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

[shoreward]

DD's bestie is probably coming with us in August (depending on grades and all that fun stuff). We are going to use cash and points to pay for our flights. Currently, only our arrival day is available for booking and i don't know when our departure day will open, aug 20. What is the best way to book the flights? I'm 99.9% sure her friend will be able to go but just in case she can't, will we be able to cancel? I want to book them all at the same time because we get early bird. Thanks!

You can book outbound flight separately from return. I would watch for fare reductions. Southwest usually announces fare sales on Tuesdays, so look for sales. If you have enough points to book your daughter’s friend’s flights, I would book with points. That will guarantee that there will be no loss, if the friend does not make the trip, with the points being returned to their account and taxes being refunded to original form of payment. If everyone in your traveling party will have EBCI and the flights are booked separately (as you need to book paid flights separately from points bookings), but you book the paid flights immediately after/before the points bookings, your boarding numbers should be consecutive or very close to each other.

 

[aokeefe]

Question- we usually fly direct but our flight in April we have a non-direct flight (will need to change planes). Do I have to do the 24 hour check in twice or doing it for the first leg, automatically check me in?

 

[LadybugsMum]

Question- we usually fly direct but our flight in April we have a non-direct flight (will need to change planes). Do I have to do the 24 hour check in twice or doing it for the first leg, automatically check me in?

You only need to check in for the first flight. It's all booked together so once you check in for the first one, you're done.

 

[aokeefe]

Just a reminder to check your upcoming flights for any changes. I check several times a day (hoping for fare decreases) and noticed they moved my PVD-MCO and cancelled the 2 other PVD-MCO flights for the day; I didn't receive any notice. I'm weary of being the only flight of the day so was able to move it up a day (Saturday still has 3 flights) at no cost. Extra day at WDW! Just pray for no snow!

 

[BillFromCT]

Just a reminder to check your upcoming flights for any changes. I check several times a day (hoping for fare decreases) and noticed they moved my PVD-MCO and cancelled the 2 other PVD-MCO flights for the day; I didn't receive any notice. I'm weary of being the only flight of the day so was able to move it up a day (Saturday still has 3 flights) at no cost. Extra day at WDW! Just pray for no snow!

Same with both my PVD/MCO flights for March. I got an email this morning about the change for MCO-PVD, but not the PVD-MCO leg. I'm thinking about moving us up from Sunday to Saturday as well to have more flight availability cushion.

 

[Avery&Todd]

I received the dreaded email....we've made changes to your flights..for our Feb. 19-24 dates.

They put us on flights that don't exist.....

I messaged SW through FB (they are super fast responsive) and the agent couldn't find the flights either - so she moved me to flights that were showing - I got a direct flight departing, but we may now leave a day earlier since it's a later flight than I wanted) and our return flights were still showing available so we kept those....

We flew with SW last week - Dec. 9-15 and the flights were GREAT!! Both were direct, and on the outbound flight, captain said that we had only 70 folks on board and the plane held 175, so we spread out and return flight was about 1/2 full...

super easy!!

 

[npatellye]

Same with both my PVD/MCO flights for March. I got an email this morning about the change for MCO-PVD, but not the PVD-MCO leg. I'm thinking about moving us up from Sunday to Saturday as well to have more flight availability cushion.

Ugh...I was just about to book PVD for our May flights instead of BDL but now I’m thinking we may as well just drive to LGA or EWR since it’s half the cost and I hope those flights will be less likely to be changed.

 

[aokeefe]

I received the dreaded email....we've made changes to your flights..for our Feb. 19-24 dates.

They put us on flights that don't exist.....

I messaged SW through FB (they are super fast responsive) and the agent couldn't find the flights either - so she moved me to flights that were showing - I got a direct flight departing, but we may now leave a day earlier since it's a later flight than I wanted) and our return flights were still showing available so we kept those....

We flew with SW last week - Dec. 9-15 and the flights were GREAT!! Both were direct, and on the outbound flight, captain said that we had only 70 folks on board and the plane held 175, so we spread out and return flight was about 1/2 full...

super easy!!

