Your Best Southwest (or any airline) Discount Tips and Tricks?

[aliceindisneyland]

We have never been to WDW because of the huge amount of planning needed, and having to buy plane tickets. We lived in CA and now live in AZ so we have been able to take tons of trips to Disneyland with virtually zero planning, and we always drive.
Well, my kids are now 10 and 13, and I need to get over the planning hump so I can finally take them to WDW!
I do have a small problem: my 13-yr-old does not want to fly at all (anxious about safety), so I probably need nonstop tickets to minimize the drama level.
I have never booked a flight!
Poking around the internet for a couple hours, it looks like Southwest is the cheapest by far, especially since no checked baggage or carry on fees.
I have one Southwest Visa. I could get a second Southwest Visa [business] and/or my husband could get one with the 50,000 points offer, or any credit card that would help get the best deal on flights.
I only have 6000 points on that right now since I don't use the card.
Flying any time between June and September; dates don't really matter since we homeschool, but we want to be able to swim at the resort.
First week or two in October would be OK too, since we always celebrate my daughter's birthday at Disneyland and I'm sure she'd be thrilled to do that at WDW instead.
Assuming we'll go from PHX to MCO, unless there is a better way. We live 25 min from the Phoenix airport.
Right now I'm seeing $200 cost per trip ($400 roundtrip not counting fees) on nonstop Southwest flights in August. That is for Wanna Get Away fares. Is there a trap with that offer I'm not seeing?
Is $400 per person a good price for distance AZ to FL?
How do you get the best discount on Southwest?
I usually buy gift cards at Fry's to earn 6% cashback with Amex Blue Cash Preferred plus fuel points (ends up minimum 13% savings), and they do offer Southwest.
Is there a cashback portal that works with Southwest? Looks like Ebates doesn't work.
Sorry if the detail is tedious, I'll be very thankful for any advice you can offer on saving the most on airfare to WDW!

 

[WVMomof3]

I am not an expert by any means, but I think if I were you I would go ahead and get the giftcards and use them. It may take longer than you think to get the credit card and spend enough to get the points. Could you do the $3000 spend in the first few weeks after you got the card? I just recently opened up both personal cards myself. The first card came and my statement closing date was within a week of when I got the card, so I didn't make the spend in the first billing cycle like I had planned. I had no idea the close date until too late. The 2nd card I asked when my closing date was so I didn't have any surprises and I did my spend a week before closing date. I received my points a day after statement closing. So, my point being, it could take about 6 weeks to see points, if you can make your $3k spend asap. If it will take you longer for spend, then it could take 3 months to see points. If you really want to know about credit cards and travel, pull up a chair and come join us on the I love credit cards thread, plan to spend about a week reading all the great information!

One other thing, when you saw the $400 did you put in 1 or 4? I noticed the price would go up the more people you put in. So when I bought mine, I bought the first one, and I was hoping to get a 2nd one in before price went up, but no luck. I bought 2-4 at the same time with the same price. BUT, I have now rebooked the tickets about 4 times. When the price goes lower, you can rebook all 3 for that lower price at one time. My initial ticket was @8000 points, it immediately jumped to over 12,000 points with the other 3. They are now all 4 just below 8,000 because I was able to readjust the price so many times. It becomes a fun game! lol It is easy with points, they just go back in your account, I am not exactly sure how it would work with the gift cards. I did buy my segments as one-ways also, not sure if it makes a difference, but it I had to buy that way as i was gathering points.

 

[mrp4352]

I can't help with a lot of your questions, but what I would recommend is to purchase each ticket separately. As you monitor prices for the flight after purchase, sometimes the price will go down, but only be available for 1 or 2 tickets at a time. Having separate reservations will allow you to take advantage of the lower prices if they come available. With the Wanna Get Away fares, if the price goes down, the difference goes into holding for up to a year from the date of your original purchase and can be applied to future SWA flights.

