Southwest booking disappointment

[snoopy5386]

We always fly SW and I am always ready to book on release day - I was ready for Thursday and then when it got rescheduled I was ready for Monday, but then they went and released them today!!!

By the time I got home almost all the wanna get away fares for our return trip were sold out already!! Do they ever release more wanna get away fares? Right now I can pay $199 pp for a really late flight - we wouldn’t land until close to midnight and I will have to go to work the next day - a Monday so I don’t really want to get home that late, nor pay that much for the privilege.

Our outgoing flights were decent ($124 pp) and I was able to use all my RR points to book them. But I need to pay cash for the return. Paying $800 for all of us for crappy flight times feels crazy, but I don’t really have many other options. I work in a school and this is a long weekend trip over a school break so I have zero flexibility. I can fly spirit for a lot cheaper, but their latest flight that day is at 3 pm so that basically wastes the whole day - we will have no time for anything. It’s only a 4 day trip to begin with....plus it’s spirit. But there are zero other non stop options from MCO - BWI. I don’t know what is happening on October 20th to make all these flights sell out so quickly!

 

[writerguyfl]

I don't know what is happening on October 20th to make all these flights sell out so quickly!

I think you answered your own question here:

I work in a school and this is a long weekend trip over a school break so I have zero flexibility.

And here:

But there are zero other non stop options from MCO - BWI.

 

[Allison]

Yes, wanna get away fares can show up again.

 

[Rach3975]

We're in the DC area, too. Dulles and National are a lot closer for us, but Southwest has eliminated all nonstops between Dulles and MCO and cut back a lot at National. So maybe part of the problem is that a lot of us who would have flown from IAD and DCA a year ago have to go to BWI now. We decided to fly on another airline since the times were better and the prices are comparable, but if we went SW we'd have had to go in and out of BWI.

 

[katallo]

I think a lot of people are disappointed. For example I'm closer to BWI but I need to fly to Tampa rather than Orlando .

There were 4 non stops offered and the only decent time was a late morning. Two round-trip tickets were $888. Needless to say we did not book

 

[Merida'sTwin]

I would keep checking over the next few days. We were caught off guard today as well and had limited options when I booked at about 10am. I checked again at 5pm and a flight that showed completely sold out this morning (not just low fares were gone but none were available to purchase) was now available at a wanna get away fare. I was able to switch the flights so it worked out.

 

[snoopy5386]

I think you answered your own question here:



And here:

I suppose, but I have a hard time believing that there are THAT many people in the Baltimore area who are both going to Disney AND obsessively stalking Southwest's website 7 months in advance to sell out WGA fares for 16 of 26 flights in less than 9 hours on release day. It's not a major holiday, our district is pairing 1 day off with a half day the day before. Other districts just have a Friday off or no day off at all.

 

[pxidst119]

Our school music trip wiped out WGA fares for a flight. That flight has been showing up as WGA sold out sonce then. Perhaps a large group trip is taking up a bunch of spots.

 

[shoreward]

BWI is a Southwest hub, so there is quite a lot of connecting traffic booked thru BWI, and not just customers whose origin and destination are BWI.

 

[nordkin]

We're in the DC area, too. Dulles and National are a lot closer for us, but Southwest has eliminated all nonstops between Dulles and MCO and cut back a lot at National. So maybe part of the problem is that a lot of us who would have flown from IAD and DCA a year ago have to go to BWI now. We decided to fly on another airline since the times were better and the prices are comparable, but if we went SW we'd have had to go in and out of BWI.

They cut back at Dulles, but Reagan has two nonstops daily and from experience they are always less expensive than BWI. I never book on opening day and always get great fares out of Reagan for far less than opening day:

 

[Rach3975]

They cut back at Dulles, but Reagan has two nonstops daily and from experience they are always less expensive than BWI. I never book on opening day and always get great fares out of Reagan for far less than opening day:

They do, but the times didn't work well for us. We're going for a long weekend without the kids. We're trying to fly down mid-morning so we can get the kids settled with their grandparents but still have park time and then return late enough to have a park morning but be home before their bedtimes. Last time we flew as a family and could tweak our days and times for better fares, but this trip we have no flexibility and were willing to pay a little more to know we've got these 2 times locked in.

 

[kristenrice]

We have the option of flying out of GRR and leaving at 7pm, connecting through MDW, and landing in MCO at 11:35pm for $316 per person....ONE WAY!

...or...

We can drive 2 1/2 hours to Chicago and catch the 8pm non-stop flight and pay only $155 per person.