I agree- we flew over Thanksgiving week- flights were clean (we even had a relatively new plane... the flight attendant said it was the lambourgini of Southwest flights (probably wouldn't go that far but it was very clean and new looking!) We also were able to spread out (another reason I prefer to not be on the only flight of the day- afraid it would be more crowded). I think our flight home had 20 people on it.

 

[Avery&Todd]

I agree- we flew over Thanksgiving week- flights were clean (we even had a relatively new plane... the flight attendant said it was the lambourgini of Southwest flights (probably wouldn't go that far but it was very clean and new looking!) We also were able to spread out (another reason I prefer to not be on the only flight of the day- afraid it would be more crowded). I think our flight home had 20 people on it.

YES!! Our return plane was also new!! I commented to my husband that it looked brand new!! It was nice and a little more cushion on the seats!

 

[focusondisney]

Our March & April flights from Buffalo went down today... saved over 6100 points on the March trip & 2000 in April. I have my DH flying on my companion pass & we have EBCI. I couldn’t change it myself without cancelling & losing the EBCI. So I called & the agent was able to rebook without us losing it or needing to repay. Saved enough to almost pay for one way in September.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I just rebooked our flight from RDU since it dropped in price. I’ve found it easier to book the to and return flights separately. I’ve had one direction price go down while the other goes up.

 

[LadybugsMum]

If I have a ticket for September 1 that was bought with funds that expire in Aug 1 and I cancel my ticket after Aug 2, do I lose those funds or do the funds have a new expiration date?

 

[chrispgross]

Question- we usually fly direct but our flight in April we have a non-direct flight (will need to change planes). Do I have to do the 24 hour check in twice or doing it for the first leg, automatically check me in?

You will check in 24 hours prior to the first leg. The system will check you through all the way to your final destination.

 

[happ]

If I have a ticket for September 1 that was bought with funds that expire in Aug 1 and I cancel my ticket after Aug 2, do I lose those funds or do the funds have a new expiration date?

I didn't realize you could even book a ticket with travel funds for a flight that takes place after your funds' expiration date. Did you modify your flight date to make it work or does it always work that way? I thought the expiration dates meant you had to fly by that date.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I didn't realize you could even book a ticket with travel funds for a flight that takes place after your funds' expiration date. Did you modify your flight date to make it work or does it always work that way? I thought the expiration dates meant you had to fly by that date.

This is correct. The system will not allow the purchase of a ticket if the funds will expire prior to flight date.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Ok, I had not tried to get the ticket yet. I have some funds that expire Aug 13 and was hoping to get around the expiration date. Those funds weren’t eligible to convert to miles.

 

[TNKim]

It’s been over a year since I’ve flown and my brain certainly isn’t what it used to be. If I book flights for myself & 3 cousins, can I use my accumulated SW points to pay for their flights, too, if we are all on the same reservation? That way if we have to cancel last minute due to corona, points would be refunded & we wouldn’t have to deal with refunded travel funds that have to be used by a certain date? I usually book all separately, but hoping to make it easier to refund if we must cancel.

 

[Mome Rath]

It’s been over a year since I’ve flown and my brain certainly isn’t what it used to be. If I book flights for myself & 3 cousins, can I use my accumulated SW points to pay for their flights, too, if we are all on the same reservation? That way if we have to cancel last minute due to corona, points would be refunded & we wouldn’t have to deal with refunded travel funds that have to be used by a certain date? I usually book all separately, but hoping to make it easier to refund if we must cancel.

Yes, if you use points, you can buy for others. If you get a price change, or have to cancel, all the points go back to your account.

 

[AngieInOH]

How are you all feeling about the safety of flying, ie Covid concerns? Hubby wants to take a trip to Disney in a few weeks. My only reservation is flying, in a confined space, with others.

 

[scrappinginontario]

How are you all feeling about the safety of flying, ie Covid concerns? Hubby wants to take a trip to Disney in a few weeks. My only reservation is flying, in a confined space, with others.

It really is a personal decision. I would not be comfortable flying right now (especially now that SW is filling all seats if the demand is there) but many here have had good experiences. I think this is only a question you can really answer for your own family.