why no cheap airfare on southwest?

[bookwormde]

SW is 2x or more what the prices were a the last few years, I guess they have decided that they are willing to leave a few seats open (there appears to be the same number of flights to MCO from my area (PHL). I for one will be driving next visit ($600 more per 4 rt tickets is just to much of an increase).

bookwormde

 

[The Mayor]

I can surely sympathize, and I do agree...typically a SW flight from MHT to MCO is under 100 bucks. This year....157. And although I can get a flight from BOS (Delta) or PWM (Air Tran or JetBlue), the SW flights for the times I like, are also non-stop. I've spent way too much time comparing flights, times, fees, and even doing a mix/match airline package, and SW always managed to edge out the other carriers by either a few bucks or a better schedule.

They used to be hands-down, the least expensive airline (free bags or not), but now they are neck and neck with the others. For me, it boils down to convenience. And I find them a lot more user-friendly. So I continue to fly only SW, unless I can get RT, non-stop for a cheaper fare, and I haven't seen one yet.

That's what I'm finding also for October...I've been flying SW since they opened at MHT in 1998 and this is the longest I've been waitng for a decent fare from them...I've had flights as low as $59 each way but I've never paid more that $109 and like you stated it's $157 for the flights I want.

 

[sorul82?]

hmmph,.

Keisha,

Are you on cruisecritic.com as well? I thought I saw this same name over there.

 

[goofy4tink]

hmmph, ive never snagged a DING & consider myself lucky when booking a flight under $200 and satisfied when it's under $300 pp from PIT to MCO

it's probably due to my travel dates (prime time/weekends mostly) others in my area gleefully relate their low rates. I just sigh & cut something 'extra' out of the trip to make it work & keep (futilely) checking for lower rates on SW & a (small) credit for the next trip.

Sounds like my experiences as well. I'm thrilled if I get fares in the $200 range, r/t. Under $200?? I've hit the lottery!!

I've been flying southwest for 10 years and have never seen fares like I'm seeing now for our August trip. The first flight out is $237, mid day $137, last flight $95. Thats a big difference in price! Why? Because they can?

I'm waiting. We have never paid more than $79 for the first flight out. Thats a very large increase!

Hopefully prices will come down.

There are 'x' number of seats, in each price range...when they're gone, they're gone.

Not entirely true. They're all the same price; just the $95 and $137 seats are gone on that first flight

Yep.
That early flight is most likely the most popular flight, with the late flight being much less desirable. Now, when push comes to shove, there may only be 6 seats priced at $95 for that early flight...so it doesn't take nearly as long for them to be sold. There are always more of the expensive seats allotted.

 

[sorul82?]

We had a $38 Ding in May of 2008, RDU to MCO; nothing anywhere near that now.

 

[LidoDeck]

Keisha,

Are you on cruisecritic.com as well? I thought I saw this same name over there.

I am also on Cruise Critic, but as GottaLuvCruising...that name wasn't available here. I also recognize Keishashadow!

 

[LidoDeck]

We have booked 9 flights with Southwest this year. All but two were about twice the price we normally pay. We did look at other options (some quite a bit less), but Southwest has the non-stops we want.

 

[catrax]

I am heading from PVD to MCO in August and the tickets busted up my budget! I'm glad that we got the $129 price when we did, especially because we wanted specific flights so that the kids wouldn't be too miserable on either side of the trip. Still, I expected maybe $89 each way - $99 at most.

I have been watching prices since the beginning of this year and there have been very few sales on the PVD to MCO flights. Once in March(?) I saw the flights for May go down to $89. Oh well.

PVD is a hub for SW - every flight I've ever been on has been completely full heading to WDW.

So - here's to commiserating. There's nothing we can do, and I think that we all understand how the airlines work - of course they are trying to make money! Still, it's totally different than in years past and it's a crazy sticker shock feeling this year.

 

[Lewisc]

Not entirely true. They're all the same price; just the $95 and $137 seats are gone on that first flight

It's also possible SW's yield manager decided not to offer $95 and $137 seats on a particular flight. There is no guarantee a particular flight offers every available fare.