An example is my brother - he had 7 travelling last summer. He booked everyone individually, then about a month later, the price dropped, but he could only get the lower price for 2 of his family that day. But, a day or two later, he tried again and got another one lower because more of the lower priced seats had been made available. Over the next 2 weeks or so, he got everyone in at that lower fare.

hopef this helps!

 

[elfof2moons]

Just one thing to note about Southwest: you can only use 4 forms of payment. So if the gift cards are lower denominations it might not work to pay for it all. You can use 3 gift cards at the most and the rest on a credit card if the gift cards don't cover it. Purchasing separate tickets will help with that. Oh and there is no way that I have found to be able to combine them onto one card like you can with Disney.

Also, just an FYI: Southwest doesn't have assigned seats. You get a boarding number when you check-in which you can do 24 hrs in advance unless you pay extra or have something special (business class for example). If you do separate tickets you will need to check-in for each one. If you get B2 and your 13yo gets B13 and your 10yo gets B30, you could all board with the 10yo at B30 but not all with you at B2. They don't usually watch it too close but if you get just the right person (either employee or other passenger) it could be an issue. Make sure you check-in at the 24 hour mark. On the planes I was just on there was A-C each with 1-60. I checked-in exactly 24 hrs and got B15, so there were 74 people that got to board before I did. That wasn't a big deal because it was a large plane and there was only my husband and I. If, however, there are more than 3 people (3 people per row) I am sure you will all want to sit together and with your daughter's anxiety you will probably want her to be able to sit where she thinks will be the most comfortable. Oh and the family boarding is only for families with children less than 6.

 

[FireflyTrance]

If the Southwest sign up bonus is currently 50,000 miles, that’s a good deal and I would probably sign up for that card, or two. There is usually a minimum amount you have to spend within a certain time frame to get the bonus, so keep that in mind. That bonus should be worth at least $600. My husband and I each signed up for that card. I don’t fly out of PHX, but that sounds like a decent deal to me based the prices I pay to fly to Orlando across country. You could wait until Southwest has a sale, which they do frequently. How have you been searching for flights? There are websites that search multiple airlines at once and show you all the prices. Kayak is one that comes to mind.


Any time between June – Sept should have weather warm enough for swimming in the middle of the day. If you are flexible I would recommend Sept since crowds will be lighter and hotels will be cheaper.

 

[MEM]

I can't help with a lot of your questions, but what I would recommend is to purchase each ticket separately. As you monitor prices for the flight after purchase, sometimes the price will go down, but only be available for 1 or 2 tickets at a time. Having separate reservations will allow you to take advantage of the lower prices if they come available. With the Wanna Get Away fares, if the price goes down, the difference goes into holding for up to a year from the date of your original purchase and can be applied to future SWA flights.

An example is my brother - he had 7 travelling last summer. He booked everyone individually, then about a month later, the price dropped, but he could only get the lower price for 2 of his family that day. But, a day or two later, he tried again and got another one lower because more of the lower priced seats had been made available. Over the next 2 weeks or so, he got everyone in at that lower fare.

hopef this helps!

Just to make it crystal clear for the OP, once you book the tickets YOU have to watch for the fare to drop. And then when it does, YOU have to log-in and "change" the flight. You are not really changing it just re-booking at the lower fare. And to emphasize what was said above, the difference in price goes into your ticketless travel fund - those funds expire one year from the original booking date. It can get a little tricky if you are only planning one trip a year. I think you can extend the expiration date for a fee.

 

[Kaytie]

One other thing, when you saw the $400 did you put in 1 or 4? I noticed the price would go up the more people you put in. So when I bought mine, I bought the first one, and I was hoping to get a 2nd one in before price went up, but no luck.

Just to be clear, the fares didn't increase based on the number of additional passengers. The fares went up because there was only one seat left on that flight at that time for $X, one additional seat for $Y, one additional fare at $Z...

