Those with Southwest Experience....

[HollyMD]

Have you ever known Southwest prices to go up and then back down? I have been watching flights for October, but really wasn't quite ready to book yet until we finalize our plans, but I notice a lot of the flights I was watching have gone WAY up! Since it is still 7 months out, can I be hopeful that they will go back down some before then or will they just continue to go up?

 

[Kmpcfp]

They will go down. The nice thing with Southwest is you can "change" your flight, even if you "change" it to the same flight. If the changed flight is less, they will give you a credit on the difference you can apply toward a future flight.

If you book with points, the points will be credited back into your account.

 

[lvthemouse]

Yes, We are flying Southwest at the end of April. Prices went down about a week ago, so I rebooked our flights at the cheaper price. I now have a SW credit, but we are flying in December too and will use the credit then.

 

[mullii5]

Just to build on what the previous poster said, the way we booked our flight was by looking at the fares for each day of the month. SW rates are usually cheaper on Tuesday or Wednesday....we booked our flight for a Tues departure and Tuesday return and got a direct flight for $120.00 round trip!!! It saved us a ton of money rather than flying out on a weekend.

 

[theone74733]

Wait until May. Southwest always has their anniversary sale in May for Fall travel. Usually it has been the $49/$99/$149 depending on how far you are travelling.

 

[Shanti]

The nice thing with Southwest is you can "change" your flight, even if you "change" it to the same flight. If the changed flight is less, they will give you a credit on the difference you can apply toward a future flight.

Yes, this is a benefit of Southwest. Just keep in mind that you must use the credit towards a flight that takes place within a year of the date you booked the original trip (not the date you were originally going to fly).

 

[HollyMD]

Great! Thanks to all of you, I will wait and see what May brings for us And I will keep watching our June flights as well, to see if they go lower and can give us a credit towards October! Thanks for that tip, Kmpcfp and Shanti!

 

[Ambehnke]

Yes it will go down. Southwest prices vary on a day to day basis and as others have said you can always adjust later on too for the credit.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

I booked our September trip on Sunday using points. The same flights today would cost me 8493 more points for each of us. That's 16,986 more points which was more than just one of our existing reservation cost.

 

[AngiTN]

Another Yes. Their prices change continually. Both up and down

 

[wdw4rfam]

Yes, I booked when prices for last fall were released in May. They went up and down constantly. I was so mad because we had always drove, I was booking for my DD, so had no idea that they went down. I thought whatever they were released at, they only went up from there, or I would have waited. When they went down I called and they gave me a credit, but no refund ( which is what I knew when I booked), but we don't fly, it was a one time thing, so that $110 will go unused, and expire.

 

[Amore Disney]

But watch out for the possibility of selling out on popular dates/flights! My prices were fluctuating upto $381 for a one-way ticket, and then the non-stop flight that I was watching for May just sold out yesterday. Looks like I'm settling for the longer connecting flights.

Granted, OP is looking 7 months out, but they can sellout over two months ahead of time if this is a popular date/time (usually morning flights going into MCO).

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Always keep an eye on those prices after you book. I have $214 in credits by doing that for our flights this past January. I checked I think just about every day, if it went down $5, I changed the flight, easily done online. Every little bit adds up and that will come close to covering a RT ticket for our trip in September. I am a huge SW fan.

 

[DebbieB]

Have you ever known Southwest prices to go up and then back down? I have been watching flights for October, but really wasn't quite ready to book yet until we finalize our plans, but I notice a lot of the flights I was watching have gone WAY up! Since it is still 7 months out, can I be hopeful that they will go back down some before then or will they just continue to go up?

They may go down but they could also continue to go up. It depends on how full the flights are. I usually travel on weekends and they rarely go down. The flights I have for May that I booked for around 16,000 points are now 24,000.

 

[allsaintsatx]

I have no advice for you, I just wanted to say that I am literally on a southwest flight right now on our way to WDW!!

 

[tink9702]

Another tip is to look at other airports. We flew into Tampa before & rented a car for an entire week for CHEAPER than the cost of flying 4 people into Orlando. Tampa is about a 90 minute drive as long as it's not during rush hour.

 

[cmspacca]

Wait to book. I am kicking myself for getting too antsy and changing things around.

I am renting DVC points from a friend for April. We had 4 days Poly and 3 night BCV booked for a Sat to Sat stay. I watched airfare go up and up and then show unavailable and finally I couldn't take it anymore. Airfare was over $600pp RT from Chicago. At the beginning of Dec, I had her change the dates and had to change hotels too (to AKV/SSR) since the Poly/BCV weren't available for the new dates. I booked the airfare for $295RT and even though the air price hasn't come down anymore, I saw our original dates become available a few weeks later for the same price.

Wait until 4-5months out.

 

[kristie73]

Wait until May. Southwest always has their anniversary sale in May for Fall travel. Usually it has been the $49/$99/$149 depending on how far you are travelling.

Good to know. I've been looking at flights too for Southwest for October. Denver to Orlando. We don't fly often so I may be worried about changing them for credits. How long do the credits last before they expire? I like Southwest just for the fact that they don't charge for checked luggage.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

I've never checked on prices after booking, but I may start doing this for our September trip, just in case. We purchased the Early Bird check-in so t=would that be affected if we made changes to our existing reservation? I know that it is non-refundable, but did not know if it could be transferred to the new reservation.

 

[lustergirl]

OMG: My flight coming home in May is up to 217 dollars from 102 nonstop. Glad I already booked it. That is ridiculous.