 

[sorul82?]

I am also on Cruise Critic, but as GottaLuvCruising...that name wasn't available here. I also recognize Keishashadow!

Cool! I'm Mrs. Chernabog over there!

 

[Lewisc]

The one factor Southwest DOES respect is.....once a flight takes off....they can NEVER sell that seat and it's completely lost revenue. They would rather have someone sitting there for $79 from Baltimore to Los Angeles......than $00 because they held firm on their discounts.

Not always. Lowering a fare to fill an empty seat makes sense. Lowering a fare from $100 to $70 doesn't make sense if a passenger with a reservation is able get a $30 credit before a new passenger books.

 

[goofy4tink]

I am heading from PVD to MCO in August and the tickets busted up my budget! I'm glad that we got the $129 price when we did, especially because we wanted specific flights so that the kids wouldn't be too miserable on either side of the trip. Still, I expected maybe $89 each way - $99 at most.

I have been watching prices since the beginning of this year and there have been very few sales on the PVD to MCO flights. Once in March(?) I saw the flights for May go down to $89. Oh well.

PVD is a hub for SW - every flight I've ever been on has been completely full heading to WDW.

So - here's to commiserating. There's nothing we can do, and I think that we all understand how the airlines work - of course they are trying to make money! Still, it's totally different than in years past and it's a crazy sticker shock feeling this year.

That's what we ended up paying for July 31, returning on Aug 8...well, my dh did. Dd and I are staying until the 12th, and are flying home to Boston on JB...$99.

 

[Tara]

I've been flying southwest for 10 years and have never seen fares like I'm seeing now for our August trip. The first flight out is $237, mid day $137, last flight $95. Thats a big difference in price! Why? Because they can?

Exactly! We flew for 3 years on $49 DING fares - and that crazy pricing is probably a big reason SWA gained a lot of market share in Albany. Other carriers dropped their direct flights out of ALB so SWA looked even more attractive, even as their fares started to rise. Now there are a lot of people who really want those direct flights and are willing to stick with SWA through higher fares, and of course the other carriers are keeping their pricing in line to some extent. (they're the same for my dates, but baggage would be more) It feels to me like they're finally at a fare level where they can sustain themselves (though not see profits rolling in) and they're going to stick there. Sales that do occur (like DING) are fewer and farther between and not dramatically lower. ($99 is best I've seen - for my June trip I think it was offered twice out of the entire round of DINGs that covered June dates.)

Do I like it? Not really. Do I want Southwest to make enough money so that they continue n/s service from my city? YES. Am I therefore willing to pay those fares? Yes.

I'm waiting. We have never paid more than $79 for the first flight out. Thats a very large increase!

Hopefully prices will come down.

I've been tracking prices for our August trip dates (8/27-9/1) every day since April 1st. (logging them on a spreadsheet - all out of curiosity) These are the fluctuations I've seen for the first flight out of ALB and the last flight back from MCO:

4/1: $170/$139

4/2: I used a RR credit to buy 2 one-way tickets MCO-ALB since ALB-MCO wasn't available for RR booking.

4/8: $189/$139 (I bought 1 RT here)
4/14: $211/$152
4/15: $216/$157
5/3: $175/$157 (bought 1 ALB-MCO ticket to go with 1 of the RR MCO-ALB tickets)
5/6: $175/$120
5/7: $175/$157
5/9: $175/$144
5/20: $157/$144 (I canceled the RT and bought it again here using the $25 off code)
5/28: $144/$144 (rebooked 1 ALB-MCO, used credit to book last needed ALB-MCO ticket)
5/30: $157/$144

Maybe the ALB-MCO will go lower...hard to say. But I doubt I'll see a DING fare for that day since it's a Friday. And if there's a DING for the return on 9/1, I only have 1 cash ticket for that day, so I'm not likely to get much credit back anyway. But it's been very interesting to see all the pricing changes in one place. I wish I knew what the prices were when those dates opened, but I wasn't planning the trip at that time, so I wasn't checking.