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

OP, since you homeschool, I'd encourage you to go to WDW when traditional schools are not out for the summer. I know you are used to hot since you live in AZ, but FL summer hot is a different thing entirely. You will be able to swim most of the year - I would probably avoid December-February just to be sure. October is wonderful but can be crowded - you can check out the crowd calendars at easywdw.com to see when less crowded weeks are. September is still very hot but is also hurricane season - you can usually get good discounts and crowds are lower. We also like late April (not near Easter) through May.

Southwest has occasional fare sales - watch for those even after you book. And prices used to be lowest when they first opened fares for certain dates - I think you can book through November now - I'm not sure if release dates are still the best times to buy.

You can also check out the Transportation Board on the DIS to get tips for getting good rates on Southwest.

 

[melst5]

I am thinking about getting the Southwest credit card for the 50,000 points as we are going on a Disney cruise in January with my family of five. If I got the card, can the points only be used for my flight or could I use them for my kids' flights as well? Thank you!

 

[aliceindisneyland]

This is all really helpful information! Thanks so much to all for the great tips! I'll be putting them to good use!

 

[MommaBerd]

Hi @aliceindisneyland - fellow homeschooler here! So, I can't really help with the flight questions, but I wanted to follow up the advice of @StitchandPooh'sMom and suggest going in November the week before the week of Thanksgiving or the week after Thanksgiving.

AND I wanted to let you know that there is a woman who coordinates a trip every year for a BIG group of homeschoolers. The discounts aren't quite as good as they used to be because of Disney raising prices. However, she coordinates lots of activities and classes. Each student must attend one class, but my boys always enjoyed them! Here is the link to more info:

http://www.travelinghomeschoolers.com/disney-world/

This is how we got turned on to going before Thanksgiving, and it has become our time to go when we take our big family trips. She is VEEY organized and has been doing this for over 10 years.

One more suggestion, my DS9 had (has?) anxiety over flying. So, on his own accord, he started watching YouTube videos about airplanes and airlines. United (believe it or not!) has a fantastic YouTube series called Big Metal Bird that takes the viewer behind the scenes of all aspects of the airline - and in a more generic way, not necessarily United-specific. At 13, she might find it corny or roll her eyes, but even I find it interesting and entertaining.

 

[richmo]

Just one thing to note about Southwest: you can only use 4 forms of payment. ....

And that is soon going to 3 forms of payment. Not sure of the date, but its coming up soon.

 

[WVMomof3]

I am thinking about getting the Southwest credit card for the 50,000 points as we are going on a Disney cruise in January with my family of five. If I got the card, can the points only be used for my flight or could I use them for my kids' flights as well? Thank you!

You can use your points for anyone.

 

[Geomom]

I love Southwest. No change fees, no luggage fees, 'usually' gets us to Orlando early, sometimes a very fun flight crew, free snack, etc.

As someone else here said, they don't do assigned seats. (Definitely go to Southwest's site and watch their videos about their boarding groups.) You can pay an extra $15/person/direction to have 'early bird check in'--where Southwest checks you in before the 24 hr mark (and you just need to print out the tix). That 'should' get you somewhere in the A boarding group which would allow your group to sit together. Family boarding (note that your kids are too old for this) is between groups A and B, so if there are a lot of families and you're in the B group it is harder to sit together. We used to do the 'right at 24 hr' checkin to get the best group we could--usually ended up halfway into the B group and then paid to get the early bird check in for the way home--as it's hard to do it right at 24 hrs while you're on vacation having fun/being on a ride/dinner, etc. Now we just spend the extra money and do early bird both ways. So I would at least budget in an extra $15 a ticket to pay for early bird on the way home, $30 if you want to ensure that you'll be together on both flights.

