Monday
Monday
@dfwskier wrote: I don't think there is a set "best" time to buy tickets. As you have observed, ticket prices do vary. There may be a pattern to SW's pricing methodology, but I haven't determined what it is. I do think there is a set time to NOT buy tickets. My observation has been that ticket prices are high - right after a schedule drop to high demand locations on high demand dates. Example: trips to Florida for spring break. (frequently no wanna get away for sale) The airline prices tickets high because it thinks it can sell them for that price. If, over time, tickets don't sell as fast as it expects, the airline will drop prices. Concur with @dfwskier - you may find some pattern looking at a specific city pair, but overall I think your observations are the same as mine @Matt4202 that there isn't a pattern, instead there is a constant re-assessment of supply and demand. Even in the case of @dfwskier 's advice that the pricing is probably not the best it will be when the schedule is just released, you can still buy tickets then and re-price them if the cost does come down although you'll have the shortest amount of time to re-use travel funds this way if you are six months out.
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Sunday
@Edhmom wrote: At the time of flight, he will be 7. I have been tired of seeing the cancelling comments as well. How much should we pack? I was thinking of using packing cubes and one suitcase and then use the other suitcase for souvenirs or whatever. I love having two free checked bags! (per person) Depending on how long you are going for that would generally be ample. We have a WDW duffel bag that collapses which we always bring for either overflow items that we pick up along the way - souvenirs go in the real suitcase and dirty laundry into the duffel bag. If we don't need it, then it stays inside the suitcase also. Family boarding is for 6 and under, so you may need to have a plan in place for boarding, you might choose to get an upgraded option, or else don't be shy if you for some reason are boarding late in the process to ask for someone to move around if needed. If no one does, enlist the help of the flight attendant. Definitely try to check in at exactly 24 hours prior to your flight to get the best boarding positions. This is a tough one in some ways, a lot can change before your flight.
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@KareemAdnan wrote: I'm trying to understand if SW will force me to use all of my available funds or if I can determine how much of my available funds I would like to use when creating a new reservation? I can see some workarounds where you could creatively make a travel fund of the desired amount. Can you elaborate on the scenario further and we can give more targeted advice.
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Protect yourself: wash hands, bring wipes for your seat. N95 if you have it, or even some homemade masks can be mid-level effective. BYO snacks and get a beverage in the terminal. Protect others: wear a face covering.
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a week ago
a week ago
@Ccino wrote: I travel quite a bit on the DAL to SEA flight direct but I’ve noticed I can’t find that flight anymore. I know that SW has cut several flights such as Dal to OKC but haven’t read anything on SEA. Does anyone know if this is permanent? This seems like a route that would be restored when the rates of passengers traveling goes back up, at least with some frequency.
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a week ago
a week ago
@dfwskier wrote: @bwallet wrote: Pan Am went bankrupt. Gone. No longer there. Add Eastern, Braniff, and a whole bunch of smaller carriers to your list. And some big ones... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airline_bankruptcies_in_the_United_States It's a little hyperbole to say every single employee would be out of a job at all major airlines - they would bounce back in some form just like United and American have done. However the travel funds out there would be one of the first things they are absolved from if they had to file for bankruptcy, among other commitments.
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@lcasher wrote: Ok, will do. Darlene gave me this web site to leave my comments/feedback. Maybe @LorrenT @AshleyMainz @NicoleAshley @ksbrg can you pass this along to the right department?
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@Edhmom wrote: I am looking to book a flight out of PIT to FLL next April over Easter. It will be myself and my son. Neither of us have flown. Any pointers would be appreciated. How old is your son? I've been waiting weeks for someone to ask about family travel instead of refunds and cancelations!
