Post all SW questions concerns, etc. here...

Does SW follow the "best time to buy tickets" timeframe of the 60 days in advance? More asking out of curiosity.
 
Not particularly. It all depends on the market you're in, the city-pair you're traveling and the demand for that route. SW changes prices frequently (sometimes multiple times a day).

From Oregon, I've found there is no "best" time, but some of the best fares I've had were around the 30 day mark. Once I have a rough idea of dates, I start checking on a regular basis to get an idea of the trends. Flying on Tuesday or Wednesday will typically get you the lowest fares - but not always. On a fairly regular basis (again, it depends on the market) SW will have a 3 day "sale" that may be a great deal - or not so much.

You just have to keep watching

Steve
 
My brothers daughter will turn two during their vacation. Southwest policy(I think) is that she can fly for free on one of their laps if she is two or under. Will she be able to fly for free on the return flight if she has turned two during the trip? They don't know if they can just purchase round trip flights for themselves and she can ride for free or will they have to purchase a ticket for her for the return trip. Any ideas?
 
My brothers daughter will turn two during their vacation. Southwest policy(I think) is that she can fly for free on one of their laps if she is two or under. Will she be able to fly for free on the return flight if she has turned two during the trip? They don't know if they can just purchase round trip flights for themselves and she can ride for free or will they have to purchase a ticket for her for the return trip. Any ideas?
They will need to purchase a one way return ticket for the child.
 


Does SW follow the "best time to buy tickets" timeframe of the 60 days in advance? More asking out of curiosity.


I've found that for my market, (NY) looking to fly out/in of Islip, if both your departing and return flights are not on a Tuesday, you need to book as soon as they are released. I'll be on my computer very early the morning of February 8.
 
I've found that for my market, (NY) looking to fly out/in of Islip, if both your departing and return flights are not on a Tuesday, you need to book as soon as they are released. I'll be on my computer very early the morning of February 8.

Same for Upstate NY. I think we don't have enough flights to meet demand so the prices just continue to go up.
 


Anyone flying to EWR in July from MCO during the week? I'm looking at the flights from South West (my dates haven't been released yet) and I only see the one non-stop flight they have going out is 7:55 in the morning? We're going to be coming off the cruise on a Friday in August and I'm just wondering if this is something I'm going to see when they finally release the dates we're going? Is this typical?
 
Anyone flying to EWR in July from MCO during the week? I'm looking at the flights from South West (my dates haven't been released yet) and I only see the one non-stop flight they have going out is 7:55 in the morning? We're going to be coming off the cruise on a Friday in August and I'm just wondering if this is something I'm going to see when they finally release the dates we're going? Is this typical?

Possibly, but it's almost impossible to say. SW almost always completely reconfigures their schedule when they release a new set of flights, and is one of their core strengths as an airline. SW's business model is a full on implementation of the hub and spoke model, meaning that as a percentage of the total number of flights between city-pairs, non-stop flights are very very few, and unless you're going between two of their hub cities (which neither MCO nor EWR is) you will be fortunate if there is even one non-stop. And those are typically early morning or late evening flights.

It's certainly possible that the offerings in August will be more to your liking. But there's no telling at this point. It all depends on what SW feels makes the most financial/logistical sense for the overall system.

Steve
 
Possibly, but it's almost impossible to say. SW almost always completely reconfigures their schedule when they release a new set of flights, and is one of their core strengths as an airline. SW's business model is a full on implementation of the hub and spoke model, meaning that as a percentage of the total number of flights between city-pairs, non-stop flights are very very few, and unless you're going between two of their hub cities (which neither MCO nor EWR is) you will be fortunate if there is even one non-stop. And those are typically early morning or late evening flights.

It's certainly possible that the offerings in August will be more to your liking. But there's no telling at this point. It all depends on what SW feels makes the most financial/logistical sense for the overall system.

Steve

Thank you so much for your opinion! I appreciate it!
 
Any info, tips on the Atlanta market to Orlando? What is a really good fare direct during the
Fall time frame? Any experiences with that?
 
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SW's business model is a full on implementation of the hub and spoke model, meaning that as a percentage of the total number of flights between city-pairs, non-stop flights are very very few, and unless you're going between two of their hub cities (which neither MCO nor EWR is) you will be fortunate if there is even one non-stop. And those are typically early morning or late evening flights.
Southwest is actually one of the few airlines that DO NOT use the hub and spoke model. They use the point-to-point model (many articles online about this including one written today: https://airlinegeeks.com/2017/12/29/2-2-billion-two-ways-to-run-a-profitable-airline/).

Now perhaps your particular airport does not have a nonstop flight they you desire and at times you may go thru one of Southwest's numerous mini-hubs BUT on popular routes in well serviced Southwest cities they may be the only airline with nonstop service between cities. Example: Southwest runs 4-6 nonstops between MCO and PIT daily while for many years no other airline even offered a single nonstop.