Our return flight options are just as bad. The latest option that goes all the way to GRR is a 3:55 departure that connects in MDW and lands in GR at 9:40pm. It's $282 per person! If we wanted to just fly to MDW and drive home from there, the MCO-MDW flight lands at 5:40pm and it's "only" $189 per person.

So basically, we can fly round-trip out of GRR, connecting through Chicago, and pay $598 round-trip, or we can drive 150 miles to Chicago and catch the same flight (just skipping the first leg) and pay only $344 per person.

Seems like a no-brainer, but I hate the idea of making that drive and knowing that we CANNOT miss the flight. I know that an accident or mishap can happen anywhere at any time, but the risk increases when you have to drive 150 miles to the airport instead of 5. I also don't like the idea of a long drive home after a 2+ hour flight. I like to have a couple drinks on the flight to calm my nerves and that won't happen if I have to drive home.

Since we are actually booking with points, we are "insured" against fare drops and we can change if needed. We opted to book the flights out of Chicago and we are going to stalk the flights out of GRR. We are hoping and praying that they will drop into a reasonable range (like into the range of points that we actually have!) and then we will switch our flights to GR. We are OK with flying out of Chicago, but we would really rather fly home to GR.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

BWI is a Southwest hub, so there is quite a lot of connecting traffic booked thru BWI, and not just customers whose origin and destination are BWI.

Actually, BWI is not a Southwest hub, as Southwest does not use hubs. They use a point to point system.

 

[jayhawk74]

Actually, BWI is not a Southwest hub, as Southwest does not use hubs. They use a point to point system.

BWI is what Southwest calls a focus city. Basically that means many flights come into that city so that passenger can reconnect in BWI to other destinations. That means passengers from ALB, BDL, BOS, BUF, DTW, ISP, MHT, ORF, PWM, PVD, and ROC all fly into BWI to catch a flight to MCO. In fact during my 22 years at Southwest I've even seen passengers from BNA, FNT, and SDF fly into BWI to continue on to MCO.

 

[writerguyfl]

Actually, BWI is not a Southwest hub, as Southwest does not use hubs. They use a point to point system.

Southwest might claim that, it's not really true. The only US airline that is truly point-to-point is Allegiant Air. Allegiant only sells nonstop flights. You can't purchase one-stop nor connecting flights on Allegiant.

While Southwest might refer to them as operating bases and not hubs, places like Chicago Midway (MDW), Baltimore (BWI), and Las Vegas (LAS) are still hubs. Those airports serve as connecting points for thousands of people on a daily basis.

To me, if you have multiple daily flights to/from an airport from multiple destinations, that's a hub. According to Wikipedia, Southwest has 225 daily departures from Baltimore serving 65 different cities. It's a hub.

Note: Looks like jayhawk74 posted while I was responding. I agree. What I called an operating base could also be referred to as a focus city.

 

[Darcy03231]

We have the option of flying out of GRR and leaving at 7pm, connecting through MDW, and landing in MCO at 11:35pm for $316 per person....ONE WAY!

...or...

We can drive 2 1/2 hours to Chicago and catch the 8pm non-stop flight and pay only $155 per person.

Our return flight options are just as bad. The latest option that goes all the way to GRR is a 3:55 departure that connects in MDW and lands in GR at 9:40pm. It's $282 per person! If we wanted to just fly to MDW and drive home from there, the MCO-MDW flight lands at 5:40pm and it's "only" $189 per person.

So basically, we can fly round-trip out of GRR, connecting through Chicago, and pay $598 round-trip, or we can drive 150 miles to Chicago and catch the same flight (just skipping the first leg) and pay only $344 per person.

Seems like a no-brainer, but I hate the idea of making that drive and knowing that we CANNOT miss the flight. I know that an accident or mishap can happen anywhere at any time, but the risk increases when you have to drive 150 miles to the airport instead of 5. I also don't like the idea of a long drive home after a 2+ hour flight. I like to have a couple drinks on the flight to calm my nerves and that won't happen if I have to drive home.

Since we are actually booking with points, we are "insured" against fare drops and we can change if needed. We opted to book the flights out of Chicago and we are going to stalk the flights out of GRR. We are hoping and praying that they will drop into a reasonable range (like into the range of points that we actually have!) and then we will switch our flights to GR. We are OK with flying out of Chicago, but we would really rather fly home to GR.

When we have an early flight out of the airport that's 2 hours from us we book a park, stay, fly hotel for the night before. That way we know we won't miss our flight, we can leave the car there for up to 2 weeks (and we've left it longer and paid a daily fee less than what the airport charges) and take their free shuttle to and from the airport. The cost of the hotel usually ends up being close to if not less than the cost to park at the airport. That way you don't need to stress about missing your flight that morning.

