SWA fares are out and EXPENSIVE !!

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Fuel and Labor are an airline's biggest costs. Now that Southwest's fuel hedges are coming to an end it will raise fares accordingly. Then add in the fact that southwest's pilots are practically the highest paid in the industry (it's ok, they don't pay their flight attendants or gate agents diddly, so it all evens out) and you have a recipe for what the legacy carriers have dealt with for years. My guess is that less profitable routes will be eliminated as opposed to filling them with ding fares...


If you are a flight attendant or a gate agent for Southwest, I was being facetious... crappy wages are never ok.

 

[Stitch75]

We were able to get $59 one way from Indianapolis to MCO. The cheaper rates are usually on Tue., Wed., and Thursday. Look at the surrounding areas to see if it is cheaper to drive a few hours away. We live in Louisvillle but it is well worth it to drive 2 hours to Indy. It is saving us over $300 overall.

 

[4MCMICKEY]

We were lucky and grabbed the rates as soon as they came out this morning. We got round trip from Columbus to Orlando for 137. I just checked and now each way is $139. I am so happy that I did not wait to buy.

 

[meeskamouska]

I found that the rates were not as good as I had hoped!!!! We went with American Airlines and got a better rate...$219 per person X 5!!! With SWA it would have been $179 each way X 5!!!

 

[tomerin]

if my memory serves me correctly july 2005 the fare from long island to orlando was about 128 dollars. for this july they are almost the\same price

 

[mysparky]

I've been watching closely for the August fares to be posted. Watched like a hawk this morning at 11EST and saw they were posted by about 11:05EST. I was only able to purchase tix for our flight down, as our return flight is Aug 25th. One-way from Hartford was $109 (internet special category), and although it was a little more than I had hoped, I jumped on the fare.

I just went back in to see if the $109 fare was gone yet (i.e. did I really need to be such a spaz this morning?!) and had a shock. The $109 fare isn't even LISTED anymore! The "Internet special" cateogory now shows as $158! I've seen SWA show a fare as "unavailable", but I've never seen them change the pricing on a category! I checked out flights from Providence (a potential airport for us if the fares are great) and same thing happened there as well. $109 was up as the "internet special" rate this morning, but by this evening, it's around $148.

I would be so upset right now if I had decided to wait on the purchase of my 7 tickets!

What gives?

 

[lynninpa]

I've been watching closely for the August fares to be posted. Watched like a hawk this morning at 11EST and saw they were posted by about 11:05EST. I was only able to purchase tix for our flight down, as our return flight is Aug 25th. One-way from Hartford was $109 (internet special category), and although it was a little more than I had hoped, I jumped on the fare.

I just went back in to see if the $109 fare was gone yet (i.e. did I really need to be such a spaz this morning?!) and had a shock. The $109 fare isn't even LISTED anymore! The "Internet special" cateogory now shows as $158! I've seen SWA show a fare as "unavailable", but I've never seen them change the pricing on a category! I checked out flights from Providence (a potential airport for us if the fares are great) and same thing happened there as well. $109 was up as the "internet special" rate this morning, but by this evening, it's around $148.

I would be so upset right now if I had decided to wait on the purchase of my 7 tickets!

What gives?

Last August, I did the same as you did-waited like a hawk for fares out of Providence-for 9 of us! My husband was able to be home that day and called me at work as soon as the fares came out-once i got his call I even ran to another classroom to tell a co-worker the fares were up as she was waiting, too. We booked within moments. and like you said, the fares were crazy by the time i checked when i got home that very day! Our next trip dates came out this morning on SWA yet we were not able to check them until after work today. Up to $389.00 RTper person already?? CRAZY!

 

[snowwite]

What is the deal with Southwest ? Their fares are insanely expensive ! I have had my in-laws waiting for SW to release their fares before booking their flights for this summer....Midwest was $188 ROUND TRIP...SW is $165 ONE WAY !! They are going to kill me !! Now what ? Do you think SW will come down in price? Should they hold out for a June/July DING fare ??? They are coming from Kansas City. Help !!

