SWA and a large group

[tmli]

Next August we will be flying to mco from BUF for our wedding. There will be at least 12 people and possibly more. Has anyone booked a group with SWA? What number constitutes a group? Was the price discounted? Or would it be be better to book myself by dividing the group and try for dings?

 

[BigTigger]

Our group was a bit bigger, but we took 122 high school students and 18 chaperones from PVD to MCO. We were split into two planes due to the group size, you shouldn't have that problem. The fares were about $80 roundtrip after discounts, but we purchased very far in advance. Since we were going for Magic Music Days, Disney handled the reservations for us as part of the package.

One bad thing about being a larger group - SWA made us board after the the non-group people (i.e we all got "C" passes). As bad as that sounds, most people chose not to sit apart as they didn't want high schooler's talking around them the whole flight.

 

[jeff968]

My son is going down to Disney with the High School Band on 12/27. I was shocked to hear that we had to pay $475 for a non-stop ticket out of Hartford. No Discount there. We often travel to Florida during the President's week break. I shop early and never pay more then $225. Good thing I had to purchase only one ticket. they are using two planes as well.

 

[Lewisc]

Group airline fares generally give you better payment terms and will generally let you change passenger names without any paying any fare difference. Airlines are not always willing to sell a lot of seats at the lowest fare, including DING. You may get better fares if you're able to book different flight and split your group. Call SW.

 

[2boyshere]

A group consists of 10 or more. There is a seperate # for you to call. I found it's usually about a 10% savings. Everyone has to fly the exact days and times and that cannot be changed.

 

[boswellnakia]

I have only done a group of 27 on Southwest. With our group fare quote, it was higher than listed specials. But with the group, you do get the better terms. I took our chances and got them through Dings and other rates. I have done 10-16 several time and never considered SWA group rates because I thought I could get upt to 16 tickets fairley easy (2 sets of 8). But you do take a chance.