Flights on Southwest are much higher than usual. Where do you find cheaper flights

[Tigger1]

I have been watching flights for March or May for some time. When does SW (if ever) drop prices? What is a good place to shop for a different airline?

 

[leebee]

SW drops randomly, usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If I want to fly a different airline, I use kayak or orbitz to see prices/days, but I NEVER buy from them. The prices aren't different enough for the hassle it can be to go through them when plans change, flights change/get canceled, etc. I might "shop" online but I only purchase the tickets through each airline's own website, NOT thru the 3rd party.

 

[BarlowFamily]

I use google's ita matrix to look at flights. https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search I then book directly with the airline. Southwest flights don't show up in the ita matrix, so I just search those in a different window.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I used to find SWA to be cheapest the second they posted flights but now I find if I wait until its like 6 weeks prior to the flight its a much more reasonable price.
Could not believe that the flights for August are hundreds of dollars per way per person right now and that's not even a non stop.
Even so SWA still tends to be the cheapest other than say Frontier or Spirit.
It can vary depending on your city and airport though too.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I imagine you'd have a limited number of airline options flying from your airport of choice to MCO. Take a look online at their sites for pricing and routes.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

This is why I can't have airline loyalty.. as much as I want to. The prices can fluctuate so much and can get so high. On my trip to the west coast next week, I'm flying JetBlue to LAX, Delta to Vegas, and Spirit back home.

 

[gr8ful]

I used to find SWA to be cheapest the second they posted flights but now I find if I wait until its like 6 weeks prior to the flight its a much more reasonable price.
Could not believe that the flights for August are hundreds of dollars per way per person right now and that's not even a non stop.
Even so SWA still tends to be the cheapest other than say Frontier or Spirit.
It can vary depending on your city and airport though too.

I am seeing same thing with Southwest. They don’t seem to lower prices much until 45 and sometimes even closer to 30 days out.

 

[gr8ful]

I used to find SWA to be cheapest the second they posted flights but now I find if I wait until its like 6 weeks prior to the flight its a much more reasonable price.
Could not believe that the flights for August are hundreds of dollars per way per person right now and that's not even a non stop.
Even so SWA still tends to be the cheapest other than say Frontier or Spirit.
It can vary depending on your city and airport though too.

Also, both Costco and Sam’s Club are currently having a sale on Southwest gift cards. $429.99 for a $500 gift card.

 

[_19disnA]

With most airlines it tends to depend on factors like where you are flying to/from and how much competition there is in certain markets. Individual flights for most airlines have classes of seats and when the lowest priced category sells out, the fare jumps to the next higher rate. Flights that are non-stop or have more desirable travel times also tend to book up faster. You can use the various online flight tools to compare airline prices/routes/etc, but often SW doesn't show up, so you have to search those separately. I agree as others have mentioned, always buy your ticket directly through the airline website to avoid issues with the 3rd party if something happens to go wrong.

If you live near a hub city for a major airline, you will tend to have more choices of non-stop flights and travel time options. If you typically travel from an airport with limited service by a few airlines, you will likely find higher prices then someplace where many airlines are all competing for the same customers. I don't think there is any fixed formula for when an airline will offer deals and certainly not any you would know of ahead of time. Although you might find times when they offer 'across the board' sales, I think that is the exception compared to when they offer sales on some less popular routes in an effort to fill up otherwise empty aircraft.

 

[Tigger1]

I used to find SWA to be cheapest the second they posted flights but now I find if I wait until its like 6 weeks prior to the flight its a much more reasonable price.
Could not believe that the flights for August are hundreds of dollars per way per person right now and that's not even a non stop.
Even so SWA still tends to be the cheapest other than say Frontier or Spirit.
It can vary depending on your city and airport though too.

I have been looking at March and May rates for sometime. They have been so high. I am hoping they go down soon. I did notice the first week of March has a couple good flight deals but I have to go on the school schedule which makes it difficult to get a good rate.
I checked out prices to go to Hawaii and they are about the same as going to Orlando. I then considered just going to Hawaii but I only have a week so likely not to do that.