At any rate, as far as major domestic nationwide airlines go, Southwest is the furthest from a hub and spoke of all of them.

A second article mentioning the model found here https://seekingalpha.com/article/41...ble-long-term-price-dividend-growth-potential from earlier this month.
 
Reading through the past post it seems like the fares for October of this year weren't that great. But didn't see anything specific about the Atlanta market. But I did learn how to go in and book one person and then see if they have the same fare for 3 or more people. They did for three but when I tried for four, the fare ticked up about $15-$20. So that was a learning moment there.

Does Southwest limit how many people can get the EBCI? And are the extremely early flights, like 5:30-6:30 in the morning, are they that popular with families that have the under 6 kids with them? I wouldn't have a problem with a 5:30 morning take off, but I don't have any very small kids anymore.
 
Reading through the past post it seems like the fares for October of this year weren't that great. But didn't see anything specific about the Atlanta market. But I did learn how to go in and book one person and then see if they have the same fare for 3 or more people. They did for three but when I tried for four, the fare ticked up about $15-$20. So that was a learning moment there.

Does Southwest limit how many people can get the EBCI? And are the extremely early flights, like 5:30-6:30 in the morning, are they that popular with families that have the under 6 kids with them? I wouldn't have a problem with a 5:30 morning take off, but I don't have any very small kids anymore.

In the past year I have done 2 extremely early flights in that 5:30-6:30 range. I was amazed at how many others also were flying at that crazy time in the morning. Actually security lines were longer for those morning flights than any other flight I have done from the airport I usually fly out of. I have TSA pre-check and even that line was long.

Both times, the flights were full and yes, lots of kids of all ages too.
 
In the past year I have done 2 extremely early flights in that 5:30-6:30 range. I was amazed at how many others also were flying at that crazy time in the morning. Actually security lines were longer for those morning flights than any other flight I have done from the airport I usually fly out of. I have TSA pre-check and even that line was long.

Both times, the flights were full and yes, lots of kids of all ages too.
Oh, ok. Surprising. Thanks for the info.
 
i am planning a trip to Aulani but we are planning on a day in Disneyland first so are trying to book flights from Hartford to LAX using SW.
If I look at the flight for one person the rate is nearly 3000 points cheaper per person then when I change it to 2 people. We have enough points if we get the one person rate but not if we choose the 2 person option. I'm afraid to book one person at a time in case the rate changes when I try to book the second person's flight. There are 6 in our party from three different households and our trip is in May so getting nervous.
 
i am planning a trip to Aulani but we are planning on a day in Disneyland first so are trying to book flights from Hartford to LAX using SW.
If I look at the flight for one person the rate is nearly 3000 points cheaper per person then when I change it to 2 people. We have enough points if we get the one person rate but not if we choose the 2 person option. I'm afraid to book one person at a time in case the rate changes when I try to book the second person's flight. There are 6 in our party from three different households and our trip is in May so getting nervous.
What’s happening is that SW currently only has 1 flight available at that lower fare. When you change to 2 people, you’re seeing the higher fare because that’s the lowest fare available for a party of two. [Note that this is why you should always check for a party of 1 when booking your flights].

You can book 1 person at that lowest fare, but unless SW opens up more seats at that fare level, the rest of you will be paying the higher fare that you’re seeing when you select 2 people.
 
i am planning a trip to Aulani but we are planning on a day in Disneyland first so are trying to book flights from Hartford to LAX using SW.
If I look at the flight for one person the rate is nearly 3000 points cheaper per person then when I change it to 2 people. We have enough points if we get the one person rate but not if we choose the 2 person option. I'm afraid to book one person at a time in case the rate changes when I try to book the second person's flight. There are 6 in our party from three different households and our trip is in May so getting nervous.
That means there is only one flight left at that price. You should at a minimum book the one flight now - because if somebody else snags that flight BOTH will be at the higher price. Do you have enough points to book one flight at the lower price and one at the higher?
 
That means there is only one flight left at that price. You should at a minimum book the one flight now - because if somebody else snags that flight BOTH will be at the higher price. Do you have enough points to book one flight at the lower price and one at the higher?


We probably would just have enough at one lower and one higher priced flights...that would be over 70,000 points! The problem is that both of my sons and their wives will be booking also and at that higher point use they probably would run short. May take a chance that fares will drop. I'll keep checking.
Thank you.
 
We probably would just have enough at one lower and one higher priced flights...that would be over 70,000 points! The problem is that both of my sons and their wives will be booking also and at that higher point use they probably would run short. May take a chance that fares will drop. I'll keep checking.
Thank you.
There is a chance that fares can drop. Also there is no penalty to CANCEL a points reservation so if you have enough to book some tickets now might as well do that. You can always cancel later and you get the points back immediately and they'll refund the $5.60 tax/fees to your credit card.
 

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