Tell me about flying Southwest

vinotinto

Just Keep Swimming
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
So, we've never flown Southwest as a family (I flew SW years ago on a girls' trip, but that was totally different as I wasn't flying with the fam). We are ATL-based and 90% of the flights we have taken in the last 10 years have been on Delta. But, fares on Delta have been very high to Orlando ($400 per person for a 1.5 hour flight). The thing about Delta is that fares will increase and decrease quite a bit (not by small amounts, I will often see fares drop by more than $100 pp along a 6-month period). And if you see a lower fare after you have ticketed, you can't really take advantage of it because it would need to be more than $200 difference to make up the change fee. So, I often wait until the month before to purchase tickets, unless I see a really good fare. This sounds different than what most of you do with Southwest, where you jump on tickets the minute the schedule opens.

So, tell me about Southwest:
Are the lowest fares found when the schedule "opens"?
Are there wide fare fluctuations?
Have you cancelled or changed a ticket? Is it really free to do so?
Do you usually buy Early Bird Check-In?

Thanks!
 
We are not frequent fliers but are flying to Disney in January (family of 4). I purchased our tickets in July & since then the price has gone up over $250 total for our flights. Southwest does allow you to change flights if a lower price becomes avaliable, but from what I've read unless you use their credit card or reward points refunds are issued as credits avaliable to the person the ticket was purchased for. So if I bought my husband and my tickets and the price went down I can't use the credit to book my kids tickets because that's not who the refund is avaliable for, the refund is avaliable to use on flights for up to a year I believe.
If you buy EBCI and cancel your flight and rebook you loose the EBCI but i think if you call the customer service dept can swap flights and keep EBCI intact
 
So, tell me about Southwest:
1) Are the lowest fares found when the schedule "opens"?
2) Are there wide fare fluctuations?
3) Have you cancelled or changed a ticket?
4) Is it really free to do so?
5) Do you usually buy Early Bird Check-In?

Thanks!

Been flying SW for over 40 years. They've been my #1 airline for the past 20. To answer your questions:
1) not necessarily. It depends greatly on the specific market you're on the dates of travel and the timing of the flight. SW has 3 types of fares - Business Select, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away. Business Select and Anytime fares are set when the flights are released and do not change. WGA fares fluctuate constantly based on whatever secret algorithm SW uses to maximize revenue. In some parts of the country (NE seems to be once of those areas) WGA fares do tend to be lowest the day flights are released. That is NOT true for my market, Portland, OR, nor the West Coast in general.
2) Yes. There are typically wide fluctuations in price over time. I've had flights start off pretty good, go up, then down multiple times and finally end up (a week before the flight) exactly where they started. You can drive yourself crazy watching things move around. On the other hand, sometimes they never move at all. I have a flight from PDX to MCO in October that started out at $179 (one-way) back in April. It dropped to $154 a couple weeks later and has remained there ever since.
3) many, many times
4) yes, it's completely free. If you purchase a Busness Select or Anytime fare, it's also completely refundable. WGA fares are not refundable, but you will get the full amount back as a credit. You're correct in that the credit must be used by the person who's ticket was changed or canceled. Credits are valid for 1 year from the date of the original purchase - not from the date of the cancellation/change. For folks who don't fly much, or for whom SW isn't a primary airline, this can be limiting.
5) we typically do but EBCI, but as a convenience. Most of our flights, especially to Disney, involve very early am flights and I just don't want to have to get up that early to check in at 24 hours. Having it also means I don't even need to think about it and don't need to plan my day around being available to check in. This is especially true at Disney. If you get EBCI and then cancel the flight, you will lose the $15pp. If you Change the flight, EBCI will move to the new flight.

One thing to note. SW's boarding system is different than other airlines and many people absolutely despise not having assigned seating. If you're in that camp, you bought want to avoid flying SW.

Sorry for the long post.

Steve
 
From my limited observation Southwest has less price fluctuation than other airlines. What I have seen is that prices seem to gradually go up from the opening based on what I believe is time and how many seats they have sold. Except for the occasional sale. We purchased seats for our November migration south during their recent Fall sale. Got a non stop for $105. Which is as good or better than if we had booked at schedule opening.

Yes, it is free to change or cancel a seat. You get full credit for the fare you paid. It is especially easy if you book on points. DW always calls to make any changes.

We always buy Early Bird Check In but that is because I prefer the convenience both in not having to check in at precisely the 24 hour point and in having a better choice of seats. It is worth it to me to lower my travel stress level.
 


EBCI is increasing to $25 on Aug 29.

f you’re not a fan of checking in for your Southwest flight right at 24 hours prior to departure, Southwest offers a service called EarlyBird Check In that automatically checks you into your flight at 36 hours to departure. This ensures that you get the best possible boarding position — meaning a better seat selection — without the hassle of battling other travelers right at the start of the 24-hour check-in window.

Originally introduced in 2009 at $10 each way, EarlyBird Check In now costs $15 each way. But that flat pricing model is being eliminated in under two weeks. In a Southwest memo leaked to The Points Guy, we find that Southwest is moving to a dynamic pricing model for this service. Starting August 29, prices will range from the current $15 up to as much as $25 each way.

The pricing “will depend on a combination of two factors: length of route and EarlyBird demand on that particular route.” Prices will remain the same on any given route and “will not change by day of week or time of day.” Although, Southwest notes that it may “update pricing in the future based on route popularity and as the product continues to evolve.”
 