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3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
@Matt4202 wrote: Why is it in many cases that prices to end your flight in a stopover city tend to more expensive that stopping over then continuing on? Example - MSP -> OAK -> ONT this is cheaper than MSP -> OAK. I've noticed this pretty steadily over the last couple years on several flights. Not newly related to covid-19 policies, but still happening. I guess I don't understand how/why it'd be cheaper to continue on to another airport compared to just ending the trip at the stopover airport. This may be a factor where you are starting from - coming from MSP you see competition for Delta and others to go places. Southwest meanwhile has a lot of connections from MSP but not as many direct flights. Therefore the overall connection must be competitive with the other guys. I don't see this as often coming from MDW: I get a lot of direct options and don't ever look for connecting cities. I love free checked bags, so forget even looking. I travel for work and have to reimburse, it would look funny paying for a ticket to somewhere else even if I got off halfway to save the client some money. I see it once in a while when I'm looking at @bec102896 style itineraries.
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3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
@dfwskier wrote: @Matt4202 wrote: I guess I’m saying that one could fairly easily just jump off at those cities and stay if they were higher priced. Be aware that although Southwest does not prohibit the practice, it will not give flight segments or RR points for anyone doing it with a ticket bought with cash.. Why? The passenger did not complete the itinerary. One must complete the itinerary to get points and segments. This being the main downside.
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3 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
@cobico8111 wrote: Been traveling all over the US with SW for the last two years and I do admit that it's my favorite airline. Prompt flight schedule, friendly crew, nice people all over. For some reason the management decided to cancel flights going from Newark,NJ which personally made me feel extremely insulted. I felt like I was punished for something that I didn't do, and yes, I was angry. As a result my last flight to CA was from Laguardia which was a nightmare mostly because of the commute from NJ to NY and all that's involved. I wish somebody will realize the injustice that was made to the people of NJ and will get back to your original Terminal A in Newark. If this policy will go on I will have no choice and start looking for airlines that use Newark as one of their destination. yours truly Jacob Levy As you have probably figured out, Southwest is mostly looking to get people to NYC and not primarily looking at the local traffic. This article from the Cranky Flier might help explain: https://crankyflier.com/2019/08/01/why-southwest-is-leaving-newark/ I'm curious - where did you travel from Newark?
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3 weeks ago
@FXmommy wrote: On the governor's website it states traveling to Kentucky, it's required to self quarantine for 14 days. My fiance is going to Kentucky from Texas to pick up his son. Will he have to self quarantine? Will the son meet him at the airport? Then seems like no issue to turnaround and go back. Search this link for the word “minor” and find section 8e which could have him covered if his son is a minor. https://governor.ky.gov/attachments/20200402_Executive-Order_2020-266_State-of-Emergency.pdf
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It is NOT a democratic forum - Southwest "owns" it. However they can generally let things be discussed within the policies for the community. Feel free to debate the merits, there are other forums out there that are not provided by an airline. We fellow customers are here to offer advice, specifically for traveling on Southwest. I can't wait until I can get back to telling people how to navigate the airport with their kids. But the hot topic right now is canceled flights - if anyone, on any airline, has a non-refundable fare then they may receive credit if the passenger initiates the cancel. Southwest offers a travel fund for this purpose that is very generous. Southwest and other airlines also offer refundable fares. For a long time people looked down on these - why would they pay more for the same trip?! Well - because they are refundable in case of emergency or need to change. There is trip insurance available through third parties as well if a travel fund wouldn't be acceptable. But either way - we the fellow posters all here for advice either to give or receive it. Mine is that if you need Southwest to do something, you have to call or email them. My advice is also that they aren't going to refund a non-refundable flight that a passenger canceled.
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4 weeks ago
4 weeks ago
@Matt4202 wrote: As far as the A-List Boarding position we have a toddler with us so we board with family boarding which is about the same time as A-List boarding. Also, a Companion can’t board at the same time as an A-lister which doesn’t make much sense if they allow others on the same reservation to board. Then the standby benefit wouldn’t apply either as we always fly with 2-3 people. So the only benefits I can truly look at are the 25% bonus and the phone line. Always with 2-3 people? I often fly with my family and we use family boarding, or sometimes I take the lap child and board at my A position and my wife follows up with the toddler. There is also some unadvertised LUV that you may get from time to time - i.e. standby doesn't apply to the companion, but maybe it can slide sometimes, or other "thanks for being A-list" courtesies you may ask for along the way. Remember the bonus applies to companion now too since you are getting two tickets for the points of one ticket. 10,000 points seems low though, but of course with the current pricing out there the points will be less - spend less, earn less. If "regular" pricing returns then you'll be earning at a higher rate. Dedicated phone line very valuable. Fly-By still valuable if you check in at the desk with a special line, even if you (as many of us do) use TSA Pre. Life is good on the A-list although some of the benefits are muted for you it may still be nice, plus if your travel arrangements change and you fly solo more in the coming year it will really pay off.
