SW SOLD OUT - Really?? or just didnt offer??

[pinkerbell]

As soon as I got the ding saying flight were open, I looked at my dates. I am new to booking during school vacation and 10 of the flights were already SOLD OUT for my dates at the lower "interent or wanna get away" price. Did they really sell out in 60 seconds or should they correct their wording to "not being offered" to think that there are already a lot of seats SOLD is much different than we didnt offer this and teh plane is still empty

 

[Disney1fan2002]

When an airline offers a special price, they only offer it for a select number of seats. So if they offer a "get away" price, maybe 20 seats are available at that price. Once those 20 seats are sold, they can say they are "sold out" at that price.

 

[disneyfan2]

i have a question? So, if the wanna get away are already sold out, the full prices show for my flights as $341 which i think is standard... Does the full price ever go up? I know the wanna get away change all the time, but from my experience i have never saw the full price change? Has anyone ever noticed this before

 

[Lewisc]

The OP sort of has a point. The airline shows sold out even if there were never seats available in that fare class. They also show sold out if the flight is in the near future and you don't qualify for the fare (minimum number of days before your flight).

Sold out, in this context, really means not available. Would it make you happier if SW offered one seat and that seat was sold out? Would it change anything if SW said unavailable instead of sold out?

The highest, fully refundable fare, will only go up if SW has a fare increase.

There are passengers who will pay full fare for a holiday flight. People who can't get extra vacation time and are flying to make a cruise will pay. Passengers willing to pay full fare for peak flights allows them to offer discounted fares to those of us who are flexible.

 

[Joan S.]

As soon as I got the ding saying flight were open, I looked at my dates. I am new to booking during school vacation and 10 of the flights were already SOLD OUT for my dates at the lower "interent or wanna get away" price. Did they really sell out in 60 seconds or should they correct their wording to "not being offered" to think that there are already a lot of seats SOLD is much different than we didnt offer this and teh plane is still empty

Hi, We may be looking at the same dates(FEB.Pres. Week??) as I see you are from MA. IMHO they are never offered at the lower price because I have seen this happen before. They know the popular times and that they can get FULL price. I usually BUY right away BUT this year I have not. I know the prices will not go down for the weekends but if we travel during that time we will offset our days. I will also check other airline prices including out of BOSTON. I know SWA is the only airline that flies direct from PVD to MCO,so that usually makes them our first choice. But $600. plus for each ticket out of PVD is more than I want to pay. Joan

 

[Joan S.]

As soon as I got the ding saying flight were open, I looked at my dates. I am new to booking during school vacation and 10 of the flights were already SOLD OUT for my dates at the lower "interent or wanna get away" price. Did they really sell out in 60 seconds or should they correct their wording to "not being offered" to think that there are already a lot of seats SOLD is much different than we didnt offer this and teh plane is still empty

Oh I also JUST noticed that Wanna Get Away has different price points each day. So on Sat the 2/19/11 (pvd to mco) $303. IS the lowest fare. But if you check other dates around 2/19/11 the price for Wanna Get Away could be as low as $99. So that also could explain SOLD OUT. Joan

 

[pinkerbell]

The OP sort of has a point. The airline shows sold out even if there were never seats available in that fare class. They also show sold out if the flight is in the near future and you don't qualify for the fare (minimum number of days before your flight).

Sold out, in this context, really means not available. Would it make you happier if SW offered one seat and that seat was sold out? Would it change anything if SW said unavailable instead of sold out?

The highest, fully refundable fare, will only go up if SW has a fare increase.

There are passengers who will pay full fare for a holiday flight. People who can't get extra vacation time and are flying to make a cruise will pay. Passengers willing to pay full fare for peak flights allows them to offer discounted fares to those of us who are flexible.

