Southwest?!?! WOW!!! Booking Questions?

[BigRedDad]

I just purchased 7 RT tickets at $336 each. I bought each as a one-way ticket. If a lower fare comes out for one of the legs, I can cancel and rebook. Then, I can either use the credit or sell it on eBay. The main thing was to get flights at the specific times we needed. That was a critical issue with our travel this trip.

The way I see it, $336 is the most we will spend. With any luck, we will get a discount down the road.

[BigRedDad]

Stupid question #1: Is it possible that these airports have just lost, or are going to be losing, major carriers? In that case, maybe Southwest has higher than normal pricing anticipating a rush for those flights.

Regional/smaller airports are going to definitely lose out. Major airlines are not going to service at the smaller airports because it does not provide necessary business travel. As more carriers move away and ground their planes, the regional airports will go. Major airports are feeling the same effects. PBI and FLL are losing many flights to Miami.

[#1disneyfan]

I would wait it out and just watch the fares. When we first started looking a few months back for our August trip, the fares were quite high as well. I booked the trip down a few weeks back for $79 and waited to book the return trip since the flights back were still too high. And patience definitely pays since I booked the return last week for $64.

I had a LUV voucher to use also and with taxes and my voucher I spend just under $425 for 3 RT tickets.

Good luck and I hope you get the fare your waiting for!

[chick20679]

I thought the same thing but then I checked the prices for the Friday preceding Columbus Day and the prices are much less.

I did some more searching, and I think that the Veteran's Day thing may very well be the explanation for the high prices you're finding. For example, if you were to leave three days later, the price drops by about $90 a ticket. Not that you would want to cut your vacation by three days, and not that $90 is alot, but at least it's more of a concrete reason?

I hope you are able to find an afforable flight, and I hope you have a great trip!

[KAT1811]

I did some more searching, and I think that the Veteran's Day thing may very well be the explanation for the high prices you're finding. For example, if you were to leave three days later, the price drops by about $90 a ticket. Not that you would want to cut your vacation by three days, and not that $90 is alot, but at least it's more of a concrete reason?

I hope you are able to find an afforable flight, and I hope you have a great trip!

We wouldn't want to fly out later because DD #3's birthday is the 9th and DD #2's birthday is th 11th. We really want to be able to celebrate their birthdays in WDW. Plus, I already have all of my ADRs set. Unfortunately I may have to bite the bullet here but I am still keeping my fingers crossed. I've had some luck holding out in the past so I'll hope for the best this time.

I still think that I may have a chance of the flights going down a bit. The flights preceding Columbus day weekend are considerably less than the flights proposed prior to the Vetrans Day holiday. I think that the closer the dates approach the more chance I have to have them drop a bit. Lets face it if all else fails then I have to switch carriers and take a connecting flight, worse case scenerio I'll have to fly out of Boston. It isn't that there aren't any other options out there it is just that I would rather fly direct from the airport located right next door. I'll give SW the benefit of doubt right now in the hopes that they are trying to make a few extra bucks before lowering their fares to something reasonable. I can fly out of Boston for about $1000. less than SW out of Providence right now but I really, really, do not want to take the hour trek to Boston.

[KAT1811]

Okay the flights have come down a little bit. The outgoing flight just lowered to $200 pp and the returning flight has a web only fare of $151 pp. I am thinking that I am going to hold out just a little bit more to see if they come down even further. I figure they just started to lower, so they may plan to lower them a bit more before they go back up again. we still have a little over 3 months to go. What do you all think? Would you hold out for both legs or would you book the returning flight and still hold out on the outgoing?

[Bringonthemouse!]

At this point, I don't care if we pay more - I just hope it takes off when they say, and lands us in Orlando.

Ain't that the truth!

[Young@Heart]

Even though it takes longer, it still costs us less to drive down. Unfortunately, we're planning a trip for MNSSHP next year and will only have 3 days, so driving won't be an option. I guess we'll just have to watch prices closely and do everything we can to get a good deal. No way can we afford $400+/pp for a 3 day trip.

[Faver]

Ouch!!! that is an increase. We usually, fly SW, but I wanted to lock in rates as soon as possible, so we made flight reservations through AirTran, since they were excepting December '08 reservations in March '08. With SW we would have had to wait until now for reservations in December. And I afraid their prices were going to be steeper.

