You simply must download Southwest Ding....

[traderneal]

I am returning to the world May 3 through May 7th, and thanks to Southwest Airlines Ding fare, I am flying from Phila. to Orlando for a grand total of $133 roundtrip. You can't beat that on a major airline. And the best thing about Southwest, if a cheaper fare comes out, I can rebook and get the difference back in the form of a credit.


Ding fares are fares that are sent to your computer via the software you download at Southwest.com.

 

[carmie3377]

I second that! I rebooked our trip in January 3 times because the cheaper fares came out. I ended up with over $100 worth of credit.

I love DING

Just a word of caution on SWA, you CAN NOT fly standby unless you want to pay the full price fare. I ended up at the airport over 6 hours early because I was really pooped after a week at Disney with kids by myself. I knew there were earlier flights and I knew they had empty seats (a friend of my looked for me). I get to the airport and they want to charge me over $500 for my daughter and me to fly. That is on top of what we already paid. Anyway, I told them I refused to do that. Then, they wouldn't let me check my bags for over 2 hours. So, I was stuck with 4 bags I could hardly carry, a 21 month old in a stroller and my 8 YO. On top of that, I had to go to the bath room something terrible was wasn't about to drag my bags halfway across the airport. So needless to say, I quite mad at SWA, stated I would never fly them again. That only lasted until I got home. Overall they're great if you can plan ahead, but no last minute changes or they will get you!

 

[traderneal]

Overall they're great if you can plan ahead, but no last minute changes or they will get you![/QUOTE]



Actually that's not quite true. The last time we were in the world, on our last day, we had a family emergency and had to catch an earlier flight the next day. Called SWA and they were more than accomaditve. They switched our flights no problem.

I think you need to call the 800 number vs. doing it at the airport.

 

[carmie3377]

Tried that. In fact, it was the 800 number that suggested I try the airport as they refused to do anything over the phone, except charge me the difference in full price fares. Had they not told me that, I would have stayed at the hotel or MK.

I could go into detail, but don't want to take over your thread. I really like SWA and was simply trying to give people a head's up so they wouldn't end up in the same situation I was in. I would have loved it had I known ahead of time not to try to fly standby.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Another Ding lover here! I once got a fare notice for $100/rd trip from Indianapolis to Orlando. That's the best I've ever seen.

 

[Disneyaunt4]

Can't beat a good Ding

 

[mykidsintow]

Can you explain the ding thing for me?

We are going in Oct and I would love to get a great deal! I would much prefer that over *driving* again, ugh.

 

[traderneal]

Can you explain the ding thing for me?

We are going in Oct and I would love to get a great deal! I would much prefer that over *driving* again, ugh.

Go to www.southwest.com and look around for the Ding feature. Download onto your computer, it should take about two minutes. After the download is complete, in your taskbar (lower right of your computer) you will see what looks like the tail of a Southwest plane. You will then go ahead and set up your personal Ding features which is basically choosing which airports you would like to see specials from.

After you do that, about once a day, you will notice a little envelope by the tail of the plain. When you click on the plane's tail, it will bring up a pop up telling you that some ding fares are available for a certain time, usually twelve hours. Click on the message, and you will be able to book your travel.

Right now, the cheapest flight from Philly to Orlando is $79 each way. However, the fare I needed was available on Ding for $59 each way. So, I basically saved about $160 for my family of four (including taxes, fees, etc). A pretty good deal.

 

[EverythingDisney]

I downloaded Ding, and can't wait for Southwest to open my traveling dates. We aren't heading to Disney until December. We will be flying out of PHL airport into MCO. I can't wait..... I love Southwest !!

 

[lindsmom]

Am I the only one who couldn't get DING to work? (sounds inappropriate )

I installed it, then it couldn't connect to server. Just wondering.

 

[mykidsintow]

Thanks! We are running out the door, but when I get home I will be heading to SWA!!!

 

[marvel]

Being from Australia I have never flown SWA but have a couple of flights booked for our trip in April May. Can you really change to a cheaper rate if it comes out? I always thought those prices are set in stone, or is this a SWA arrangement only??

 

[carmie3377]

Being from Australia I have never flown SWA but have a couple of flights booked for our trip in April May. Can you really change to a cheaper rate if it comes out? I always thought those prices are set in stone, or is this a SWA arrangement only??

I don't know whether it's just a SWA arrangement, but yes, you can change if a cheaper rate comes out, you simply receive SWA credit (ticketless travel funds). If you're changing to a DING fare, you have to cancel your original flight then go back and rebook with the credit your are given, at least that is what I was told by a SWA employee. If you rebook to a published reduced fare, one available on the SWA website, you can go to travel tools, change existing air, and then "change" to the same flight. Any extra credit can be used to book a flight no later than one year from the date actually paid for your airfare. For example, you book on March 1 for a flight in June. You change it and get a $100 credit. That credit, no matter how many times you book and cancel, must be used for a flight no later than March 1. I rebooked our airfare about 6 times because my dates changed, DING, ect. and credit was set to expire on March 26. Some I have used to book DH a flight (even though he was not on the original flights) and the rest I sold on Ebay as the credits are fully transferable.

Anyway, back to changing to a DING fare, what I do is open up two tabs on my browser. I go into DING, get everything entered except the ticketless travel funds number. Then, I go to the other tab and go into my travel tools on SWA and cancel the flight I'm on. Then I can within seconds get my same flight booked at a cheaper rate as soon as I enter in my ticketless travel fund number. I don't want to chance that flight getting booked in the about of time it takes me to cancel and then get all the info entered back in. Slim chance, but I guess it can happen.

So, even though it does seem like a little work, it is totally worth it. For the money I saved on our flights in Jan for DD and me, I was able to get DH a flight and sell the remainder for $38 on ebay (face value was $45). So, I lost a few dollars, but would have lost over $100.

 

[MommyBuzz909]

I would LOVE to fly Southwest, but the only flight they have the day that I check-in, doesn't get in until 10PM. I'm not going to waste a day that I've paid for flying. Although I do fly Southwest all the time, but not this time.....

 

[Philadisney]

wow that is a great deal!! And I was all excited yesterday because I got a round trip from philly to orlando via Air Tran for $185.

 

[Donna]

Another Ding lover here! I once got a fare notice for $100/rd trip from Indianapolis to Orlando. That's the best I've ever seen.

Best i ever got was Pitt to Orlando - $29 one way! no kidding. i had no plans of going but when i saw that DING i called a friend and we went on a last minute impromptu trip!

 

[grumpydad]

am i missing something with the Ding?

i installed it a few months ago and i'm not seeing any great prices.
the regular site has 226 each way and haven't really seen anything
from Ding

is it because i'm from NY ?

anybody have an ideas ?

 

[phins_jazy]

I downloaded it today. They usually don't have very good prices out of our airport but I'm hopind ding changes that!

 

[sbassgva]

I would say that Ding was a good idea until the FAA report came out today. Southwest reportedly flying unsafe plans and will be fined $10 million by the FAA for failing to make corrections. YIKES!!

 

[englishrose47]

subbing !!