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

[Gentry2004]

I can't stand SW! I went on this morning to book flight down to Orlando from Philly and the two nonstop early flights say "sold out" across all three categories. Which is a bunch of bs. I used to love flying this airline and now they're the biggest gamers around. We fly down for our kids spring break to watch them play with their high school teams at ESPN. This same flight baiting happened last year. I opened up a SW visa card because of these trips but with all the SW gaming of flights I am done and will be looking for a new visa card! Now I have to check the SW site daily to see when they open up the flight time I need.

Yes, I am pretty annoyed with SW right now. It used to always pay off to wait for their (ridiculously late) release of flights. But the last 3 trips I have been burned by waiting for them. In each case I would have been better off booking earlier on a different carrier. They only reason we are somewhat loyal to them for now is our points/companion pass. But once both of those are gone (end of 2020) I doubt we'll be flying SW anymore. They were double Jet Blue for spring break. DOUBLE.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

FYI - Southwest extended their schedule this morning for flights through April 13th, 2020.

Here is my usual Historical Southwest Release Dates (for planning purposes) comment:

• NEXT RELEASE: 10/30/19 - travel through June 6th, 2020
• 9/26/19 - travel through 4/13/20
• 8/15/19 - travel through March 6th, 2020
• 5/30/19 - travel through January 5th, 2020
• 3/15/19 - travel through November 2nd, 2019
• 1/31/19 - travel through October 1st, 2019
• 11/15/18 - travel through August 5th, 2019
• 9/27/18 - travel through June 8th, 2019
• 8/30/18 - travel through April 7th, 2019
• 6/28/18 - travel through March 6th, 2019
• 5/31/18 - travel through January 6th, 2019
• 3/8/18 - travel through November 3rd, 2018
• 2/15/18 - travel through October 1st, 2018
• 11/2/17 - travel through August 6th, 2018
• 8/28/17 - travel through June 1st, 2018
• 7/27/17 - travel through April 6th, 2018
• 6/22/17 - travel through March 7th, 2018
• 5/18/17 - travel through January 7th, 2018

This chart could be useful to approximate when your travel time may become available for upcoming releases, however they don't always follow the exact same pattern (as you can see above) They appear to be tightening the inventory a bit this year vs. prior year's releases.

RELEASE TIMES:

• The release on 5/30/19 went live at 9:20am.
• The release on 8/15/19 went live at 10:41am.
• The release on 9/26/19 went live at 7:30am.

If you want to search back for this post in the future - just search my name and "release". You could also bookmark this comment on the new DIS somehow (or so I heard).

 

[Gentry2004]

@SouthFayetteFan any ideas why they have been releasing so late? Ie: on 9/27/18 they released through June. Today they only released through mid April.

 

[TexasChick123]

@SouthFayetteFan any ideas why they have been releasing so late? Ie: on 9/27/18 they released through June. Today they only released through mid April.

MAX8 issues. They are hoping to put those planes back in service, so they wait until the last moment to release the fares once they find out whether or not the planes will be allowed back in. It's really screwing everything up because all the other airlines keep their prices inflated until SW releases flights. It's a good time to drive for vacations, if you can.

 

[Gentry2004]

MAX8 issues. They are hoping to put those planes back in service, so they wait until the last moment to release the fares once they find out whether or not the planes will be allowed back in. It's really screwing everything up because all the other airlines keep their prices inflated until SW releases flights. It's a good time to drive for vacations, if you can.

I agree its likely the Max8 problems. But JetBlue's release date pricing was actually really competitive in hindsight. Way cheaper than SW and I'm mad I didn't book then. Cost me $150pp extra and a much longer drive to a different home airport.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan any ideas why they have been releasing so late? Ie: on 9/27/18 they released through June. Today they only released through mid April.

The only thing I can figure on the surface is that the later releases are related to Max8. The data seems to supports it...

• Southwest has always controlled inventory tighter than other airlines - this is in an effort to reduce changes and cancellations (which SW is better than ANY other airline at this - you rarely see people's flights get removed from the schedule or changed drastically).
• In the 12 releases leading up to March 2019, Southwest on average made 249 days of inventory available on release day.
• The amount of inventory days released also varied a lot during this time (with a high of 277 and a low of 220)
• In the 5 releases since March 2019 (the grounding) the average days of inventory available on release day has plummeted to 215 days.
• So we are seeing a reduction (or delay) of about 1 month worth of flights right now.

While the data supports it, SW is still releasing flights showing the Max8 AND then having to revise the schedule down the line to remove and reassign planes (often with the removal of flights). Perhaps they are using the release to gauge where demand is for certain routes in an effort to service as many passengers as possible.

It's also possible that this is not related to Max8 and that SW just feels that controlling inventory a little tighter is a better play for them (and there could be any number of passenger/profit motivations behind that).

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

I'm with the complainers!! Round trip flights, March 9-15 (over spring break), HOU>MCO>HOU $572 or 39,500 points!!! I went ahead and booked two flights using points. Not sure if we'll go, but at least I (likely) paid less than anyone booking these same flights after me! I do keep my eyes peeled for cheaper flights on the daily once I book with SW... sometimes it pays off!

Edited to add - I'm going to see if we can get a bounce back offer while at WDW next week in hopes that the hotel offer is decently priced for this potential trip!

 

[greenclan67]

I'm traveling from Buffalo to Orlando for our Ontario, Canada Spring Break. Historically prices are pretty high as all of us Canucks just slightly north of the border book our flights to warmer weather. By leaving two days before the official start of Spring break I paid $139pp but coming home on the final Saturday of our break I paid a whopping $353pp!!! Granted, I did book non-stop midday flights each way so I did select the priciest flights on offer, but Southwest definitely knows they have a captive (and perhaps desperate?) market for Spring Break.

