SWA? Return trip or two one ways??

[riu girl]

DH will be flying SWA, BUF-MCO Dec 17-Dec 31
me and DD and DS will be flying SWA BUF-MCO Dec 17-Jan 7

Obviously I have to book two different trips since DH will be flying home earlier.
My dilemma:
We REALLy want to fly together Dec 17 to MCO. What if I book me and the kids first on www.southwest.com and then go back and book DH immediately after only to find out that there are no seats at that fare left. Obviously right before I book I will check to make sure that there are ample seats available but what if as I am booking me and the kids, somebody else books the same flight day/time/fare? Then when I try to book DH, the fare will not be available. (I once read of this happening to someone on DIS, this got me thinking).

1. Any suggestions as to what to do??? I thought to be on the safe side I would book the 4 of us on a one way flight BUF-MCO then book one way flights home MCO-BUF.
2. Do two one way flights on SWA cost more then a reutrn trip?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[jjan]

I would book tickets for the 4 of you leaving together and then separate one-ways back home for you and your kids and then your DH. It doesn't cost any different whichever way that you do it. If you decided to book totally separate and your worst case senerio happens and there are no more seats, you could easily cancel your tickets and use the credit to book a different flight together.

 

[MAH4546]

Southwest does not sell round-trip tickets. All tickets on Southwest are one-way only. You shouldn't have any problems with your plan.

 

[barkley]

southwest may price all of their air fares as one way but there can be a tremendous price difference if you enter your travel dates as one way vs. round trip. if you try entering a search on their system doing the trip as "round trip" you can often find the same flights that showed no availability under their lowest rates (under a one way) suddenly available at those lowest rates.

you might want to check and see if you could get a great deal booking it as a round trip (with everyone supposedly returning on your husband's return date then only your husband flying home) and seeing what kind of deal you can get via southwest or another line for your "real return date". i noticed that your return date is well after the holidays so it may be that you could find a good deal in this manner.

 

[MAH4546]

southwest may price all of their air fares as one way but there can be a tremendous price difference if you enter your travel dates as one way vs. round trip. if you try entering a search on their system doing the trip as "round trip" you can often find the same flights that showed no availability under their lowest rates (under a one way) suddenly available at those lowest rates.

you might want to check and see if you could get a great deal booking it as a round trip (with everyone supposedly returning on your husband's return date then only your husband flying home) and seeing what kind of deal you can get via southwest or another line for your "real return date". i noticed that your return date is well after the holidays so it may be that you could find a good deal in this manner.

That is not correct. Everything on Southwests' reservation system is one-way. It is one of the basis of their simple business model that has made them a consistently profitable airline. Booking a round-trip changes nothing.

 

[headoflife]

That is not correct. Everything on Southwests' reservation system is one-way. It is one of the basis of their simple business model that has made them a consistently profitable airline. Booking a round-trip changes nothing.

This is not actually correct. SWA has some fares which price out less if booked round trip. For example, they have a promotional fare from MDW to MCO which shows a fare from $49 to $79. If you book it round trip it prices at $49 each way, or about $115 with taxes, but if you book it one way it pulls the $79 and prices around $85with tax. I know this because I wanted to book an open jaw trip, flying into MCO and out of FLL, and I could get a round trip, into either city for $115, but the total for the one ways was $170. I called SWA, and even the agent was suprisewd, but said there was no way to override the system and have it recognise this as a round trip to get the better fare. To the OP, I would probably look and see if your flights show a range of promo fares, which might indicate that RT would be cheaper, and decide from there.

 

[SB in KY]

I agree with MAH 4546...SW books and prices on 1 way reservations....there will be no price difference (just check the booking screen)...everything is priced on a 1 way basis....sometimes there is a fairly significant difference between non-stop flights between 2 cities and flights between the same 2 cities with intermediate stops (non-stops are always cheapest)....I assume the difference is related to airport charges at the place you have to change planes but I am not sure on that one.

I have heard for years the theory put forth by BARKLEY...however I have never found it to be true....On many occasions when trying to book a 1 way ticket and finding that the cheap fare was not available I have tried booking as a RT figuring that if it worked I could always cancel the return and use the SW credit later....and never once have I found any different availability when I tried it that way.

So to the OP....just go ahead and book 4 1 ways down and then book the 1 return on 12/31 and the other 3 returns on 1/7....You will probably have to pay a premium price for the 12/31 return, but hopefully the 1/7 returns will be less expensive for you.

BTW, I would book the 12/31 return ASAP when the Dec. schedules are released!! They will be hard to come by.