YES! I guess I'm very old school, I want the truth, not the computer generated answer. To me, a flight watcher who saved hundreds on our upcoming trip by watching the fares, there is a difference. Is the demand so high that someone was up at the crack of dawn buying that one ticket, or not. When buying 4 RT tickets at 698.10 EACH it's can be HUGE. I watched out return flight go from 188 to 109 a month out because no-one really bought the high price tickets!! include the add ons (tax etc) times four = $$$$$$$
much happier in my pocket than SW's

 

[pinkerbell]

Hi, We may be looking at the same dates(FEB.Pres. Week??) as I see you are from MA. IMHO they are never offered at the lower price because I have seen this happen before. They know the popular times and that they can get FULL price. I usually BUY right away BUT this year I have not. I know the prices will not go down for the weekends but if we travel during that time we will offset our days. I will also check other airline prices including out of BOSTON. I know SWA is the only airline that flies direct from PVD to MCO,so that usually makes them our first choice. But $600. plus for each ticket out of PVD is more than I want to pay. Joan

I also dont think they offered any. I am looking for information more than to actually buy. I have an AP, so if the fares were decent I would have purchased, but no way at $698.10!! each for 4. I no longer anjoy the fare watching and price madness, so we are thinking of getting a Motorhome. This morning's prices puts me soooo much closer!
Many of our friends say SW is not longer a good deal for Hartford and I have to agree.
Good luck with other airlines!!

 

[Lewisc]

I understand why you want to know how many tickets (if any) were available for sale at the lowest fares. That information is a trade secret. All we're entitled to know is how many seats are currently available for sale at a given fare "bucket"

The computer sees 0 and displays sold out. I guess they could change it and display unavailable instead. You'll never get what you want, a different message if the seats are sold out then if the seats were never made available.

I read someplace that a fare that sells out in less then 7-10 days is a fare that is so low it never should have been offered.

 

[roadtripper]

What time did the DING come? I was on at 7:08 this AM, and managed to book Wanna Get Away fares from Manchester NH for Pres Week--Fri to Fri. Checked PVD as well, and they had Wanna Get Aways, too, but they were higher, and sold out for the nonstops later on Friday. So they did exist for a while. What didn't exist, I don't think, were standard Rapid Rewards tix. Had to convert 2 standards to 1 Freedom award to take the edge off the prices, and get at least 1 free ticket.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I think the DING came out later than the tickets... I was on at 7:15 and grabbed up some $79 tickets from Manchester to Tampa & back. Was planning to fly into Tampa to visit family on 2/24, but decided to fly home (3/6) via Tampa because the Orlando prices went up just in the few minutes I called my DH. One minute the flight I wanted was around $154 then it was $200, now it's up to $234!!

We stay off-site and rent a car so flying home from Tampa is no big deal - especially since I got round trip tickets for four for $700!

 

[Brian Noble]

I want the truth, not the computer generated answer.

Fair enough. Here are a few more:

WDW's "Last" Tour to Endor wasn't.
Starbucks' "tall" coffee is their smallest size.

(I'm sure folks can think of a few more.)

 

[roadtripper]

I think the DING came out later than the tickets...

This was definitely the case. My friend logged on at 6AM and the schedule was open; didn't get the DING for a few hours. That's why there was no availability for Wanna Get Aways. They existed, but they were snapped up by 8 AM when the DING came out. Not sure if that helps, OP, but they did exist.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Starbucks' "tall" coffee is their smallest size.

Actually tall is not the smallest size, the smallest size is short.

 

[Brian Noble]

How about "smallest size on the menu" then, Mr/Ms. smarty-pants.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

how about "smallest size on the menu" then, mr/ms. Smarty-pants.

ok!

 

[Telcogirl]

This was definitely the case. My friend logged on at 6AM and the schedule was open; didn't get the DING for a few hours. That's why there was no availability for Wanna Get Aways. They existed, but they were snapped up by 8 AM when the DING came out. Not sure if that helps, OP, but they did exist.

I'm not sure what time the DING came out, but I was trying to buy tickets around 7:30am and all the Wanna Get Away fares were gone for 2/19.

Soooo, instead of extending our cruise vacation in Disney, we are flying home right after the ships gets into port and saving almost $700 dollars on airfare alone.