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

We are going to Disney, May 29-June 5. I was able to book our flight down when the scheduled opened, but at that time it only opened through June 1. Now I looked and the schedule shows through June 5. So now I can book our return flight, however, I'm debating on whether to go ahead and book it or wait. Our flight went down $10 last night, not a lot, but I was excited since I check several times a day. So now I have a $10 credit for each of us I can use when I book our return flight. But I'm hoping it goes down more and then if it does, I'll have a bigger credit to put towards our flight home. I know I'll have until next August to use the credits, but I'm not sure if we'll be flying anywhere. I did not add EBC to our first flight, if I have a credit can it be applied toward adding it? Right now our flight into MCO is $123 and the flights I'm looking at to come home are $103. I'll add EBC to our flight home because I don't want to worry about checking in 24 hours before our flight while at Disney.

Should I book our return flight now, or wait?
Hi mastermind! I don't have an answer for you, but I wanted to say hi as we're going to be flying out of Indy as well for our trip for May 3-12. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. It's 4 of us flying though. I've booked our flights out (manage to score tickets for $73 each!) and 2 of the return flights at $103 each, but I'm waiting on to book the last 2 in case prices go down so I can use the credit towards those. I don't think we'll be flying anywhere else either before August so it would be ideal to use them towards that. Just have to hope prices go down a little more. :)
 
Hi mastermind! I don't have an answer for you, but I wanted to say hi as we're going to be flying out of Indy as well for our trip for May 3-12. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. It's 4 of us flying though. I've booked our flights out (manage to score tickets for $73 each!) and 2 of the return flights at $103 each, but I'm waiting on to book the last 2 in case prices go down so I can use the credit towards those. I don't think we'll be flying anywhere else either before August so it would be ideal to use them towards that. Just have to hope prices go down a little more. :)

Just an FYI: if you booked those 2 return flights with cash not points, the credits you might get on them can only be used for the SAME person. So you could not take a credit on a ticket in your husband's name & apply it to your child's ticket, for example. If your husband travels again within the year of original booking, he would use that credit. Now if those 2 tickets are purchased with SW points, then the points return to the travel bank & can be used to book in any name.

Sorry if I am reading your post wrong, just don't want you to be surprised if you do get a credit & can't use it as you planned.
 
I didn't know that. This is our first time booking Southwest so I'm still learning all the in's and out's. Thank you for letting me know!
 
Hi mastermind! I don't have an answer for you, but I wanted to say hi as we're going to be flying out of Indy as well for our trip for May 3-12. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. It's 4 of us flying though. I've booked our flights out (manage to score tickets for $73 each!) and 2 of the return flights at $103 each, but I'm waiting on to book the last 2 in case prices go down so I can use the credit towards those. I don't think we'll be flying anywhere else either before August so it would be ideal to use them towards that. Just have to hope prices go down a little more. :)

I haven't booked our return flights yet, but I check daily to see if the price has dropped. When I check on on my phone, when I select the flight price I want, it shows if there are a limited amount of seat left at that price. If the flight I want ever shows there's only 5 seats left or less, I'll probably go ahead and book it. I wanted to spend $500 or less for us to fly and if I book with the prices today, I'll be under that, but I'd still like to save more. I also feel like I'm taking a chance every day that goes by that I don't go ahead and book it.
 


Does anyone know/Has anyone ever done this.......
I currently have a flight from MKE - MCO on December 9 at 8 am. There is a 6:30am flight. Chances are I will be there waiting before 6:30am. (I always plan to be super early in the winter months!) Do you think SWA would let me take the 6:30am flight even though I'm booked on the 8am flight??? Of course I would expect to be the last on the plane (which is fine). The 6:30 am flight is cheaper than the 8 am flight.
TIA!!!!
 
Does anyone know/Has anyone ever done this.......
I currently have a flight from MKE - MCO on December 9 at 8 am. There is a 6:30am flight. Chances are I will be there waiting before 6:30am. (I always plan to be super early in the winter months!) Do you think SWA would let me take the 6:30am flight even though I'm booked on the 8am flight??? Of course I would expect to be the last on the plane (which is fine). The 6:30 am flight is cheaper than the 8 am flight.
TIA!!!!

IF there is an empty seat on the 6:30 flight that morning, then yes, you COULD change to that flight. But it depends on the type of fare you purchased. If your original ticket is either a Business Select or Anytime fare, then you can do standby for the earlier flight at no additional cost. If you have a Wanna Get Away fare, then you will have to pay the difference between your original ticket and the Anytime fare.

Steve
 
Does anyone know/Has anyone ever done this.......
I currently have a flight from MKE - MCO on December 9 at 8 am. There is a 6:30am flight. Chances are I will be there waiting before 6:30am. (I always plan to be super early in the winter months!) Do you think SWA would let me take the 6:30am flight even though I'm booked on the 8am flight??? Of course I would expect to be the last on the plane (which is fine). The 6:30 am flight is cheaper than the 8 am flight.
TIA!!!!

If the 6:30 flight is cheaper....then why don't you just change to it now?

And just and FYI...I flew out at 5:30 AM in June and I was thinking the plane would have to be pretty empty that early...who else is that crazy....nope...every seat was filled.
 


If the 6:30 flight is cheaper....then why don't you just change to it now?

