Whats up with Southwest?

[lhall85917]

Several of us have been watching for SW to post airfares to book for our June cruise. They only have fares through June 6. Is this typical? It seems like they should have dates available for summer vacations. Any thoughts when they will show up?

[MandyGirl]

If I recall correctly, it is normally a few months in advance. Not an exact timeframe though. My guess is that with the recent ATA codeshare and Pittsburg announcements, they are probably fine-tuning the busy summer vacation schedule before putting it out... as opposed to putting something out and then making changes. (Such as how we have read other postings of someone booking a flight on another carrier and then finding out the flight time has been changed to a time that is pushing their cruise embarkation/disembarkation).

[GoBucks04]

I got sick of waiting and found a good fare to Seattle throught orbitz on a Delta Flight. It was the same price as Southwest would have been. I think Southwest is losing a lot of business as I know a lot of people who booked elsewhere! I have never waited this far out for their rates and I always fly with them. They are about the only one with the 70 lb luggage limit!!:)

[lhall85917]

I don't think I'm going to end up with SW either, but would like to see the fares. I've been checking for months and rates have stayed the same out of cincinnati and dayton until this week, they just went up about $30/person :mad: . I'm trying to be patient since most of the special fares only run through may or june and i'm sure there will be something, but it would make me feel better to get airfares booked and move on to worrying about something else! :rolleyes:

[corina27]

Maybe we will all get lucky and someone from SWA will read our posts.And realize that everyone is waiting for them to release more flight information...

[booboo4031]

That is normal for southwest. Their fares are only out about 4-5 months. Occasionally around the holidays, they put them out a little further.

[jcanino]

I think Southwest is losing a lot of business as I know a lot of people who booked elsewhere!

 

Southwest is one of the only airlines actually making money. Their plan has worked for years and they are successful in what they do. I have actually seen their availability dwindle down to 2 months before they added any more. People check their website right after midnight every day waiting for new dates to be put into the system.

[parody]

They only have fares through June 6. Is this typical? Any thoughts when they will show up?

 

The following is what is posted at the Flyer Talk Forum:

 

By limiting its schedule horizon, Southwest virtually eliminates the need to cancel or reschedule flights before the date of travel. Those changes cost the other airlines a lot of money to handle, and they annoy customers. Once Southwest publishes a schedule, it is nearly cast in stone. Even after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Southwest did not drop flights as the other majors did.

 

The schedule is usually extended on a Thursday morning, around 10 AM Central Time. One tipoff is when the current sale is "through the end of the schedule" rather than having a specific ending date.

Based on 2004 data, whenever the open schedule days drops down to to the 112-135 range (112 Jan, 119 Feb, 135 Mar, 131 May), the schedule is then extended to be in the 150-177 range (150 Jan, 176 Feb, 172 Mar, 177 May).

 

[TxGal]

Word on the Flyer Talk forum is that the schedule will be extended this Thursday, the 17th, around 10:30am CST....around the same time they make the big Pittsburgh announcement.

 

I love SWA and fly them whenever possible. They do get me pretty annoyed, though, when they only post their schedule a few months in advance. The flip side is that once I book a flight on SWA, I know it's not going to be changed.

[Queenk2]

Word on the Flyer Talk forum is that the schedule will be extended this Thursday, the 17th, around 10:30am CST....around the same time they make the big Pittsburgh announcement.

 

I love SWA and fly them whenever possible. They do get me pretty annoyed, though, when they only post their schedule a few months in advance. The flip side is that once I book a flight on SWA, I know it's not going to be changed.

here is a question...what is Flyer talk forum? I am curious. I would love to look!

Thanks Karen Queenk2@aol.com

[parody]

what is Flyer talk forum?

 

Here is what they say about themselves:

About Us

 

FlyerTalk, part of the WebFlyer Network, features discussions and chat boards that covers the most up-to-date traveler information. An interactive community dedicated to your favorite topic: travel! That's right: all travel, all the time. The FlyerTalk forums are open for business 24 hours, 7 days a week. Even better, all travelers -- from vacation travelers to mileage junkies -- are welcome in the community. Just choose a forum and you can get to the business at hand: conversing about programs, how to make the most of your miles and points, general travel, airports, destination and dining information.

 

Although the Forums are separated into many boards (like Cruise Critic), for air travel by specific airlines, go to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1. Although aimed at specific frequent flyer programs, it usually covers other items by each airline. Depending on your interest, you may want to explore their other boards or sign up if you want to make a post.

[DanJ]

Thanks for pointing us to that forum. Some very interesting stuff there. Saw somebody on the Air Canada forum that has over 14000 posts LOL.

[elah]

In case you havn't checked lately Southwest extended their schedule today. It's about time, I have been waiting over a month for a June 11th flight schedule.

[corina27]

South West airlines extended their airfair through august.:)

[MandyGirl]

:) Booked today for June 11.:)

[vivian02]

Looks like I can get that June 7th airfare now. Tim

[1cruiselvr]

I've been waiting for July. As soon as they opened that month up, I tried to book on their website and the cheap fares are already gone. Go figure...in one day?!?!?!

[Kellie in Texas]

Word on the Flyer Talk forum is that the schedule will be extended this Thursday, the 17th, around 10:30am CST....around the same time they make the big Pittsburgh announcement.

 

I love SWA and fly them whenever possible. They do get me pretty annoyed, though, when they only post their schedule a few months in advance. The flip side is that once I book a flight on SWA, I know it's not going to be changed.

 

Hi, TxGal - I see you're in Austin. I live in Pflugerville. We're on our very first cruise in October (10/22/05 Caribbean Princess) so I'm starting to look at airfare for me and DH. Like you, I know and trust Southwest, so I'm checking for the schedule expand out to October.

 

Have you or anyone else flown Southwest from Austin to Fort Lauderdale? Just wondering the general time required. I checked Travelocity and the shortest flights they have are about 4 1/2 hours (most with one stop). The cheapest round-trips were $353 per person (on American). The last time we flew anywhere was nine years ago (we are usually vacation drivers, not fliers), so we have no frequent flier miles, points, or any of that other stuff. This is just a plain old vanilla booking a flight. Any advice? We're looking to fly to FLL on 10/21 and back to Austin on 10/29. Thanks for everyone's help. Kellie in Texas

[Snowball]

I've been waiting for July. As soon as they opened that month up, I tried to book on their website and the cheap fares are already gone. Go figure...in one day?!?!?!

I noticed the same thing. They released the extended fares Thursday afternoon and I booked right away for a good price. Then on Friday night I re-checked and the price had already gone up by $20 a person. I'm glad I booked when I did.

[MandyGirl]

Kellie - We have used RapidReward tickets to go to FLL. We prefer flying into FLL MUCH MUCH more than Miami (have flown into there several times). With Dallas and the stupid Wright Amendment, we can use those RR tickets to do airfare out of Dallas (versus having to purchase two separate tickets - but hopefully SW will win the fight in repealling that amendment). We made a connection in New Orleans then nonstop from there. Not bad time flying. Just keep an eye out for the new schedule to pop open. I would imagine you would be able to do AUS-FLL with one change of plane. The schedule can change each time they put out a new block of times, but we have flown Southwest to FLL three times now- always connecting in New Orleans.

 

Like Snowball, we booked this past Thursday and saw the internet fares sold out the next day on some flights (our group is flying to SEA from HOU, Tampa, Dallas, and Kansas City - so we all jumped on it - even the $99 from Tampa to Seattle oneway!). Lots of people seem to wait for fares to open and then book immediately. Even Tampa-Seattle still has the $99 available and we figured that would sell out quick - so I'm surprised to still see several of those available on the date our group is flying.