What time does SW fares open?

[haley's mom]

With November dates opening this week, what time of the day do the schedules open?

 

[Jestocost]

It's been 5 or 5:30 a.m. CT recently.

 

[sassyredhead]

It's been 5 or 5:30 a.m. CT recently.

Agreed. Last release, I was able to book around 5:30am CST.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Thanks, good to know. Last time I booked tickets they werent posted until about 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Eastern time. Glad they are posting them earlier!!

 

[skier_pete]

Glad someone asked this question! I was searching the boards to see - this is the same thing I heard elsewhere, they moved the fares from 10-11 AM to 6 AM Eastern. I will be up at 6 AM Eastern trying to work the fares for our November trip.

 

[Degli]

Are they 6 months out?

 

[skier_pete]

Are they 6 months out?

From SWA Website:

We are currently accepting air reservations through November 4, 2011. On May 24, we will open our schedule for sale through January 6, 2012. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.

 

[Steve's Girl]

We're hoping to book Nov. flights also. We are flying Thanksgiving week so I know it is going to be difficult to find good fares. But, that is all we have available due to school schedules, etc.

 

[Jestocost]

Are they 6 months out?

How far in advance they release dates varies and has changed over time. You can look at a list of Historical SWA Release Dates to get some sense of when future dates might be released.

 

[Degli]

So I need to book our return flights to Philly for April 14th. I am seeing that SWA posts flights at 6:00am in Oct 3rd. How hard is it to get the best flights and will the fares be reasonable? This is the Saturday after Easter. Thanks

 

[skier_pete]

Well, in the past you could get the absolute best fare for SWA right upon release of the rates. This is really no longer the case. I bought round-trip for this November back when the dates opened up back in May. We ended up booking and it costed $340 round trip, which was rather high, but I got the flights I wanted.

Later, they had a big fare sale and the prices dropped. I got $100 worth of credits for those flights - so subsquently the round trip price got as low as $240 round trip.

Since you are flying around a holiday week, it is quite possible that fare may not drop. If I were you, I would look at the price when they publish the fares, and decide whether it is a rate you are willing to pay. If it seems way too high, you could wait a little while, but I would watch it closely. If you are going to be flying again on SWA within less than a year of your ticket purchase date, you could always buy the ticket, then take the credits. It's really a tricky game to play - but at least with SWA you DO get the opportunity to get credits.