Southwest Flights Open

[TrishaK]

If you're cruising during Spring Break 2020, Southwest flights are now available for booking.

 

[mickip]

Just (frantically) booked ours trying to get them before they sold out, booking for 5 people and using a combination of points and cash... but it is done.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Just checked... really high priced this year. No benefit (with the dollar exchange) to flying them. Oh well.

 

[GoofyDisneyDaddy]

These fares are hugely disappointing. Hope they come down...

 

[jessicag13]

my trick for southwest (though i travel solo, so it's a little easier to coordinate), is i book each way separately, and then it makes it MUCH easier to keep track of what i paid (in $ or points) for each leg, then i continually check to see if prices have dropped. i booked a flight for 3/6/20 the day it opened at $139, but a few weeks ago it dropped to $129 and i got refunded the difference in points. and i will keep checking until the day i leave for that trip.
so bottom line, opening day prices aren't necessarily the lowest anymore. keep checking for price drops.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Easter flight prices were great.

 

[sethschroeder]

my trick for southwest (though i travel solo, so it's a little easier to coordinate), is i book each way separately, and then it makes it MUCH easier to keep track of what i paid (in $ or points) for each leg, then i continually check to see if prices have dropped. i booked a flight for 3/6/20 the day it opened at $139, but a few weeks ago it dropped to $129 and i got refunded the difference in points. and i will keep checking until the day i leave for that trip.
so bottom line, opening day prices aren't necessarily the lowest anymore. keep checking for price drops.

The only thing you need to know is that is two completely different bookings. If something happens and they give an exception on one leg it doesn't mean it will apply to the other. If someone is okay with that, that's fine but it's something to know.

 

[Gentry2004]

Just checked... really high priced this year. No benefit (with the dollar exchange) to flying them. Oh well.

Agree, super high. We would have been better off booking with Jet Blue when they opened. $300RT vs 600RT. So mad at SW right now.

 

[Trera]

We dont like southwest unless they get us direct to a place we are going.

 

[MillauFr]

I just checked from Seattle and Alaska is charging $1600 RT (4/4 - 4/11) for daytime flights to MCO during our spring break. Could try Delta but they fly the eastbound with a red eye flight. No thanks.

 

[anjuan]

I just booked on SW this am for our spring break cruise. I found there was a substantial difference booking on a Thursday vs Friday, enough to justify the extra hotel night. So if your dates are flexible it can potentially make a big difference. I had a couple of vouchers from last spring break so that also helped.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I just booked on SW this am for our spring break cruise. I found there was a substantial difference booking on a Thursday vs Friday, enough to justify the extra hotel night. So if your dates are flexible it can potentially make a big difference. I had a couple of vouchers from last spring break so that also helped.

I saw that too. I tried a Thurs to Sat and it still was quite high. I was looking from BUF, because we are in the Toronto area. With the price they quoted me, it would be cheaper for me to fly Air Canada right from Toronto. Part of that is the exchange, but I remember SW's opening prices being half of what they are today in other (recent) years.

Also, the current JetBlue price is quite high for that route and time. I'm wondering if someone at SW looks at the competition's website to see how much the market will bear before assigning pricing.

 

[MomOTwins]

We booked SW for our November cruise as soon as they released the dates and they too seemed much more expensive than normal. Shortly thereafter, the price dropped over $500!!!! I of course used the "change flight" hack to get my $500 back in credits, but now I have to find another flight to spend it on before june next year.... I really wish I had waited a bit.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Good to know... I'll keep watching the prices.

 

[lklgoodman]

We will probably cruise in late March 2021 during Spring break. Dreading the cost. We've been going in Jan for the past few years and have always been able to get cheap direct flights then.

 

[DCLDVC1]

We booked SW for our November cruise as soon as they released the dates and they too seemed much more expensive than normal. Shortly thereafter, the price dropped over $500!!!! I of course used the "change flight" hack to get my $500 back in credits, but now I have to find another flight to spend it on before june next year.... I really wish I had waited a bit.

I've noticed the same thing on flights I've tracked over the past couple of years. On some of them, the price dropped almost $100/ticket from opening day. It's a brilliant strategy considering their refund policy.

 

[Budzooka]

I've noticed the same thing on flights I've tracked over the past couple of years. On some of them, the price dropped almost $100/ticket from opening day. It's a brilliant strategy considering their refund policy.

Yep, particularly if you are using points. I always book on opening day (or as soon as I know I want to travel), and it almost always goes down. Just have a habit of checking every day.

 

[Ravenne]

We booked SW for our November cruise as soon as they released the dates and they too seemed much more expensive than normal. Shortly thereafter, the price dropped over $500!!!! I of course used the "change flight" hack to get my $500 back in credits, but now I have to find another flight to spend it on before june next year.... I really wish I had waited a bit.

I've noticed the same thing on flights I've tracked over the past couple of years. On some of them, the price dropped almost $100/ticket from opening day. It's a brilliant strategy considering their refund policy.

I had the opposite luck. I missed out on opening day prices and couldn't buy for a couple of months after that due to allocating money towards another trip at the time, and the prices skyrocketed. Everything I've looked at since the grounding of the Max8s have been much higher than usual.