 

[mamamelody2]

We have the option of flying out of GRR and leaving at 7pm, connecting through MDW, and landing in MCO at 11:35pm for $316 per person....ONE WAY!

...or...

We can drive 2 1/2 hours to Chicago and catch the 8pm non-stop flight and pay only $155 per person.

Our return flight options are just as bad. The latest option that goes all the way to GRR is a 3:55 departure that connects in MDW and lands in GR at 9:40pm. It's $282 per person! If we wanted to just fly to MDW and drive home from there, the MCO-MDW flight lands at 5:40pm and it's "only" $189 per person.

So basically, we can fly round-trip out of GRR, connecting through Chicago, and pay $598 round-trip, or we can drive 150 miles to Chicago and catch the same flight (just skipping the first leg) and pay only $344 per person.

Seems like a no-brainer, but I hate the idea of making that drive and knowing that we CANNOT miss the flight. I know that an accident or mishap can happen anywhere at any time, but the risk increases when you have to drive 150 miles to the airport instead of 5. I also don't like the idea of a long drive home after a 2+ hour flight. I like to have a couple drinks on the flight to calm my nerves and that won't happen if I have to drive home.

Since we are actually booking with points, we are "insured" against fare drops and we can change if needed. We opted to book the flights out of Chicago and we are going to stalk the flights out of GRR. We are hoping and praying that they will drop into a reasonable range (like into the range of points that we actually have!) and then we will switch our flights to GR. We are OK with flying out of Chicago, but we would really rather fly home to GR.

This is almost exactly what happened to us last year. Flights were $319 each way for the four of us. WAY too much. Less than 1/2 of that for Chicago Midway, so I was seriously considering doing that. We were waiting for SW Visa bonus points to come in, so I didn't book, though. When the points came in, and it was a while later...weeks, but I don't remember how many, flights were down to reasonable prices out of GRR, so I booked. They then went down two more times before we left, so I was able to get points back. It worked out great!

Also, this year, I booked during the last booking window (our trip is Aug 29-Sep 7) and when the flights came up shortly after 7 AM, they were $319 out of GRR again. $136 returning to GRR. So, I booked the returning flight, but decided to wait on the outgoing flight. Checked later that morning--about 10 AM--on a whim, and they were down to $155 outgoing. Booked. I'm happy with the amount of points the flights were, but I am still checking every couple days to see if they go down, so I can get some points back.

 

[kristenrice]

When we have an early flight out of the airport that's 2 hours from us we book a park, stay, fly hotel for the night before. That way we know we won't miss our flight, we can leave the car there for up to 2 weeks (and we've left it longer and paid a daily fee less than what the airport charges) and take their free shuttle to and from the airport. The cost of the hotel usually ends up being close to if not less than the cost to park at the airport. That way you don't need to stress about missing your flight that morning.

That’s what we would normally do, but we are leaving after school. The kids get out at 3 so we have plenty of time to make the 8pm flight. It’s a 2 1/2 hour drive, plus we “gain” an hour because we change time zones. My anxiety is usually “unreasonable” due to my EMS background. I remember the poor teenage girl that I took to the ED from her doctor’s office with appendicitis. I asked her what plans for her day had been interrupted (she was going to the hospital for surgery) and she said she was supposed to be leaving that afternoon on her senior trip to Paris! I know that things can always happen and the worst-case scenarios always seem to leap to the front of my mind. The reality is that we will probably have no issue at all with the drive to Chicago and it will be well-worth the savings.

 

[RedAngie]

Actually, BWI is not a Southwest hub, as Southwest does not use hubs. They use a point to point system.

Southwest refrains from using the term "hub," but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.......

 

[AlternateID]

It's been a couple of days and there has been no fare movement either way - the flight I am considering is currently $199 and gets us back to BWI at 11:30 pm, so that means home around 1 am and then up at 7 am the next morning, ugh. I keep telling myself, I'd buy it if it were $150, so why am I driving myself nuts over $50 pp or $200 total?

The flight I really want is sold out of WGA and is currently sitting at $474 per person!!! So no. That would have us leaving Disney by 2 pm and home by 8:30. But I can't pay that fare.

If we fly spirit, even with luggage and seat selection fees I could get a flight for $565 for all of us. But the timing sucks - leaves MCO at 3 pm, which means leaving Disney at noon, which essentially turns our 4 day trip into a 3 day trip......