Pricing frustration

[hemiforjin1]

I was recently excited to receive a notification from SWA regarding a fare sale. So I immediately bit..visited site and typed in my dates. Since I will be using my RW miles, I need to stay witin a certain amount. In selecting the best time to fly calendar I was elated to see a great possibility for us, even gave me the amount which fit into my points. Next I was instructed to select flights and all of a sudden prices where considerably higher than the first page. Is this standard operating procedure? Seems like bait and switch to me, no combination would even come close to previous page even at the cheapest selection..

[dfwskier]

I presume you were using the low fare  calendar which shows the lowest fare available on any day.

Every flight on any date will not be at the lowest price. It may be only one flight on a given day. Those flights may be early or late in the day although they may be at any time of the day.

Also there may be limitied numbers of tickets at that price. So if there are 2 tickets available at that price, and you are trying to buy 3 tickets you run into a SW system limitiation. It is unble to price tickets bought with one reservation are different price points, In that case it will give you the lowest price  available for the purchase of 3 tickets - even thoguh 2 could be purchased at a lower price per person.

[SoCalFlyer97]

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@hemiforjin1 wrote:

I was recently excited to receive a notification from SWA regarding a fare sale. So I immediately bit..visited site and typed in my dates. Since I will be using my RW miles, I need to stay witin a certain amount. In selecting the best time to fly calendar I was elated to see a great possibility for us, even gave me the amount which fit into my points. Next I was instructed to select flights and all of a sudden prices where considerably higher than the first page. Is this standard operating procedure? Seems like bait and switch to me, no combination would even come close to previous page even at the cheapest selection..

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Hello! Note that this forum is customer-to-customer but I've had similar experiences and therefore echo @dfwskier 

Whenever I shop for flights by browsing the Low Fare Calendar (e.g. after seeing "$44" for Saturday flights from SoCal to LAS), there have been many times that I've seen the low fare posted for flight times that won't work for me. Yes, as A-List, I have the option of buying the cheaper flight and using Same Day Flight Change or Standby on travel day, but that runs me into the risk of my desired flight time filling up and not being able to Same Day Flight Change or Standby to it. 

I even sometimes get the infamous "Things move fast around here" notice at the top of the page too with all the departures having marked-up fares...

The Fare terms with the Low Fare Calendar disclose that "All fares and fare ranges are subject to change until purchased". 

Based on these circumstances, I mainly use the Low Fare Calendar tool to idea-shop. Whenever Southwest posts a sale, I'll make it a priority to look for and book a trip that I need to complete. However, it can sometimes take the entire duration of the sale for me to locate the right deal, find a discounted flight that works into my schedule on days/times where the fare is low, and lock it in. 

If you're flexible, you should be able to do the same.

I would follow the advice of the notice whenever it appears when you shop: "Don’t give up! You can still explore other options back at the Low Fare Calendar and see updated fares."

[hemiforjin1]

Are there any true discounted fares?  In all fairness I have scored some great deals by playing the game. However when flying to Hawaii leaving from Phoenix I only want non stop or I will be flying for many hours more to circle the wagons here before heading over the pond just to save a couple of dollars. Guess I need to develop some patients and start tracking. Thank you for the info.