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4 weeks ago
4 weeks ago
@Matt4202 wrote: “There’s one airline that has figured out a way to use all of these rules to benefit its customers. JetBlue will allow you to drink your own alcohol on board , as long as you present it to them first so they can serve it to you, thereby adhering to FAA regulations.” “It’s always possible you’ll have a flight crew that doesn’t care if you want to drink your own alcohol. On TPG’s recent Egypt Air flight from New York (JFK) to Cairo, Egypt (CAI), he and his father asked a flight attendant if it was okay to drink beers they had brought along — her response was “I couldn’t care less. Do what you want.” So as with all things in travel, your mileage may vary” The Points Guy (It’s not letting me post link). Which is why I asked Southwest’s specific policy regarding it, to which there is none and why I mentioned the TSA approved alcohol. My brother was just on a SW flight two weeks ago he brought (3) Travel Sized bottles of Rum and had no issue drinking them onboard. I searched for this - it’s not on the JetBlue website, there they say only a snack and water due to corona virus. I don’t believe they would want to handle anything from a customer at this point. The other excerpt is what you are allowed to carry on, but not what you are allowed to open (which for Southwest is none). Anyway - be discreet and behave yourself and you may or may not have an issue. It would certainly be a little harder to camouflage these days as there wouldn’t be a cabin full of permissible drinks.
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@MeddleSeat wrote: why did SW mark luvsw's issue resolved ? It doesn't look like he agreed to that? Y R you people censoring legitimate differences of opinion? He or she can “unmark” it then if it was incorrectly marked as solved. It could be marked solved if the question in the post was answered. The answer may or may not be desirable to the poster. This community is primarily user to user, if the OP is looking for Southwest to do something then you need to use one of the “Contact Us” methods rather than post here.
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a month ago
a month ago
wrote: I would like to see any scientific proof that consumer or worse hand made masks do any good. They do good (better than nothing) and can be effective if the fit is good: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24229526/ Here is a paper on efficiency of various homemade filter materials. Many are not too bad, but could have breathability issues or fit issues. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03252 @funwhite wrote: I have a trip scheduled for May. That will be my last flight until the mask requirement is lifted. This doesn’t make any sense. Are you saying that you won’t fly because there must be a risk, as evidenced by the mask requirement? That’s fine and you should make your own choice - what does it matter to you then if other people have to wear them? There is currently a risk to doing anything outside of your home, air travel included along with other behavior that may be risky like going to the grocery store. Take any precaution you can if you must go out - including wearing a mask.
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04-23-2020
11:39 AM
04-23-2020
11:39 AM
@cstern90 wrote: Reached out to SW through Twitter and through email on here, could never get a real response to my question, so maybe someone can shine some light in here. SW claims they will resume operations to Aruba beginning June 28th, 2020. With that being the case, why are there no flights showing to the island past that date? Secondly, when could it be expected that flights will be available through SW? Only reason I am hunting for an answer now is because we have travel funds from a cancelled trip that we'd like to use towards flights to Aruba in July, and with prices low right now for airfare amongst the other carriers, we need to know if we are going to HAVE to go through them if SW extends their travel ban to Aruba. If your travel funds are included in the long term extension then I would consider flying the other guys if you need to get something booked and they have flights available and Southwest doesn't have flights available. At the same time the drivers for flight cost are going to remain in July - maybe some recovery by then but it is hard to say if prices will or won't be low to a specific location. I guess gauge your risk/reward tolerance, and your likelihood to use the travel funds otherwise vs the risk of flights going up in price in the short term.