And just and FYI...I flew out at 5:30 AM in June and I was thinking the plane would have to be pretty empty that early...who else is that crazy....nope...every seat was filled.
I flew out of MSP at 6:30 earlier this month, same thing, both airport and plane PACKED!
 
Is there a general rule of thumb as to the percentage of Wanna Get Away fares per flight, or does it vary widely based on popularity of the route?
 
My dilemma: Bookings now open through June 5, 2018. Our flight currently includes an open departure date, but not an open return date.

I will be booking for a party of 9 (probably 5 and 4). Is there any reason to go ahead and book my departure date though June 5, to lock in as many WGA fares for departure date as possible, and then change return dates when able to?
 
My dilemma: Bookings now open through June 5, 2018. Our flight currently includes an open departure date, but not an open return date.

I will be booking for a party of 9 (probably 5 and 4). Is there any reason to go ahead and book my departure date though June 5, to lock in as many WGA fares for departure date as possible, and then change return dates when able to?

Just buy the one way tickets for your departure date. Then buy the return later when that date is opened. There is no $$ penalty nor advantage to booking one way vs roundtrip.

Steve
 
Just buy the one way tickets for your departure date. Then buy the return later when that date is opened. There is no $$ penalty nor advantage to booking one way vs roundtrip.

Steve

That makes total sense, to the point I can't believe I hadn't figured it out on my own. Can cash bookings later be converted to points (I expect to have enough points mid-October, waiting on my credit card acknowledgment).
 
My dilemma: Bookings now open through June 5, 2018. Our flight currently includes an open departure date, but not an open return date.

I will be booking for a party of 9 (probably 5 and 4). Is there any reason to go ahead and book my departure date though June 5, to lock in as many WGA fares for departure date as possible, and then change return dates when able to?

Oh my gosh. With that many tickets, book the 1st leg now if you are happy with the price. SW is not opening the next dates til November I think. Those outbound flights could increase a lot before that. And the advantage is, just in case they do go down, you will have credits to use for your return trip. The only draw back to booking the trips seperatly is that you'll have different confirmation numbers & that is certainly no big deal!
 
That makes total sense, to the point I can't believe I hadn't figured it out on my own. Can cash bookings later be converted to points (I expect to have enough points mid-October, waiting on my credit card acknowledgment).

Cash bookings can't be converted to points. You'd have to cancel the original reservations and rebook with points. But that would leave you with credits you might not be able to fully use before they expire. I wouldn't suggest doing it. If you do the return as a separate one-way reservation, and you should have your points by the time they open the return flights, you'll be able to use the points to book that leg at least.

Steve
 
I have been watching SWA fares for my upcoming trip next month. Flight was originally booked with points. One leg went down in points so I went in to the reservation to modify and go this message: "Before you Modify...By modifying this flight, your originally refundable fare will become non-refundable. Alternately, you may cancel this flight, request a refund and rebook."

I have only done this one other time a couple of years ago and don't remember this. Thoughts??
 
If the 6:30 flight is cheaper....then why don't you just change to it now?

And just and FYI...I flew out at 5:30 AM in June and I was thinking the plane would have to be pretty empty that early...who else is that crazy....nope...every seat was filled.

The 6:30am flight is still about $50 higher than what I originally paid for the 8am flight. I'm still hoping the 6:30am flight drops in price to what I originally paid for the 8am flight, then I will for sure switch it! I was just curious if they would let someone ride if there were open seats.

Whew! :)
 
I have been watching SWA fares for my upcoming trip next month. Flight was originally booked with points. One leg went down in points so I went in to the reservation to modify and go this message: "Before you Modify...By modifying this flight, your originally refundable fare will become non-refundable. Alternately, you may cancel this flight, request a refund and rebook."

I have only done this one other time a couple of years ago and don't remember this. Thoughts??
This is a new limitation of Southwest's new computer system. The $5.60 fee you pay to book on points used to be fully refundable. IF you modify your flight the $5.60 won't be refundable anymore, it turns into a travel credit. The Points are 100% absolutely refundable still regardless of what you do though, so don't worry about that.

If for some reason you aren't sure if you'd go on the trip and really want to ensure the $5.60 is still refundable then instead of modifying you should cancel and rebook the flight. If you're definitely going or you are just not worried about $5.60 then just do the change.
 
This is a new limitation of Southwest's new computer system. The $5.60 fee you pay to book on points used to be fully refundable. IF you modify your flight the $5.60 won't be refundable anymore, it turns into a travel credit. The Points are 100% absolutely refundable still regardless of what you do though, so don't worry about that.

If for some reason you aren't sure if you'd go on the trip and really want to ensure the $5.60 is still refundable then instead of modifying you should cancel and rebook the flight. If you're definitely going or you are just not worried about $5.60 then just do the change.

Thank you for explaining this! I feel much better. Not too worried about the $5.60. It's for 5 tickets but still not worth the chance of not being able to rebook the seats.
 
I just checked in for my flight tomorrow - we had early bird & got boarding in A48-A51. I noticed on each reservation it said TSA Pre on it. Does this mean we can use the pre check line? We never have purchased the TSA pre check since we don't fly that often. Is this just random or what else would TSA pre mean?

Also, I wanted the boarding passes sent to my mobile instead of printing but there was no option to do that, only print, which means I will have to do it at the airport since I don't have a printer at home. I tried to find the mobile option on the app, my iPad, and laptop, and there was no mobile option. Anyone else have this happen?
 

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