Southwest Airlines Question

[Karshrimp]

We bought 2 one way ticket to Seattle, each way for this May. I bought the 1st 2 in Dec 07 for $267 and the other 2 for $233 when they opened up booking for our return flight and were running a sale in Feb. That's $500 total. For $500, I don't mind a stop since we don't have to change planes.

 

That part of Dallas isn't THAT bad.

 

Hey, if I could had got 2 RT to Seattle for $500, I would had given Southwest a shot. Believe me, I don't like paying $818 for 2 tickets.

I have been checking Southwest for the last few months, and they were higher than American everytime I checked. I am just telling you my experience. Plus, back then, having to wait til April 17 for them to open their windows further, seemed like forever! I didn't want to wait and wait for them to open, then their prices not be that good a deal, and in the meantime, everyone else's prices have gone up. The tickets I paid $818 for on American in March were $1122 on Friday.

I didn't want to be stuck in a "shoulda, coulda, woulda" situation waiting on SW to open for September. I am sure by only having their reservations open for a limited time slot, they lose alot of business from people that need to buy airline tickets for the future, and aren't going to wait months for them to open further.

I conceed that part of Dallas isn't as bad as parts I have seen in east Fort Worth, but that area still give's me the creeps when we drive through it!! :eek: We come in from the west.

[chrisbd1]

I signed up for "DING!", from Southwest. When they're having a special, I get an alert. We're flying to New York and back from Ft Lauderdale in November. I will looking at the Dings! specials starting in June or July. When the price is right, I'll jump. :)

[curlyd]

From the looks of the number of your join date you are relatively new around here. Welcome!

 

In short there has been this belief amongst many cruisers that Southwest always always has the cheapest fares. So much so that people will wait to book with Southwest, passing up a great deal with another airline, only to pout later on about how expensive tickets are now, even on Southwest.

 

A few of us have been advocating for many many postings now that Southwest does not always have the cheapest fares and that it is not worth waiting for Southwest to release their schedule if you see a fare you like at the current moment.

 

I actually haven't flown SW in a few years. Usually I can get AA cheaper out of O'Hare and I like having a seat assignment. However, my trip to Vegas is with a bunch of girls and right now AA's flights in Sept. are too high. I am hoping SW will have something cheaper if we can jump on it when they open. Plus our ground transportation is less to Midway so we would save all around.

 

I agree however that SW is not always the cheapest way to go.

[LEtue]

Choices are definitely good. From TPA to FLL - Southwest has always been the best option. I was always willing to wait for the new schedules to come out but lately.....I just don't know if they're going to be the lowest. :rolleyes:

[Karshrimp]

I signed up for "DING!", from Southwest. When they're having a special, I get an alert. We're flying to New York and back from Ft Lauderdale in November. I will looking at the Dings! specials starting in June or July. When the price is right, I'll jump. :)

 

I never could get that darn "Ding" thing to work! :p

[Globaliser]

I got the reference as well.

Me too!

[2Oregonians]

I never could get that darn "Ding" thing to work! :p

 

I have Ding and I click it everytime it dings! I have gotten great specials from Portland OR to Phoenix AZ, where my parents live. It's a great feature!! Sorry it didn't work for you. What exactly was it doing or not doing??

[Karshrimp]

I have Ding and I click it everytime it dings! I have gotten great specials from Portland OR to Phoenix AZ, where my parents live. It's a great feature!! Sorry it didn't work for you. What exactly was it doing or not doing??

 

Just never could get it to load right. I would load it, have to un-install it, reload it agin, etc. I was getting error messages, but I can't remember what they were now. You know what, I am going to try it again and I'll let you know! :)

[2Oregonians]

Just never could get it to load right. I would load it, have to un-install it, reload it agin, etc. I was getting error messages, but I can't remember what they were now. You know what, I am going to try it again and I'll let you know! :)

 

Now that's the spirit!!! :D

[KLLund]

We fly out of Portland all the time and it is just easier to use SWA from here .. the airport seems to have that airline down pretty well .. and my favorite feature is the expedited line for security if you have a rapid rewards card. Saves time and headaches!!

 

And I swear by Ding also .. altough the truth is the specials out of Portland are almost never to Calif.

[2Oregonians]

We fly out of Portland all the time and it is just easier to use SWA from here .. the airport seems to have that airline down pretty well .. and my favorite feature is the expedited line for security if you have a rapid rewards card. Saves time and headaches!!

 

And I swear by Ding also .. altough the truth is the specials out of Portland are almost never to Calif.

 

Kathy, we use PDX also, as we live near Oregon City. Love it for Southwest. Always goes real smoothly.

 

Did you hear on the news that they are trying a new program at PDX for security lines? Sounds like kind of a pilot program that will eventually expand to other airports if successful. Has to do with separating people into newbies, seasoned travelers, families, etc. The bad thing is that they let YOU pick the line you want. Nothing preventing a family with strollers and 5 kids from going in the seasoned travelers line and messing things up. Should be interesting.

 

Today's Dings include Los Angeles for $79 and Oakland for $70. But you're right, they are not often for California cities. I go to Phoenix often as my parents are there. Today's Dings have PHX for $86, which is excellent.

 

Stay warm, I know it's hard with the weather we've been having. Loved last Friday & Saturday!! Happy Cruising!! :)

[KLLund]

Stay warm, I know it's hard with the weather we've been having. Loved last Friday & Saturday!! Happy Cruising!! :)

 

Hard to beat days like last Friday and Saturday!!! We are in Lake Oswego actually.

