I have noticed the same thing with the "specials" and Ding fares. I have wanted to express myself for a while now. Even my friends, family and co-workers have communicated the same feelings to me, so this week; I sent an email to Southwest to let them know how disappointed I am. I use to use Southwest quite often for business and personal use; however, I have not seen a low fare from and to BWI for quite some time. I am planning a vacation to Orlando in August. I have found nothing on DING. Currently, Southwest is offering $64 going down (nice); however, coming back (on a Monday) the fare is $119 (except for a really early and late flight). Recently, I decided to shop around and I found that both Airtran and US Airways websites have cheaper round-trip fares than Southwest. Today, I did a search on Travelocity only to find that Northwest and Delta also have cheaper round-trip fares. The response I received from Southwest included the following: "When determining the different fares that we can offer to our Customers, our Revenue Management Department evaluates several factors (some of which are: historic load factors; peak and off-peak travel times; etc.). Based on the results of their study, they determine what fares we can offer at a discount while still maintaining a profitable flight." That is really unacceptable!!! In my opinion, since Southwest started flying out of BWI, service has picked up tremendously. The parking lot shuttle buses usually empty out at the Southwest stop. This should lower fares, not increase them. A couple of times I have driven up to PHL because the fares were cheaper, but I am tired of doing that. At the end of the month, I am taking Amtrak up to Massachusetts (Yes, even Amtrak was cheaper than Southwest this time around and I can work while I am on the train). When I fly in August, unfortunately another airline will probably get my business.
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