What happened to Southwest?

[Neesy228]

It wasn't that long ago that I was able to get killer Ding! fares for $89 Pittsburgh to Orlando...Now, prices are $140-300 one way! I thought they were supposed to be a low-cost carrier?!

I really really really dislike driving to Orlando, but at this rate, it may be our only option!

 

[mm1971]

It wasn't that long ago that I was able to get killer Ding! fares for $89 Pittsburgh to Orlando...Now, prices are $140-300 one way! I thought they were supposed to be a low-cost carrier?!

I really really really dislike driving to Orlando, but at this rate, it may be our only option!

Two things:

1) the cost of fuel is high. In the past, SW had a financial hedge set up to protect against the rise in prices. That is why they were able to hold prices while other airlines were rising. That hedge is not as effective now so the prices have edged up some.

2) The prices are not as high as they appear. In the past, the advertised price was the flight only. The taxes, airport charges and fees were all added at check out. That is how all the airlines did it. Maybe a year to 18 months ago, it was mandated that all advertised fairs contain these fees moving forward. From my experience, these fees are anywhere from $30-95 based on the ticket prices I have seen. So while you won't see an $89 fare again, a $124 fare may be the same exact ticket price from before.

In general, all of the airlines have raised prices in attempt to stay profitable. In most cases, they have reduced the number of flights to eliminate empty seats. Supply and demand dictates a higher price when seats are limited and planes are filling up. That just seems to be normal practice at this point.

Look at the positives. At least they still let you bring luggage on board without paying the fees other airlines charge. You also don't need to pay for special seating. Some airlines charge you to select seats, certain seats cost more than others, etc.... I have faced that flying anywhere is just going to be expensive with the way things are. Last year I did get $80 flights on SW from Manchester to Orlando, but had to rebook several times to do it.

 

[jls886]

Fuel prices happened to Southwest. Southwest had hedged fuel prices, which allowed them to keep being 'low-cost' longer than other airlines, but their hedged prices expired at least a year ago. I still find them to be my lowest cost option...we flew round-trip last September for $99 each way, you just have to look ALL the time and be patient. If you at least have a back-up plan of driving, hopefully that will let you be patient and wait for a good fare.

By look all the time and be patient, I really do mean that. We just flew to LAX last month, and I'm an obsessive airfare checker so I check everyday, sometimes multiple times each day. One day the price dropped quite a bit so I started booking...turns out there were just two seats at the lower price when we needed four. I booked those two and just kept waiting until another two seats opened up a few days later.

Good luck!

 

[mm1971]

Oh. One more thing. It's best to check prices on Tuesday afternoons. When you look is really important. Best prices are usually posted Tuesday-Thursday, with Tuesday afternoon being best from my experience. The same ticket will be significantly more money depending on when you purchase that ticket.

 

[scootch]

I think the biggest issue out of Pittsburgh is they bought out Airtran... they are the only two nonstop airlines PIT-MCO. No competition!! Bums me out too!

 

[TJA]

I was sort of thinking just the opposite, so what the above poster said about Pittsburgh makes sense. My city is Buffalo and we have fares 100 each way, including all taxes, for Easter week. I just checked today and those prices are still at 100. It really surprises me.....must be those flights are pretty empty.

 

[punkin]

I have also noticed an increase in Southwest prices. I haven't flown them in years and I used to be a regular.

 

[PatMcDuck]

My friends and I laugh about the Ding fares, which used to be pretty amazing at times. We call them "Dong" fares now.

I ignore ding completely now. But I still try and fly SW whenever I can. Usually out of Philly, where there are still loads of nonstop Air Tran flights. Looking forward to some of those becoming SW flights (and of course, some will be eliminated).

 

[kstrough]

Be diligent about watching fares- they do go cheap, but it requires some effort to monitor. I purchased ours and several days later they went cheaper and we rebooked and now have a nice credit. Also be sure to sign up for emails... I think they have better deals than ding a lot of the time. Good luck!

