Booking Southwest--when to book?

[Chip_Dale]

When is the best time to book with Southwest? As soon as they release the new dates or closer to your departure date. Is it cheaper booking on a Tuesday? I know that if price drops they offer travel vouchers; but we usually only travel every 2 years and vouchers are only good for a year.

 

[rwdavis2]

Guessing when to buy is as easy as picking winning lottery numbers. The best price is set by supply and demand. I would book is soon as you are comfortable with the price. There is virtually no way to predict the best price and when it occurs.

 

[Spunky946]

I’ve done both. I bought our Christmas tickets on the day they opened because we knew we were cruising and they were already a little higher and we had the points. They have only gone up since then.

Other times I’ve waited because they were a middle price and not a high demand time. Book them when you feel comfortable

 

[Donna M]

I think it may depend on where you are departing. We fly out of Boston or NH durinin school vacation, and never, ever have our prices come down when heading to Florida. The day they are released has always been the cheapest.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Depends on your home airport. It’s different for everyone based on how many daily flights are available.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I've had the best luck booking on release date the last few times. My prices never went down after.

 

[Fangorn]

As others have said, it depends on the market you're in and where you're going. There is no definitive answer to your question. Different parts of the country appear to have different patterns. On the west coast, for example, prices fluctuate constantly and the day of release is never the best price. In the Northeast, that pattern doesn't seem to be the case at all.

As for the day of the week of purchase, there again the is wide variability. In my market, Portland, OR, the day of the week matters a lot. For instance - just 2 weeks ago I was looking for airfare to MCO for a late October trip. I'd been watching fares for weeks and they hadn't moved off of $173 one way. When i looked on Saturday (the most expensive day to purchase) fares had gone up to $187. Checked again on Tuesday (typically the day of the week where fares are lowest here) and the fare was $113. I jumped on that. I looked again on Thursday and the fare went back up to $173. So they raised it over the weekend, and then lowered it briefly on Tuesday then went back to the "normal" fare. I've seen that pattern a lot here. Oh, and Holiday weekends are even worse times to purchase. Those same flights were $237 when I looked over the Labor Day weekend.

Its all driven by demand.

Steve

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

If you post your departing airport and travel dates, perhaps someone here with that itinerary can give you their experience. While that may be more useful than general trends, it would still be no guarantee of future price changes..

 

[Chip_Dale]

If you post your departing airport and travel dates, perhaps someone here with that itinerary can give you their experience. While that may be more useful than general trends, it would still be no guarantee of future price changes..

Flying out of Buffalo beginning of of April

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Flying out of Buffalo beginning of of April

You know the schedule is out through 4/7 now, right?

I personally can’t help about Buffalo however.

 

[Dznypal]

fares are game that's for sure--since the fares came out for our late JAn early Feb Ive been checking in aug I booked for the going down it was 109PP but coming home was 159$ so I waited on coming home--fares stayed the same rose to 169$ for a short time then back down to 159$

the dates are tue to tues--so doing more checking it was 109$ coming back but on 2-6--were DVC members staying on points at BLT I checked what was opened and believe it or not 2-5 was the only day opened--we just had to borrow 6 points so we extended our trip one day and got great air fare

sometimes you just have to keep checking and switch things a bit to make them work

good luck and have a great trip

just want to add that I always thought it was cheapest to fly on tues and that was also the best day for fares--for some strange reason tues 2-5 is an expensive day to fly from MCO to Mke

 

[dolewhipdreams]

It's also an important to note with Southwest specifically that they have (IMO) one of the best cancellation policies. I've booked flights because I thought the price couldn't get lower, then when the price did go down I was able to cancel without a fee and have the funds returned to my 'travel fund' account with Southwest (not a direct refund- the funds stay with Southwest), then I booked the lower fare and got to save the rest of that travel fund for a later flight. I've done the same with their rewards points and got my RR returned to my account.

If you travel with Southwest a lot, it's a practice that can help save money when the timing works out.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I know what rate range is usual for my airport to Florida. I bookmas soon as there is a price I can live with. If it changes I can get a credit