wanna get away flight

[emilyloch]

Is the wanna get away ticket guarantee you a spot on a flight or is it a standby ticket? I have never flown southwest and was told it's just a standby option. 

[TheMiddleSeat]

All tickets sold by Southwest are guaranteed spots.  There is no way to buy a stand by ticket.  Wanna get away tickets are non-refundable so you can't request a cash refund, but you can change your flight or cancel and use the funds within a year.

--TheMiddleSeat

[TheMiddleSeat]

Also, I'm curious where you heard they are standby tickets?  That's so untrue it's crazy.

--TheMiddleSeat

[emilyloch]

A friend who only flies with southwest "all the time" mentioned it to me. Which seemed odd when I heard that so I'd thought I'd ask here. Thank you so much! I feel more confident purchasing the ticket now! 

[dfwskier]

As said above, Southwest does not sell more tickets than it has seats.

In the  past all airlines would be aware of how many "no shows" would be expected on a given flight. If the number was 2, airlines would sell up to 2 more tickets than seats. If the expectations were met, there was no overbooking, and the plane went out full.

Southwest stopped doing that 2-3 years ago.

[jksobonya]

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@emilyloch wrote:

A friend who only flies with southwest "all the time" mentioned it to me. Which seemed odd when I heard that so I'd thought I'd ask here. Thank you so much! I feel more confident purchasing the ticket now! 

---

How can someone who flies Southwest "all the time" think that Wanna Get Away fares are standby only?

I'm so confused lol

Maybe they confused "standby" with "open seating"? That's my only guess. You don't get an assigned seat with Southwest. It's opening seating and you sit where you like. 

To reiterate everyone else, Wanna Get Away fares are a guaranteed seat. All the fares are guaranteed seats - the more expensive options just give you more perks, like free wi-fi and earlier boarding, for example. 

--Jessica

[SWFlyer007]

@emilyloch I will reiterate what the middle seat has told you is true.  If you got a wanna get away, you have done well to get a seat at the most economical price.  Enjoy your flight knowing that the other 65% of those on board spent more for their seat than you did.  

[bwallet]

65% of fares are not WGA? That seems high, especially lately with the passengers being much more leisure heavy.

[SWFlyer007]

NO, my statement is that 35% are on the WGA..

[SWFlyer007]

@bwallet NO, my statement is that 35% are on the WGA..   But that was just an estimate not trying to be exact.