares to be higher because of that. Instead of ala carte pricing they are including the cost in the fare.

 

[CruisanSusan]

Late Sept trip out of Philadelphia. It's early and I couldn't sleep worrying about SW prices. lol..I got nervous after reading this thread. My sister wanted to wait for the SW prices to drop for our Sept trip. I fretted about the price, the departure & arrival times and overbooking. My sister said she priced SW at $247. each, roundtrip yesterday. This morning it was $264. I finally said to myself "what's another $17.00 for each of us when I'm paying so much for WDW!". It's all relative. So I went ahead and just booked our flights, early arrival, late departure. Yeah! I feel better now and can continue to plan our trip without worrying about our flights.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I'm having a really hard time flying out of CLE for anything less than around $350 on the major airlines. I keep checking SW to see what they have and right now, they are not much better. I'm even checking the surrounding Orlando area airports. This is the first year we've had this problem going in September.

 

[tinkerbellang]

Airtran is cheaper for me right now for early September flights - which is scary! SW has always been cheaper. Should have booked the first day the rates came out - $82 each way, now $154 and $109. Hind site is 20/20!

 

[Jeri Lynn]

I haven't found any decent fares on SW for our October trip either. They seem to be ranging from $139 - $152 one way. I can fly out of Logan, PVD or Bradley so I watch all three. I hope something changes soon. I have checked Jetblue also and there is nothing spectacular about their fares either.

 

[Nie0214]

Early-August trip here.. I was watching PVD/BOS to MCO and it wasn't great. PVD was $139 one-way per person, and BOS was $179ish.

Ended up booking BOS->Baltimore for $60 one-way per person. I booked one ticket from Baltimore->MCO at $98, I am hoping that I will get some credits during a price drop so I can book the other tickets from Baltimore->MCO with the credits.

 

[Stacy9402]

Just got great rates for IAD to MCO for 7/21 - 8/7 for $1087 for 5 people. So excited now

 

[Bouncin-Tigger]

My sister works in the chicago Sw office and gave me a few items to pass on through the years, When using their web site click on travel tools and it will tell you when the open schedule dates are and when the next segment will open. She says buying on the first few days of the open schedule will be the cheapest offer until cancellations roll in and they need to fill seats. Also for the 1st 25% of the flight seats will be your lowest fares, between 26% and 66% of seats sold will be the next level of prices and than from 67%-80% will be the 3rd tier and after 80% they are at the profit mark and thats the highest rates you will see. The ding specials are offered if they drop below a line with a certain number of days remaining to the flight, like if someone cancels and they will offer a limited number of seats to get back over that number, or if its within the last 72 hours and there are still seats unpurchased, but SW is known for overbooking flights, and las vegas and orlando being 2 of their more popular destinations they are often over booked and that is where they see some angry passengers. Passenger 1 could book there flight 120 days in advance days for a family reunion and passnger 2 could book 48 hours in advance just out of boredom but if passenger 2 does the online check in first and passenger 1 waits til they get to the airport or does online check in to late they can be bumped from a flight that everyone else has checked in prior to them. So when it comes to buying tickets, checking in or seating onboard the plane everything truly is first come first serve.

 

[3happydancers]

My sister works in the chicago Sw office and gave me a few items to pass on through the years, When using their web site click on travel tools and it will tell you when the open schedule dates are and when the next segment will open. She says buying on the first few days of the open schedule will be the cheapest offer until cancellations roll in and they need to fill seats. Also for the 1st 25% of the flight seats will be your lowest fares, between 26% and 66% of seats sold will be the next level of prices and than from 67%-80% will be the 3rd tier and after 80% they are at the profit mark and thats the highest rates you will see. The ding specials are offered if they drop below a line with a certain number of days remaining to the flight, like if someone cancels and they will offer a limited number of seats to get back over that number, or if its within the last 72 hours and there are still seats unpurchased, but SW is known for overbooking flights, and las vegas and orlando being 2 of their more popular destinations they are often over booked and that is where they see some angry passengers. Passenger 1 could book there flight 120 days in advance days for a family reunion and passnger 2 could book 48 hours in advance just out of boredom but if passenger 2 does the online check in first and passenger 1 waits til they get to the airport or does online check in to late they can be bumped from a flight that everyone else has checked in prior to them. So when it comes to buying tickets, checking in or seating onboard the plane everything truly is first come first serve.

Thanks a bunch for the overview of how SWA works. Especially for the tips on ticket purchases!

This will be the 5th year flying with SWA and overall, my family is very happy with their service.

 

[The Mayor]

The flights I want for my Oct. trip opened at $152 down and $149 return and have not changed...I check them everyday but especially Tuesday & Thursday because from past experience that's when SW tends to drop their prices...I fly out of MHT and this is the most expensive SW flights I've encountered...I'm hoping they drop to at least $119 and then I'll book.