Why is SWA to/from Florida Sale only thru Sept 29?

[princess aurora]

From SWA site: Travel to/from all Florida markets valid August 18 through September 29, 2005

Anyone have an inside scoop on why only Florida is booking until Sept 29 and all other markets and system wide sales are effective thru until Dec 12?????

Argh! Is it only me frustrated? I'm desperately wanting cheaper flights for Oct. (Buffalo - Orlando) Do you think I'm out of luck?

 

[cropper]

I agree. I am wondering the same thing. I am wanting cheap tickets for Dec 3-9 from OkCity to Orlando.
I just can't decide if I should take the current fares or if they will get cheaper

 

[CarolA]

SW has very good yield managment software and they do thier sales based on what they think they need. It is possible that they have already sold a lot of Oct. and November tickets to Fl and don't think they need a sale... (NOTE: I do not have any inside info, just my thoughts!)

 

[klwdisney]

Hi! I was watching Southwest too but ended up finding a GREAT fare sale from Jet Blue (from boston) in October. $89 down and $59 home.

Have you checked them yet? They do have a Buffalo to Orlando route and it is on sale - but they are connecting flights, not non-stop.
Here's the link: http://www.jetblue.com/specialoffers/superfly.asp

I'd also check kayak.com for the lowest airfare. It's a travel search engine and if you find a flight you like, it brings you directly to the airline's site.

Good Luck!

 

[hightown]

As an FYI, American Airlines has the same deal on their current sale. Travel anywhere else can be through Dec but for Florida, travel has to conclude by Sept.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm facing the same wait - I want Albany to Orlando from 10/15-10/23 and the cheapest SW is $109 each way - yuk!

 

[mommic32]

I'm also waiting.. And believe me, it's driving me Anywho... I just got e-mail from airtran for Pittsburgh to MCO for $49.00 and that is a great price but the dates are only till Oct 5th, so I got my way down to Mco covered and now I will wait on the return trip...The sale is only till Friday...

 

[magsmom]

No guarantees, but last year SWA had a fare sale for October and I was able to get my flights for $49.

The sale went into effect 8/20/04 or so.

IMO, I would book at the higher rate. If you get a sale that is icing on the cake. I would not be depending on it - if you do you may be out of luck.

 

[DebbieB]

From SWA site: Travel to/from all Florida markets valid August 18 through September 29, 2005

Anyone have an inside scoop on why only Florida is booking until Sept 29 and all other markets and system wide sales are effective thru until Dec 12?????

Argh! Is it only me frustrated? I'm desperately wanting cheaper flights for Oct. (Buffalo - Orlando) Do you think I'm out of luck?

Because that is a slower time for travel to Florida, they want to fill seats. After last year's hurricanes, people are hesitant to go during that time.

 

[Sammy]

Because that is a slower time for travel to Florida, they want to fill seats. After last year's hurricanes, people are hesitant to go during that time.

Exactly what I was coming here to post! DH is a prime example of this as we were stuck in Hurricane Jeanne last year and I CANNOT convince him to go in Sept. again this year.....even with the rock-bottom SW fares! He absolutely refuses. So, we are going the first weekend in Nov. instead and paying $79 each way. Hopefully, we will be able to catch another SW fare sale by then.

Sammy

 

[NotUrsula]

Yep, it's the annual hurricane-season sale. They do it every year, and so far, in 9 years, we've managed to dodge the bullet every time. (Last year we visited on the weekend before Frances hit.) It isn't that we're that fond of gambling; we go then because it's our wedding anniversary, and it's very pleasant in Florida in September on days when it's not storming.

 

[sln88]

are you sure? I booked from Chicago for the last week of Oct and got $115 round trip with their promotional fare

 

[princess aurora]

Guess I'm just travelling at a "bad" time for fare sales. Close to Canadian Thansgiving which must not go unnoticed by Buffalo considering so many Canadians now fly out of there instead of our own home airports. We couldn't even afford to fly if we didn't leave out of Buffalo.

I just hate the thought of booking something then finding out if I had only waited 2 more weeks there would have been a sale....just my luck.

there is something close on AirTran but of course they don't offer non-stop flights. I've also read thru the posts that AirTran is not reliable on keeping their schedule. So I may book a morning flight that gets bumped to the afternoon? Anyone hve experience or know more about Air Tran?

Thanks for all the input.

Just found cheap flight on Delta for $126.79 ea. Not the non-stop SWA flights but at least some other cheap options are popping up