who do you have to %&*@ to get a good fare on SWA?!

[krismom]

I always hear about the great low fares everone gets on Southwest- I downloaded Ding!, checked historical dates, and look at the website at least 2x a day for our March dates.... so how did I miss out AGAIN on a $79 "internet" fare between last night and now?! UGH! I am so frustrated- Flying from LI - MCO is never really cheap, and I need tix for 5! So far the best I can get is $157 and $127 returning. Oh well, looks like Jetblue maybe the frontrunner.
Thanks for lettin gme vent. I feel better now.

 

[beccasmom]

March would tough in any case. We ended up taking the train in March once because the fares were insane (pre-SWA in PHL). The only thing I can add is to get yourself on their list for e-mail updates on fare changes. I get at least 3-4 per week, although they do not always involve PHL. And sometimes changes in fares occur at weird times - like 4:00 a.m. (I'm rarely on-line then, though!!! and I bet you're not either!) Jet Blue is not a bad alternative, though. They are my favorite airline, but they don't fly out of PHL, so I can't use them very often. Not a bad second choice at all!

 

[westjones]

SWA was too high for us this March also. I have been looking and looking and FINALLY Northwest Airline offered low fares last Friday and we are now booked. We were going to drive, but NWA saved us!

So I wouldn't just depend on SWA. They are usually the least expensive, but NWA was the lowest this time (got Indianapolis to Orlando non-stop round trip for $197 a ticket, since then the price has gone up, but I think they have some connecting flights that are still low--the KEY was to come home on Friday instead of Saturday or Sunday. We are flying March 25 and returning March 31).

Good Luck!
DJ

 

[seashoreCM]

I !, checked historical dates, and look at the website at least 2x a day for our March dates.... so how did I miss out AGAIN on a $79 "internet" fare between last night and now?! :

Too many other people downloaded Ding and booked before you got a round tuit.

Ever hear of the ready-set-click at midnight of the 331'st day out when the legacy airlines IPO'ed their New Years Night and Sunday after Thanksgiving flights?

Ever hear of the deluge of phone calls into CRO when the AP rates were announced; that was before Best Rate was introduced?

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

One time I missed the lowest fares for good Thanksgiving weekend flights (on Delta) 331 days out by about four hours and decided not to book. That January I was at Disney, Disney Quest, and looked on the Internet. Saw a new IPO of upcoming Thanksgiving weekend flights following a schedule change. Couldn't book using those internet stations so ran upstairs to the pay phone. Success! Subsequent playing around with Delta dot com suggested that about five seats on that flight were available at the lowest fare. While folks criticize Delta and a few other airlines for losing seat assignments following a schedule change, I noticed that (this was back in 2003) every schedule change resulted in another allotment of cheap seats.

 

[4forthemouse]

How do you get on the fair update list? We bought tix yesterday but my first choice in flight times wasn't available at the best price, I'm hoping it will open up between now and then. Is there a way to be notified of this? Or, if I see a ding rate which does make it available, is there any way to change it? I can't find a way to do this.
Thanks