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04-18-2020
11:55 PM
04-18-2020
11:55 PM
@soxfan82 wrote: Yeah, I mean I'm assuming that the amount of customers who earned CP already this year is relatively low, but even so, to get the 125,000 points in that short of a period of time requires some decent spending & loyalty, even if credit cards were partially used. Considering people who already earned CP are basically getting left out of both of the new benefits (the 6/30/2021 extension doesn't apply to them, and also the 25K CP points being added is useless if you already earned CP with 125,000 points)...you'd hope SWA will show these folks a little 'Luv', too. Extending their passes the same length as everyone else is getting would be fair. Are you in this situation yourself @soxfan82 ? I'd be pretty surprised to see someone earn it in February or March for instance based on flights this year. If you fly that often, then won't it be earned again anyway to make any extension moot? Regardless, you'll need to us the "contact us" methods to reach Southwest directly if this impacts you personally to make a case.
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04-18-2020
11:49 PM
04-18-2020
11:49 PM
@soxfan82 wrote: Specifically regarding the companion pass, I hope Southwest will consider extending it thru part of 2022 for those of us who earned it this year before COVID-19. They exteneded it thru June 30, 2021 - but people in my situation already earned it thru the end of 2021 but have been unable to use it. Southwest usually does the right thing so I assume they will here, too. If you keep flying and earn it again it won't matter, it will continually roll over.
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@Ereyesjo wrote: I know SW allows 2 bags per pd ticket up to 50lbs each and no bigger than 62” each bag question.... will I get charged the extra $75 if I only take 1bag no more than 50lbs. but it’s 67”?? If you are brining a more or less standard suitcase it probably won't be scrutinized for a few excess inches. Luggage that stands out for being oddly shaped may be more likely to garner a review.
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04-18-2020
11:44 PM
04-18-2020
11:44 PM
@bec102896 wrote: Sorry to hear about your check in experience because of an overweight bag. If you would like to share your feedback with Southwest directly I would reach out though one of these options: Submitting a Suggestion and/or Complaint -Blake If you do reach out, it could be useful for Southwest to hear about the manner of the agent. I'd mostly leave out the details of the 50 lbs though other than why the situation came up, it is a rule that they stick to. I've only rarely heard of any exception even for a pound over.
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04-17-2020
12:34 PM
04-17-2020
12:34 PM
@bec102896 wrote: I would share your feedback with southwest directly though one of these options: Submitting a Suggestion and/or Complaint this way they Southwest can pass on the suggestion to the appropriate people. With the changes Southwest made yesterday people could earn the companion pass with only 100,000 qualifying points this year or 75 flights because of the recent change they made. -Blake I think it is typical as well for CP to be earned with a hybrid of flights and spending, so it doesn't have to be all one or the other. Actually it would be ridiculous for someone to earn it solely by spending without flying any flights - why would that person want companion pass? I'm sure there are some out there flying the needed flights alone, but I don't expect many people do it only by spending.
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04-15-2020
04:05 PM
04-15-2020
04:05 PM
@indyvegman1 wrote: I'm trying to make an educated decision as to whether to book a flight or not. I have an auto immune disease and also take an immune suppressant. Does anyone know how to get a passenger count on a particular flight? I know the plane seats 175 passengers but without knowing how many seats are booked I don't what the percentages are. April 18th flight 2516 thanks for suggestions. keep hitting a dead end on the phone. Part of the issue may be that they can (or have the ability to) tell you today what a count is but there's no guarantee that it would stay the same, especially if a flight were to be consolidated with the one you are looking at. I have asked this before and been told, although with the opposite looking at full flights and seeing if there are likely to be an empty middle for our lap child. Try twitter? Explain the situation and that you aren't holding them to any final passenger count but that you just want to book on the loneliest possible flight available now.
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04-15-2020
03:37 PM
04-15-2020
03:37 PM
If you use twitter that might be a way to get some response on the flights portion of the travel, but the twitter account doesn't cover Vacations side of the business as far as I konw.
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@Telly2001 wrote: Thx Just to add on, when you look for these in your travel fund wallet, they will both have the same confirmation number with some extra digits - I believe you'll still have to use them individually. If you want to combine them, book a flight further out that is the same price as both together, wait, and then cancel that flight and they should be combined. Don't combine them with any other travel funds, the new single fund will take on the expiration of the earliest expiration.