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

Why have there been no sales for weeks on southwest? I fly PVD-MCO, and we usually see $99-$109 airfare regularly, and there has just been nothing like that this summer! And i fly midweek too and not on holidays!

Has anyone heard anything about future deals?

We always fly PVD-MCO on SW. Fares are much higher this year! When we were looking to book for our August trip my DH couldn't bear to book the flight when the fares were 129. There's 5 of us. We watched for a few weeks and they dropped to 109 so we booked. I haven't seen them come down since. They're pretty steady at 124-154 for the week we're flying now. When I looked at the last week of August to see if we should switch for free dining the fares were So much higher! They're like 167-193! It would eat up our free dining savings so we'll stick with what we've got. Flying is really expensive this year!

 

[DebbieB]

Exactly! We flew for 3 years on $49 DING fares - and that crazy pricing is probably a big reason SWA gained a lot of market share in Albany. Other carriers dropped their direct flights out of ALB so SWA looked even more attractive, even as their fares started to rise. Now there are a lot of people who really want those direct flights and are willing to stick with SWA through higher fares, and of course the other carriers are keeping their pricing in line to some extent. (they're the same for my dates, but baggage would be more) It feels to me like they're finally at a fare level where they can sustain themselves (though not see profits rolling in) and they're going to stick there. Sales that do occur (like DING) are fewer and farther between and not dramatically lower. ($99 is best I've seen - for my June trip I think it was offered twice out of the entire round of DINGs that covered June dates.)

Do I like it? Not really. Do I want Southwest to make enough money so that they continue n/s service from my city? YES. Am I therefore willing to pay those fares? Yes.

That's what they did from PIT too. I think I paid $128 the first time I flew them. I went last June and the lowest I could get for morning departure/evening return was around $360 (that was the day they came out, it eventually jumped to $400). I ended up cashing in hotel points for RR and getting a free ticket leaving the day before. They really went up after US dropped their non-stops.

 

[keishashadow]

Keisha,

Are you on cruisecritic.com as well? I thought I saw this same name over there.

hi, yep, i use the same screen name (after my dearly departed pooch) everywhere currently in panic mode trying to figure out land transport & excursions for cruise in 3 weeks...which explains why im hear loafing LOL

That's what they did from PIT too. I think I paid $128 the first time I flew them. I went last June and the lowest I could get for morning departure/evening return was around $360 (that was the day they came out, it eventually jumped to $400). I ended up cashing in hotel points for RR and getting a free ticket leaving the day before. They really went up after US dropped their non-stops.

true & im willing to bet that the lure of FDP has filled up the flights to point where there may not be even a small drop in price closer to travel date eitheralways was nice to have a small credit as 'seed' for next trip

 

[pooch]

I think SW has pushed me back to Delta. No love for Htfd, CT from SW. Dings have been almost non-existant and they cancelled the early out and late back non-stops. Right now, Delta and SW have identical prices and we only check one bag each way which is partially offset by not having to pay for EBCI. This makes Delta only $13 more than SW and gives us 4 more hrs each on arrival and departure day. SW is going to have to get a great deal cheaper for us to use them this time around.

 

[AInWonderland]

Also, Southwest used to Ding a particular flight number for certain days, ( the least popular flight). Now it seems that they just blanket Ding for days and offer less of them.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

We always fly PVD-MCO on SW. Fares are much higher this year! When we were looking to book for our August trip my DH couldn't bear to book the flight when the fares were 129. There's 5 of us. We watched for a few weeks and they dropped to 109 so we booked. I haven't seen them come down since. They're pretty steady at 124-154 for the week we're flying now. When I looked at the last week of August to see if we should switch for free dining the fares were So much higher! They're like 167-193! It would eat up our free dining savings so we'll stick with what we've got. Flying is really expensive this year!

i too felt like flights were insane from PVD to MCO! The lowest i've seen in 124 one way.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I fly into FLL, so I don't know if there has been a change into MCO, but the MHT to FLL is down today from what it has been for the last few weeks.


UPDATE - WOW, the flights that were $105 this AM are now $154