 

[kimk2230]

I thought they were really good. I just booked southwest from Rochester,NY to Florida for 90.00 one way and it was a direct flight.

 

[IndyDisneyFan]

Same problem here in Indy. AirTran and Southwest are our only nonstops to MCO. Southwest out of here may offer free bags but they charge at least $40 more than AirTran to cover the cost. A lot of times AirTran is cheapter even with paying for bags and seat assignments. I hate to see what happens when AirTran is gone and there is no longer any competition!

Laura

 

[NotUrsula]

Same problem here in Indy. AirTran and Southwest are our only nonstops to MCO. Southwest out of here may offer free bags but they charge at least $40 more than AirTran to cover the cost. A lot of times AirTran is cheapter even with paying for bags and seat assignments. I hate to see what happens when AirTran is gone and there is no longer any competition!

Laura

SWA wholly owns Airtran. That isn't competition, that is marketing.

 

[reginaastralis]

We were looking to fly down to the Keys earlier this year (on AirTran, but it was about to be under operation of Southwest) I looked one day and then decided to wait because there was going to be a sale the next day. The next day, the price of the tickets was almost $100 more (From Tampa to the Keys, a 45 minutes flight) I was terrified. The prices went back down when the "sale" was over. I know there's some sort of site-wide sale going on now, because we just looked at tickets last night to NYC, and I figured I'd wait until their current "deals" were over.

 

[Zerosinthecloset]

I thought they were really good. I just booked southwest from Rochester,NY to Florida for 90.00 one way and it was a direct flight.

Direct or Nonstop?...they are not the same.

 

[TruBlu]

I got $25 ding fares once!!!!! I know that will never happen again, but I still get all happy when I hear that ding!!!

Sent from Tracey's iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Colleen27]

I hate it, but it seems like both Southwest and Airtran (I know, really not a difference but as long as the luggage policies are different the distinction is worth making IMO) have much higher fares since the merger. And now "sales" on Airtran are more expensive than regular prices; the last promo e-mail I got from them advertised a one-way fare $46 higher than that flight cost the day before the sale.

Actually, right now I see absolutely no difference between any of the carriers at all - the fares are all identical except for Spirit which is $50 less (exactly the cost of one bag, round-trip, so effectively the same bottom-line price). And all ~40% more expensive than our last two trips.

 

[nchulka]

They have good fares, but you have to wait for them and be flexible. In Nov they had a deal, round trip from St. Louis to Denver for 81.60! I thought that was pretty incredible, that's under 41 per flight!! My mom booked for her and my daughter so she is taking her on a surprise 11th birthday ski trip now

ETA: these are both nonstop flights also!

 

[jls886]

They have good fares, but you have to wait for them and be flexible. In Nov they had a deal, round trip from St. Louis to Denver for 81.60! I thought that was pretty incredible, that's under 41 per flight!! My mom booked for her and my daughter so she is taking her on a surprise 11th birthday ski trip now

ETA: these are both nonstop flights also!

We must have booked the same sale! I'm heading to Denver nonstop from Kansas City for $105 roundtrip!

 

[zoemurr]

here and I want to book a flight to MCO the end of Aug and the dates/fares aren't out yet. Is this the way they always do it? I'm nervous to wait as I can get a rather decent price on another airline, but I'm hoping SW will be less.

 

[sunshinehighway]

They have good fares, but you have to wait for them and be flexible. In Nov they had a deal, round trip from St. Louis to Denver for 81.60! I thought that was pretty incredible, that's under 41 per flight!! My mom booked for her and my daughter so she is taking her on a surprise 11th birthday ski trip now

ETA: these are both nonstop flights also!

This. I just got $69 flights from Providence to Orlando in March. I got an email about it so I decided to check it out on the off chance they actually had flights that cheap all the way from New England to Florida. Of course I just could pass it up so now I have a little Disney trip.

One thing I really like about Southwest is they seem to have more non stop flights to/from my area. If the flight prices are about the same, I will chose Southwest because of no fees for 2 bags and the non stops.