 

I did see about the pilot program .. I didn't understand the choosing lines either .. I truly like the line for Rapid Rewards people as it is now. We will be flying to Sacramento on May 10th so we will see what is up .. always something new isn't it!

[Karshrimp]

Now that's the spirit!!! :D

 

O.K., I got it loaded. It says to pick from the airport list, so I chose DFW and SEA because I am interested in flights from DFW to SEA. Is this going to tell me when flights from DFW to SEA are on sale, or tell me when just outgoing flights from BOTH airports are on sale? :confused:

[6rugrats]

O.K., I got it loaded. It says to pick from the airport list, so I chose DFW and SEA because I am interested in flights from DFW to SEA. Is this going to tell me when flights from DFW to SEA are on sale, or tell me when just outgoing flights from BOTH airports are on sale? :confused:

 

No, only pick the departure airport. It only tells you when outgoing flights are on sale.

[6rugrats]

I signed up for "DING!", from Southwest. When they're having a special, I get an alert. We're flying to New York and back from Ft Lauderdale in November. I will looking at the Dings! specials starting in June or July. When the price is right, I'll jump. :)

 

You won't have to bother looking so far away from your departure date. I notice that the DING specials are usually only for the next month or so; they are never for bookings four or five months out.

 

You can sometimes get good prices, but often there are never any for where you want to go.

[chrisbd1]

O.K., I got it loaded. It says to pick from the airport list, so I chose DFW and SEA because I am interested in flights from DFW to SEA. Is this going to tell me when flights from DFW to SEA are on sale, or tell me when just outgoing flights from BOTH airports are on sale? :confused:

You might not get DINGS! for DFW. I know you don't like Love Field but most of their schedule goes out of and to Love. I picked Houston also since I might consider driving to Houston for a good price to somewhere else-it would have to be excellent to drive for 4 hours though :) . I also picked airports near any cruise departure city (FLL mostly), just in case.

[2Oregonians]

Hard to beat days like last Friday and Saturday!!! We are in Lake Oswego actually.

 

I did see about the pilot program .. I didn't understand the choosing lines either .. I truly like the line for Rapid Rewards people as it is now. We will be flying to Sacramento on May 10th so we will see what is up .. always something new isn't it!

 

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it", right?

[2Oregonians]

O.K., I got it loaded. It says to pick from the airport list, so I chose DFW and SEA because I am interested in flights from DFW to SEA. Is this going to tell me when flights from DFW to SEA are on sale, or tell me when just outgoing flights from BOTH airports are on sale? :confused:

 

It will tell you when flights from BOTH are on sale. You could leave it that way if you want to know when your return trips are also on sale, but personally, I just set it for my home airport and leave it at that. :)

[justus4recks]

We got a good deal with Delta out of PDX 2 weeks ago. We got round trip tickets to Orlando in Oct for $218 a piece. We live in Bend so we are always flaying out of PDX too. We used to fly Southwest but lately the other carriers have been much less expensive:confused:. We flew Us Airways to Las Vegas in Feb and had a great experience. We have used Delta regularly and like them best.Good luck ;)

[Karshrimp]

You might not get DINGS! for DFW. I know you don't like Love Field but most of their schedule goes out of and to Love. I picked Houston also since I might consider driving to Houston for a good price to somewhere else-it would have to be excellent to drive for 4 hours though :) . I also picked airports near any cruise departure city (FLL mostly), just in case.

 

I'm sorry! I meant Love Field, not DFW! :)

[chrisbd1]

I'm sorry! I meant Love Field, not DFW! :)

 

WHEW! :)

 

You won't have to bother looking so far away from your departure date. I notice that the DING specials are usually only for the next month or so; they are never for bookings four or five months out.

 

You can sometimes get good prices, but often there are never any for where you want to go

 

I'm keeping Ding! up until we have to fly to New York, in November. I know it will be a while before those reservations open up but I'm willing to wait. Since I really dislike flying from/to DFW airport I'm wiling to risk it. The last 3 times we flew from DFW we rented a hotel room (Embassy Suites-Outdoor World is awesome!) the night before JUST to make sure we didn't have to deal with the gawd-awful traffic that happens around that airport. The off-site parking garage is also closer at Love Field and you get a coupon for half off, when you fly SWA.

[KLLund]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it", right?

 

Interestingly enough .. I had dinner with a flight attendant from SWA air tonite ( my husbands partner's wife ) who happened to deadhead in Portland. We were discussing airports and who does security well and who doesn't. She said Salt Lake had a new "selective" security with families, frequent flyers and whoever .. the Flight Crews hated it and complained vocally to their respective carriers.

 

When I mentioned that Portland was trying that .. she turned to her Husband and said we need to get to the airport at least 30 minutes earlier than usual .. I will let everyone know when we get back to the hotel.

 

Just thought that was an interesting observation.

[2Oregonians]

Interestingly enough .. I had dinner with a flight attendant from SWA air tonite ( my husbands partner's wife ) who happened to deadhead in Portland. We were discussing airports and who does security well and who doesn't. She said Salt Lake had a new "selective" security with families, frequent flyers and whoever .. the Flight Crews hated it and complained vocally to their respective carriers.

 

When I mentioned that Portland was trying that .. she turned to her Husband and said we need to get to the airport at least 30 minutes earlier than usual .. I will let everyone know when we get back to the hotel.

 

Just thought that was an interesting observation.

 

It is interesting. Has PDX actually started it, or is it still in the planning stages?

[KLLund]

She didn't know .. this is not a usual stop for her and of course just getting off the plane it isn't a problem. I will ask her when they get home!!

[2Oregonians]

Are they home yet?