If I were you, I'd wait for a Ding, or try another airline.

[sndral]

I gave up booking w/ SW and went w/ other carriers from the west coast, and paid less than $400 ea. btw.
Out of curiosity I did a kayak search for 11/7-11/18 for Providence RI - Ontario roundtrip - per person:
us airways/delta $275
united $279
delta $279
continental $280
Have you tried the airlines' websites? That's were I found my best deals/flight times.

[KAT1811]

As of right now I can book the flights for $325/ pp round trip (incl. taxes and fees) The flights are both nonstop. The problem with going with another airline is the layover; in short I don't want one. It is enough work to get three children and us onto the plane (not to mention I'll be almost 5 months pregnant at the time), get the car seat situated and everyone settled in. I cannot even imagine having to do it twice each way. The little extra it will cost will be well worth the hassle. The other airlines that fly direct do not fly out of Providence and would add an hour commute to our travel time, not something we want to do either.

I have never paid this much for tickets. Usually we pay less than $200 pp this is crazy. I guess I keep hoping that they'll come out with a great fare soon.

[bmj721]

I bought 5 tickets of us round trip AirTran, $104 each way, plus all the "extras" ,one month ago. I kept watching all the others and I wanted a nonstop. Plus SWA's fares from MDW weren't looking very promising costwise. I just feel better we've purchased them.

[PetefromRI]

Last Jan. we paid 289.00 for 2 RT tickets,non stop from PVD.This year-882.00.I guess this Fall will be our last Disney trip until the prices balance out or else we'll drive but I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than drive to Orlando from R.I.

[KAT1811]

. . . I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than drive to Orlando from R.I.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I've been holding out nervously, too. "Watching, always watching...."
Some of my fellow Intercotees have warned December rates will go up, but I keep hoping...Don't know how close to cut it!

[sndral]

Kat1811 you deserve a medal for taking 3 young children to WDW while 5 mo.s pregnant! In the scheme of things, while it's nice to save money, your sanity/energy is worth the extra you end up paying if it's not a budget buster.
Have you checked the SW 'modify search' box? I like it because it lays out the cheapest fare for each day of the month. Also some layovers are just to pick people up while you stay on the same plane - course shorter is better w/ 3 kids confined in a small space.

[KAT1811]

Kat1811 you deserve a medal for taking 3 young children to WDW while 5 mo.s pregnant!

Thanks ! I wish! I have been blessed with three wonderful children who all love to travel, especially to WDW! If DD#1 knew we were going she would probably start packing now!!! We travel often and they are great, very adaptive and always willing and able to have fun. Plus this will be DH and my first trip alone with the kids . We usually travel with my parents and on our last trip we were a party of 15. We decided to stay at the GF to make things easier for us, I can hop back to the resort to rest , I mean to give the baby a nap. We are there for 12 days and have a pool or water park day scheduled just about every couple of days so we'll be taking it a bit easier than usual.

Plus I'm always on the go, I left the house at 7:00am this morning and am only back because DD#3 is napping then we are off again. I took the kids out on my aunt's boat last weekend (DH was working) and we were gone all day. They just go with the flow and love to be on the go. Plus DH works almost 100 hours a week during our busy season so this is some very, very, very much needed alone time. I kid him all the time telling him we need to leave the state just so we can have him all to ourselves.

[momofdisneyprincess]

SW came out with a DING fair from PVD to MCO and vice versa thru the end of October. They might come out with November in a couple of weeks. I didn't end up booking because the DING was still more expensive than our original flight. I booked the day the dates went on sale and they were running a special. I think it was 15% off or something like that. We ended up getting $225RT for a direct flight. Good luck!

[KAT1811]

We ended up getting $225RT for a direct flight. Good luck!

I'd take that. As of right now it will cost us $325.00 round trip. At your price that would save us $500 dollars. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I just got a DING for PVD to MCO and the reverse but only until the end of September.

[vicster]

[QUOTE=thrillme;1671038]At least with SOUTHWEST you feel SAFE. IF you book the expensive fare and it goes down you'll get credit toward the next flight.


How do you get this credit? I booked a Ding fare mid-July and now the fares have dropped out of Chicago - a total savings of $92.00 for two people.