SWA - Tips / Q & A's

[Vivig]

Hi There,

With the costs of travelling out of Pearson, we are thinking about travelling from Buffalo with SWA.

May I ask if you can kindly post your tips in regards to purchasing tickets for March Break. When should we purchase them? IS the difference significant from TO? (This one I am thinking YES!) I serched for Jet Blue and the difference was not very big...My hopes are now with SWA. IS there a time when the price drops?

Any and all information would be MUCH appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Vivian

 

[michelle1]

I have never flown during March Break so I am not sure how ticket prices will be during that time but generally with SW you can get a better price if you are a little flexible with your dates as opposed to Sat to Sat, Sun to Sun. I don't find that Jet Blue has very good prices but AirTran tends to be comparable to SW although keep in mind AirTran charges for any changes made and only have 1 nonstop flight each day. I have flown SW many times and the most I have ever paid from Buff to MCO is $69 one way and the best was this past July for $343 return for my family of 4...I would have paid that alone in departure taxes from YYZ!

 

[Gladguy]

The best advice, and advice given here repeatedly and often, is to download DING! from the Southwest website, enter your coordinates and wait for low fares during your travel window.

Like michelle1 says, you should expect to be a little bit flexible, but the savings on SWA through BUF are astronomical. In my case, flying out of Pearson (with all BS that goes along with navigating such an awful airport) would have cost my family of four CAD$2600. By watching DING! for a couple weeks, I got four return tickets out of BUF for USD$560. Even after adding in gas to Buffalo and an extra night in a hotel, the difference is more than $1200... which will buy a lot of Mickey Ice Cream Bars!

 

[Vivig]

Thanks to you both for the information.

I realise that the DING has been mentioned numerous times on the boards, however was looking more into the timelines i.e. March is not available at this time, when will the window of opportunity open for dates After March 7, 2008? Is there a recommendation to book as soon as they open the dates up? How quickly will they fill up for March Break? etc..

I do appreciate the information to date.

Thanks

 

[Gladguy]

I believe SWA's window for booking is 6 months, i.e. they will not start booking March 2008 travel until Sept/Oct. 2007. I also believe the best rates tend to be immediately upon release of the booking window -- that's when I got my tickets.

So, download DING! now, and watch it obsessively for the next couple months.

 

[mickeywho?]

We booked our next trip (last week of august) with SW when the rates were released - the same day actually. I had been watching JetBlue's flights and had not seen them go below $189 each way pp. So SW release rate of $168 each way pp looked better although not the huge deal I had been expecting. JetBlue's flights were not nonstop and SWs was so that helped in our decision. We also knew we would be going to Florida again in February so if prices came down with SW we could take advantage of a full credit - I think JetBlue charged per ticket so we would lose money towards a credit if I saw a cheaper flight and made a change.
We actually managed to get $69 each way pp with SW and the balance of what we paid originally will go towards our flights in February. I watched the rates carefully - checking every day!
My tip - know what you would be comfortable paying ahead of time. Buy as soon as you see flights that work for you at that price. Then watch for any price drops and take it as credit - check the airlines change/credit policy before buying with them.
Don't count on a DING. One never came for either of our flights or even the few days around - I would have been willing to change our plans somewhat if a good one did pop up.
Good luck!

 

[disneyfan2]

We went in February and the rates for Feb/March had dropped around the American Thanksgiving weekend(Black Friday) there were 2 or 4 days of cheap rates offered. I wait til the Tues after Black Friday and the discounted rates are low. So, i plan to waiti til Black Friday again!