I

 

[Tigger1]

I will check out those sites for flights and then if I find one I will take the advise of going straight to the airline. I do this hotels as like someone posted, its the same price.

Thanks for the advise.

 

[greeneyedchick]

My favorite airline to Florida is Allegiant which flys from Sanford airport. It's a lot more chill than MCO and nicer planes/ staff than Frontier and Spirit despite being a budget airline.

 

[Tigger1]

This is why I can't have airline loyalty.. as much as I want to. The prices can fluctuate so much and can get so high. On my trip to the west coast next week, I'm flying JetBlue to LAX, Delta to Vegas, and Spirit back home.

I considered using 2 different airlines. Last year my flight was canceled right before we were to leave for the airport from Disney. The next flight available was the next day but not to get to the Dallas airport until about 11:30 pm. We then had a 200 mile drive home.
SW did give us a $200 credit to use within 1 year. I am hoping to use that credit. I have had delays or canceled flight many times. I try to only do nonstop flights to avoid being stuck at the airport.

 

[EACarlson]

If you're in DAL, I wouldn't expect to see prices go down much if at all, you're in a fortress hub X2. The only non-stop competition to MCO is AA from DFW, not much competition. You may find cheaper tickets on DL or UA, but you're definitely going to have a connection, either ATL, IAH or ORD.

 

[Sparrow'sLady]

I used to find SWA to be cheapest the second they posted flights but now I find if I wait until its like 6 weeks prior to the flight its a much more reasonable price.
Could not believe that the flights for August are hundreds of dollars per way per person right now and that's not even a non stop.
Even so SWA still tends to be the cheapest other than say Frontier or Spirit.
It can vary depending on your city and airport though too.

SWA no longer has to be "cheap", because in most cases their offering for 2 free bags still puts them at a lower price.

I agree with you though. Much higher now and you have to watch their prices several times a day to find that lower rate and get a credit.

 

[jkelly86]

I agree with you about the SWA pricing lately. For peak travel dates (when we don't have flexibility), we book Southwest on opening day and then watch for price drops to receive credit back if prices drop. Our flights tomorrow (booked at opening) are the most we have ever paid for a nonstop with Southwest. We love Allegiant, too, as a budget alternative but won't fly with them when our plans aren't flexible. There just aren't enough flights available on Allegiant if there are flight disruptions/weather.

 

[bbak30]

I have found the same thing lately--I booked flights to Seattle for a cruise in June recently. Ended up booking premium with Alaska Airlines for slightly more than Southwest. I don't mind Southwest usually, but it's nice not to have to deal with the cattle call that is their boarding process. Recently flew American to Las Vegas and that was amazing as well. Southwest has to be a good bit cheaper for me to fly them over another airline. It used to be that way, but not so much any longer.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

SWA no longer has to be "cheap", because in most cases their offering for 2 free bags still puts them at a lower price.

I agree with you though. Much higher now and you have to watch their prices several times a day to find that lower rate and get a credit.

Yeah baggage is killer although I have read that the government wants to crack down on how much these airlines price gouge with the paying for everything plus the ticket.

I lucked out this past August with SWA.
Was ready to drive but kept an eye on flights.
A month out prices came down to $125 RT PP so I grabbed them even though the flights were not the greatest.
Then they switched up a bunch of flights and let you switch if you were not happy with the new flight time so we ended up getting non stops both ways for no additional cost.
Once again this August our plan right now is drive but keep an eye on the flights.

 

[Lewisc]

Yeah baggage is killer although I have read that the government wants to crack down on how much these airlines price gouge with the paying for everything plus the ticket.

The incoming administration is pro business less consumer.

The proposals were for more disclosure then limiting fees. What has to be included with the initially displayed fare. Some think the cost to check one bag should be included.

 

[Tigger1]

I have been delayed, flights cancelled on SW so much from Dallas that driving may win again (has last two trips). I am going to keep looking for flights, maybe one-way with SW to use our credit and another with a different airline. We could use a carry-on on the way, with a duffle packed inside and fly back SW and use the duffle as carry on , the other stored luggage (souvenirs).
Driving is about 23 hours, so at least 2 full days.