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@hav154 wrote: Hello, I may have to fly from Sacramento, CA to Buffalo, NY the first week of May. I've been religiously tracking flight cancellations on flighttracker.com to figure out what day, and through what city would be the best to go. Understandably, it seems like there is no rhyme or reason to these cancellations. Because of all the cancellations, I'm concerned about getting stranded at one of the connecting airports, since there are no direct flights from Sacramento to Buffalo. Will Southwest tell me ahead of time if one of my connections is cancelled? A lot of the flights go through Chicago, Phoenix, Las Vegas, etc. and I don't want to get stuck at one of those airports. Additionally, I know certain states and cities have mandatory 14 day quarantines when you arrive. Does this count for people who have connections in one of these places? For example, I know Arizona has a mandatory 14 day quarantine upon arrival, and a lot of the flights going to Buffalo from Sacramento have a layover in Phoenix. If anyone has any other helpful information about traveling during this pandemic, it would be much appreciated. Thank you! I saw a good article today from Cranky Traveler analyzing Southwest's recent update to the schedule and he pointed out several "hubs" of Southwest that remain connected to the spoke airports including DEN, MDW, LAS, and BNA among others. Find out which airports BUF will connect with and choose one of these that has mutiple flights per day to protect yourself not just from a cancellation but also weather, maintenance, crew, etc. - any of the usual flight delay causes could still come into play. https://www.southwest.com/flight/routemap_dyn.html?clk=GSUBNAV-AIR-ROUTEMAP&int= You'll have to re-filter it for Buffalo as arrival city and select non-stop, you can then see the connection cities that connect to BUF, see which has multiple flights per day (if any) and those might be your prioritized connection cities. I would also have a backup connection city in mind in case of disruption that day that you can request at the airport.
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@chgoflyer wrote: @TheMiddleSeat wrote: @SWDigits As you know, I don't work for Southwest so I won't pretend to know how clear they make options known to customers. I do not believe they are maliciously hiding anything. I've read the original post over and over have come to the conclusion it's very unclear as to what the poster was actually hoping for. I can see why you think they want to cancel, and I can also see they still want to travel. Without hearing from them again we may never know, but hopefully they got all the various opinions and can make an informed decision about what to do. --TheMiddleSeat I must disagree. Southwest isn't informing customers that they have the option of receiving a refund when their flight is cancelled. This is not shown anywhere on the cancellation notices, or the Southwest website, or the Southwest Community updates. They are hiding that fact. Whether malicious or not I can't say. But it's clear that customers are absolutely not receiving "all the various opinions and can make an informed decision about what to do" from Southwest. Which is why it's of utmost importance that the information is shared here customer-to-customer. This has always been the policy - if your flight was canceled out from under you, they would offer to rebook you assuming you wanted to travel, and often without a significant change in schedule depending on the city pairs and availability of seats and preference for non-stop, direct, or connecting flights. Of course we are in exceptional times right now and you/we/they can infer that many customers will actually want to cancel and refund under the current conditions and the offer to rebook or take credit doesn't mention the refund option which many people may not be aware of. It would be a more transparent policy to update the wording to include all of the options before a passenger is committed to travel funds. Eventually we'll reach a point again where the assumption is that someone who bought a ticket will still want to travel as the default.
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04-12-2020
04:21 PM
04-12-2020
04:21 PM
@dfwskier wrote: I'm afraid you won't be able to answer the question til May. Where will virus hotspots be in May? What are chances of catching the virus in airports or planes in May? Answers not currently available. Personally if you bring sanitizer and wipes and load factors are still depressed I wouldn’t worry too much about the plane itself. There should be plenty of room to maneuver in the airport as well. How do you get back and forth to the airports?
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04-12-2020
04:18 PM
04-12-2020
04:18 PM
@ffflyer wrote: Driving to the airport is literally more dangerous than flying on the plane. Don't get drunk if you're flying with kids, (it's never a good idea to get drunk for or on a flight anyway). Not drunk! Just one to relax. Anyway I hope you are safe and still able to take your trip.
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