I just got a Ding-you can buy through August!

 

[rchristiansen]

Wow, this really surprises me. I got my fare from Washington Dulles (major airport, not some "off-brand" one) to Orlando for $79 each way. I was waiting for May 11th - so I already had one leg of the trip booked at $69 one way with some travel funds used towards it.

 

[deltachi8]

with southwest, patience is a virtue.

wait if you can.

 

[mamacatnv]

I've been watching closely for the August fares to be posted. Watched like a hawk this morning at 11EST and saw they were posted by about 11:05EST.
I just went back in to see if the $109 fare was gone yet (i.e. did I really need to be such a spaz this morning?!) and had a shock. The $109 fare isn't even LISTED anymore! The "Internet special" cateogory now shows as $158! I've seen SWA show a fare as "unavailable", but I've never seen them change the pricing on a category!
What gives?

Same thing here - I purchase our tix this morning "Internet Special" for $840 ttl/rt for all 4 of us and this evening the $89 rate is not even showing and the cost has jumped to $169 ea way for a total of $1575 rt for 4. Crazy! I'm glad I didn't hesitate.
Worst/Best case scenario is I get the same or a better deal later at our local airport and don't have to drive to Sacramento or save a few bucks and put it towards the gazillion flights I take to Portland to deal with my Mother.

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Count me in as one of the wait-it-outers. Need 4 tixs for August R/T Hartford and didn't check until dinnertime and OUCH!!!!! Best is over $300 R/T PP. Tick, tock, tick, tock . . . Waiting is so hard.

 

[Liltx]

Same thing here princes from San Antonio to Tampa went up from $99 to $169 and few of those times are even available. I'm glad I booked in the am. Now I will just wait for a ding to get MCO for the same price. If not we will save over $550 and better flight times going to Tampa.

Monica

 

[dolphindan1]

We also fly out of BUF and this afternoon it was $59 and I just went to book it now and it's gone. Now airfare for the 4 of us reads $1,335.

Same here I was looking at tickets to Vegas...they were 79 bucks now they are 169 bucks one way....that happened overnight...crazy...I was so mad

 

[emmabelle]

I got $69 down and $59 back, Manchester, NH to MCO. I checked this morning and the cheapest fare is now $148 each way and that's supposed to be an internet fare. Glad I booked yesterday! We do have to drive down to Miami though to catch a cruise ship which is a bummer.

 

[Geoff_M]

As others have noted, one of SW's biggest competitive advantages is coming to an end; their long-term low price fuel hedge contracts. It'll be interesting to see what happens long term as suddenly newer discount airlines with newer more fuel efficient fleets might have the fuel cost advantage over SW (though I'm sure some of this will be offset by SW's financials enabling them to get better than average prices on new contracts). This isn't to say that SW won't still offer good deals on Dings and such to try and help fill planes, but it sounds like the days of SW being the sure-fire cost leader may be waning.

 

[cabmom]

Yesterday, when they opened up sales at 11am, prices were reasonable. Then later in the day the prices increased.
I hope DING's come out for those of you who are looking for cheaper fares.

I got $59 each way Buf - Mco, and also $42 each way Buf -Las Vegas in August! I booked before 11:30 am yesterday.

Marilynn

 

[TheresaNY]

Do you remember what a "good fare" was last year ? Should I just gofor the $198 rt on Midwest or holdout for Southwest ? Need 4 seats and dates are not flexible.

 

[sassyredhead]

Do you remember what a "good fare" was last year ? Should I just gofor the $198 rt on Midwest or holdout for Southwest ? Need 4 seats and dates are not flexible.

I booked Midwest in October for $235pp r/t for a total of $707.70 for 3. Boy, I'm glad I did because the same fare on SW is over $1000 total for 3!!!

 

[Tam1067]

I booked yesterday, and United was over $200 cheaper for 5 of us from Chicago to MCO than Southwest was for our trip in July; we got $160 each R/T on United while Southwest was $200 each. Flight times were comparable. So don't forget to check the major airlines where you get assigned seats.