 

[hrslvr142]

Southwest is our favorite airline..fares are generally either less or very competitive and when you add in that you don't pay for luggage (2 bags per person) it is a huge advantage in my opinion. Some people don't like the "cattle call" feeling of not having assigned seats, I don't mind them and believe it is very organized boarding. Two thoughts, I believe if you all book at one time, once one of you checks in, you are all checked in-that does not necessarily mean you will get boarding numbers consecutively...easy fix, pick whoever has the "last" number and stand together so you can all board together. I set my phone alarm for 24 hours less 5 minutes prior to when I can check in to get the lowest boarding number I can. Agree with those who suggested not going in the summer. You may be used to the heat (likely living in Phoenix) but being in the heat on lots of cement with thousands of your new friends is a little different, I would suggest October if possible...great time to visit and if you can manage to hit both the Wine and Food Festival at Epcot and the Halloween festivities. I hope you have an awesome time and planning (for me) is at least half of the fun. The biggest difference between Disneyland (love, love) and Disney World is that you will not even begin to do everything you think you want to...don't stress it, pick out some "musts" and don't over plan. Make a list of those "musts" and a list of "maybes" to go to if you get through your musts.

 

[kydisneyfans]

SW is our first go to site, but lately Delta has been cheaper. Flight times have also been better.
We have CC and rewards programs for both.

Check your days of the week. We have found Tues/Wed/Sat to be cheaper, but not always.
Without an airline CC, check SD for airline gift card discounts-I recently saw a $100 for $90. If you have a Kroger affiliated store near, buy GC's when fuel discounts are 4x, and use a Chase Freedom card for an additional 5% off this quarter(if you have the card).

If you look for ultra cheap flights like Allegient, Frontier, or Spirit, figure out all costs before buying, including the charges to pick your seat and luggage. Also verify you are flying into MCO as Allegient says Orlando, but it's actually Sanford with no Disney ME bus.

 

[Miniature Tim]

I'll chime in with everyone else here recommending Southwest. My family and I fly from STL to MCO, and I got the Southwest Visa with the 50,000 points bonus earlier this year. If you can catch the flights where they don't cost much more than 7,000 points each way, you can easily get 3 roundtrip tickets, and still have points left over from just the bonus. The key is indeed to fly on "off" days. Flying down there on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, and flying back on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is usually your best bet for the cheapest options from my research.

Also, we're paying for our trip using Disney Gift Cards that we buy at SAMs Club. $150 of GC for $142.50. Since SAMs lets us use the Southwest card to pay for them, we'll buy them there, save the money on the cards (it really adds up!) and be banking future points form the purchase for our next trip. Then we just pay off the CC with the funds saved for the trip.

 

[cuteandfluffy626]

I don't have much to add because everyone has already covered everything, but I did want to say I have never had an issue with Southwest. The only thing that I kinda dislike is having to get up 24 hours before our flights to make sure we get in a an early Groups. But hey, if I have to do that in order to pay for a significantly cheaper flight then other airlines are flying then I will do that.

 

[#17 Cherry Tree Lane]

Hello fellow Phoenician! I'm not sure about finding the better discounts on Southwest but I can tell you, around $400 roundtrip for everyone is a good deal. Warning though, Orlando summer heat is SO different from Phoenix summer heat. That humidity plus heat, oof. Definitely stay hydrated. If you can do October instead of summer, I would do it. It'll still be warm-ish but nothing compared to summer. Kind of like being at home. I definitely recommend watching some videos on what happens with being in the plane and everything. My daughter is much younger but showing that to her before we flew helped alleviate her anxiety. It's helpful that the flight is only 4 hours long from PHX. And we've never had an issue just using the family boarding instead of paying to do the pre-boarding. We're not picky about where we sit though and I know some people are. Good luck with your planning!

 

[FredtheDuck]

You were asking August or September, and if you can do September, I would. I was just poking around Southwest's site today and airfares were much cheaper for my preferred trip in Sept than in August.
PHX to MCO nonstop for $400 is good - I have family there and was surprised how pricey it's gotten to fly there! Quite the destination these days!