Glad to have my flights booked but I'm definitely NOT looking forward to my next Visa bill!!

We fly from buffalo to. And I didnt book March break today. Too high. I just booked my dec 21 to 28th sw flights in Sept 12th and got $208 rt. I will wait it out.

 

[Gentry2004]

We fly from buffalo to. And I didnt book March break today. Too high. I just booked my dec 21 to 28th sw flights in Sept 12th and got $208 rt. I will wait it out.

That is encouraging to hear that Dec prices came down. I'm definitely watching my spring break flights and hoping to rebook.

 

[Dawg74]

Same thing for us, we love Southwest but they seem to be less and less competitive. We drive from Toronto and fly from Buffalo two or three times a year. Looking a head based on the current flight prices its getting harder to justify. Although if you are flexible on the date/times of day you fly there are still some lower prices but its getting harder for sure.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think it really depends on when people are flying. March and early April are prime travel times for some Spring/March Break crowds and the dates released also included Easter weekend. It will be interesting to see what prices are like for the next release.

We also drove from Toronto and flew from Buffalo to MCO twice this year, each time paying less than $215/pp round trip but we were 'off season' also flying last week of April (after Spring Break and Easter) and then again the second week of September.

Last year I decided to try flying out of Toronto when I could book something at what I would consider to be a 'comparable cost' to what I anticipated SW flights would be. In the end I paid approx 30% more flying out of TO once I added in cost of luggage.

Personally, while I've looked into other options for flying, once I take into consideration baggage costs, SW is still less $ for our family.

 

[katallo]

Just saw a brief story on news about Max 8. There hasn't been any significant changes so I would expect some flight changes for flights into next year.

 

[Gentry2004]

I think it really depends on when people are flying. March and early April are prime travel times for some Spring/March Break crowds and the dates released also included Easter weekend. It will be interesting to see what prices are like for the next release.

We also drove from Toronto and flew from Buffalo to MCO twice this year, each time paying less than $215/pp round trip but we were 'off season' also flying last week of April (after Spring Break and Easter) and then again the second week of September.

Last year I decided to try flying out of Toronto when I could book something at what I would consider to be a 'comparable cost' to what I anticipated SW flights would be. In the end I paid approx 30% more flying out of TO once I added in cost of luggage.

Personally, while I've looked into other options for flying, once I take into consideration baggage costs, SW is still less $ for our family.

I agree that flying off season is the way to go. Sadly my oldest child is getting to old to do that, between school and extracurricular activities. Its really cramping my Disney style!

 

[EACarlson]

I booked MKE-DAL this morning for $113 pp each way at the end of March for Spring Break. That flight in the middle of February was $104, that's not bad, only $9 swing for Break.

 

[shoreward]

I imagine this flight may not be the best to book.

Flight information

Flight #	1590
% Ontime arrival	0%
% > 30 min late	0%
% Cancellation	100%
Average delay time	0 Min

Aircraft information

Scheduled Aircraft*	Boeing 737-800
No. of seats	175
WiFi & FreeTV available

 

[scard192]

I'm with the complainers!! Round trip flights, March 9-15 (over spring break), HOU>MCO>HOU $572 or 39,500 points!!! I went ahead and booked two flights using points. Not sure if we'll go, but at least I (likely) paid less than anyone booking these same flights after me! I do keep my eyes peeled for cheaper flights on the daily once I book with SW... sometimes it pays off!

Edited to add - I'm going to see if we can get a bounce back offer while at WDW next week in hopes that the hotel offer is decently priced for this potential trip!

Bounceback will likely still be FD dates for later in 2020.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I'm with the complainers!! Round trip flights, March 9-15 (over spring break), HOU>MCO>HOU $572 or 39,500 points!!! I went ahead and booked two flights using points. Not sure if we'll go, but at least I (likely) paid less than anyone booking these same flights after me! I do keep my eyes peeled for cheaper flights on the daily once I book with SW... sometimes it pays off!

Edited to add - I'm going to see if we can get a bounce back offer while at WDW next week in hopes that the hotel offer is decently priced for this potential trip!

The current BB offer (from now until Oct 31, 2019 stays) is FD for some 2020 dates. Details can be found here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...eback-for-2020-dates-read-first-post.3680214/ Details are in the first post.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

The current BB offer (from now until Oct 31, 2019 stays) is FD for some 2020 dates. Details can be found here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...eback-for-2020-dates-read-first-post.3680214/ Details are in the first post.

Thanks, thanks, thanks!! Thanks so much!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks, thanks, thanks!! Thanks so much!

You're so welcome!!!

I'll say that when we were at Pop mid-September the only BB information in the room was the old one that had expired a month earlier. I asked for written material but they said they didn't have any.

I had the information from the thread above and it matched when I called. I'd already booked our trip prior to leaving home with exactly what we wanted so the call to the BB number was a quick 10 min call, got exactly what we wanted as they could just add the BB code to our existing reservation and saved $880!!! I'll take that!

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

You're so welcome!!!

I'll say that when we were at Pop mid-September the only BB information in the room was the old one that had expired a month earlier. I asked for written material but they said they didn't have any.

I had the information from the thread above and it matched when I called. I'd already booked our trip prior to leaving home with exactly what we wanted so the call to the BB number was a quick 10 min call, got exactly what we wanted as they could just add the BB code to our existing reservation and saved $880!!! I'll take that!

We're staying at CBR this time, but I still wanted to have additional info about bounce backs because I know little to nothing about them!