Southwest Schedule open thru 10/31/14

[Fangorn]

Just as a matter of record:

Southwest opened their schedule today through October 31, 2014.

On May 19th, they will open the schedule through Jan 4.


Steve

[BrerGnat]

Thanks for the heads up!

[cer]

Thank you so much for this. I would have missed it entirely.

[sassafras]

Thanks for the info! Now I can watch to see how fares vary and book my tickets for August.

[yankeesfan123]

I just finished my booking for 8/3 thru 8/9.

I know prices *might* drop, but I found them to be very "fare" from my home airport. Just about the average, if not less.

[AvaNellMouse]

Booked mine today! Last time I waited they went up! up! up! - my intuition said to book now so I did.

[etibbetts]

I've generally found with southwest that if I book them the first day they release, that is the best price. Only once they went down (by about $10 a ticket) and I was able to get the credit for it towards a flight in the next year.

I booked mine on Monday morning when it opened up. Very happy with my flights and prices. Now I just can't wait for September!

[E-OR]

I have been watching to book our late September trip and saw Southest just opened up the dates we are going. I have only flown Southwest once but liked them, especially the free luggage. The prices seem pretty high right now, do they ever drop or should I figure they will not likely be any lower. I have watched other airlines but was waiting for southwest to release their prices.

[DisneyDadfromPittsburgh]

In my opinion SWA has been really pricey lately.
Direct flights out of Pittsburgh to Orlando - one way - are going for $292.00 - just one way. I have been watching for weeks and the cost has only gone up.

[etibbetts]

We fly from Manchester NH to Orlando and our goal price is always $250 roundtrip (direct flights). Last year we got them for $235, year before $251. This year we got them for $258, so I really haven't seen any large increases with Southwest. It's also a huge benefit to having the 2 free bags, a couple years ago we flew United and it was $25 each way for each bag. That adds up!

[Melanie]

Just purchased my ticket for my October Disneyland trip - DC to LA RT for $333. That's including the Early Bird add on. That's the best price I've gotten out there on any airline for a few years now. Excited! Thanks for the heads up!

[Fangorn]

do they ever drop or should I figure they will not likely be any lower.

Southwest prices can change radically up or down with no warning. It all depends on the market you're in and the overall demand that SW is seeing. I've seen fares for the same day/flight change 3 times in one day. I've seen them go down by $100 on a Wed and Thurs, then up by $150 over the weekend, and then back to down come Monday afternoon. The best thing you can do is check prices daily (multiple times a day if you think about it) and if you see something you're comfortable with, book it.

In my experience, the opening price on SW (at least out here on the West Coast) is never the lowest price - there will always be some significant change in fares at some point. But it may only be available for a day or two.

It also depends on what day of the week you're flying. If you can arrange your trip so that you're flying on a Tuesday or Wednesday, or leaving Orlando on a Saturday (but not arriving on Saturday), you're likely to see more and deeper reductions in fares. Flying into MCO on a Saturday and out on a Sunday is the most popular itinerary and hence the most expensive.

And also, in my experience, from 4-6 weeks out from my date is when I see the greatest change in fares. Maybe not the absolute lowest price, but things change rapidly during that timeframe.

Steve

[BrerGnat]

Just purchased my ticket for my October Disneyland trip - DC to LA RT for $333. That's including the Early Bird add on. That's the best price I've gotten out there on any airline for a few years now. Excited! Thanks for the heads up!

That's the same price we got for our May DL trip. $143 each way. Steal! It's actually a common price for that route (LAX-IAD). My mom got that price when she came to visit last month as well.

I'm shocked that you are doing a flight with stops this time!

[Melanie]

I'm shocked that you are doing a flight with stops this time!

I'm only doing it because I'm meeting up with my senoritas in Chicago for the second leg. They are getting ready to see a whole new Melanie, aka CRAZY LADY!

[BrerGnat]

i'm only doing it because i'm meeting up with my senoritas in chicago for the second leg. They are getting ready to see a whole new melanie, aka crazy lady!

ha!

[Jodi]

Well, we bit the bullet and booked for August. The fare was a decent price, especially with the no baggage fees. Now, the trick will be to hope for any kind of special toward the end of August. Crossing fingers.

[SurferStitch]

I checked flights for PHL-MCO for October, and got a total of $592ish for me and DH. Added in a mid-size car rental from Dollar, and that made it $957, plus any gas, so we'll say $1000 PLUS hotel in Philly for the night before our flight and parking fees, so more like $1300 (plus any purchases I'd have to ship home).... $1350ish.

Last year flights out of Philly for our dates only kept going up in price, so the early price was the lowest. Will probably be the same this year.

Or drive our Cobalt SS, stay overnight each way at Country Inn & Suites, add in meals, not have to pay to ship purchases home, pack however we want, have our own car... Cost us about $640 total our last trip.... Half the cost!!!

Yeah... We'll be driving again this time.

[steph436]

I just booked with Southwest for our Oct trip! Great rates $240 per person. Nice thing about SW is if they come out with lower rates I can get a credit!

We have flown with SW for the last 10 years...polite, funny - I haven't had a bad flight once.

Some of the pilots aretruly hysterical!!

[yankeesfan123]

Yup, out of Hartford we paid $240 per person, round trip, for a Sunday-Saturday in early August. Very happy.

This price is similar to what we've always paid, along with what JetBlue is currently charging for the same flights.

I feel bad for the people who have all these horror stories to tell on this board.

[MouseHouser]

Hey fangone,
Thanks for the heads up about the May 19 date for Southwest opening the purchase window. I used this info and booked on that date -- got my ideal flights. And since then, fares have only been higher.

How did you find out when the purchase window would open?