EBCI is increasing to $25 on Aug 29.

f you’re not a fan of checking in for your Southwest flight right at 24 hours prior to departure, Southwest offers a service called EarlyBird Check In that automatically checks you into your flight at 36 hours to departure. This ensures that you get the best possible boarding position — meaning a better seat selection — without the hassle of battling other travelers right at the start of the 24-hour check-in window.

Originally introduced in 2009 at $10 each way, EarlyBird Check In now costs $15 each way. But that flat pricing model is being eliminated in under two weeks. In a Southwest memo leaked to The Points Guy, we find that Southwest is moving to a dynamic pricing model for this service. Starting August 29, prices will range from the current $15 up to as much as $25 each way.

The pricing “will depend on a combination of two factors: length of route and EarlyBird demand on that particular route.” Prices will remain the same on any given route and “will not change by day of week or time of day.” Although, Southwest notes that it may “update pricing in the future based on route popularity and as the product continues to evolve.”

Of course they increase it the day before the next schedule release. :rolleyes2
 


We are also from GA and have began using Southwest more recently. I will not repeat what others have said, as I agree with them. Some other things to consider are traveling with kids will automatically have you board between group A and B, we have never had an issue finding a seat together with plenty of options. So we have never done EBCI as we only care that we sit together not a particular seat. We do still do 24 hour check in and the best we have gotten was at the end of group A.
We are going to Disney in Sept and originally planned to drive, but I checked the airline apps occasionally to look for deals. I booked our flights in June for $107 per person round trip for our family of 4, well after the original release date and cheaper.
Side note the staff in general seems much nicer and approachable than the Delta staff (sorry Delta)
 
We’ve been using Southwest pretty consistently for over 10 years. The flight schedule on the PHL-MCO route does not have as many non-stops as it used to, which is disappointing, but happily we’ve always been able to book non-stops although not necessarily at optimal times. The fares are higher, but on a par with American, our other option. And of course we don’t have luggage fees on SWA. Philly to Orlando is rarely offered on SWA sales; lately it has been Fort Lauderdale or Tampa for the Florida destinations. We usually purchase EBCI.

We’ve been pleased with the service on Southwest; it’s been excellent for the most part. We fly American if we have reward points, but I really prefer SWA.



 
We fly from Atlanta too, when we fly Southwest.
So I can add some info about the ATL/MCO routes specifically
Normal fares I watch for, 99% of the time. If the fare isn't available then we fly Delta or American from home (Chattanooga) because it's not worth the drive, park, etc)
Cheapest fare I've seen, each way, $39 (over July 4th this year)
Normal low fare we find most trips, $59 each way. This is what we are paying in October.
Usually, we find that we can fly out on Thursday and back on Monday, for the cheapest days.
The lowest priced fares out will be the last and first out to MCO and the last back to ATL each day. That first flight out is early. I like that myself, gets our day going. We park at Peachy, ride the van over, hop on the tram, spend the night there at one of those 3 Marriotts, and take the tram back over in the morning. The last flight back is pretty late too. But again, we like that, gives us the full day at Disney for our last day.
Sometimes I'll do the last flights out to MCO, instead of the first flight out, and spend the night at Disney in a Value hotel vs at the airport in ATL. Depends on what I find for airport hotels rates. They really fluctuate.
I never buy ECBI since the fares are so cheap, that really is a high percentage increase for the fare. Now, we don't have a little one to worry about and honestly, I can survive a short flight to MCO without sitting next to my husband. Heck, we may be better off for it ;) But, in all our flights, not once have we ever had to sit apart. I just check in at 24 hours (phone app makes this super easy to do, even at Disney)
 
So, tell me about Southwest:

1. Are the lowest fares found when the schedule "opens"?

2. Are there wide fare fluctuations?

3. Have you cancelled or changed a ticket? Is it really free to do so?

4.Do you usually buy Early Bird Check-In?
1. Not consistently, but sometimes. It's worth checking. The fares between my hometown & Orlando are never 2-digit bargain basement fares on SWA. We usually choose to fly SWA to MCO not because of price, but because only they & Jet Blue offer nonstop flights there, and SWA usually edges out Jet Blue because they offer more flights to choose from, free checked bags & no change fees.

2. Yes, very much so. Just like your experience with Delta. I've seen fares go up and down all over the place. You can price adjust with SWA, but when paying cash (not points) for a "Wanna Get Away" fare, you don't get the difference refunded. Rather, you can apply it toward another flight for the same passengers within 12 months of the date you paid for the original flight. So this is only worthwhile if you fly them a few times per year.

3. Yes, frequently. No change fees are the best thing about SWA. Be aware that if you pay cash & are buying the "Wanna Get Away" fare, it is nonrefundable. You can transfer the fare to another flight, but only for those same passengers, and only within 12 months of the date you booked the original flight (not 12 months from when the original flight would have taken place). So it's pretty restrictive when you're paying cash, but at least there are no fees for making a change.

4. Yes, always. The two of us like to sit together up front. It takes 2 and 1/2 hours for us to fly nonstop to Orlando, so we want to be together & in our preferred area of the plane during the flight.

Btw, the "Wanna Get Away" fares are the typical ones most customers purchase on SWA, because the other fares are typically at least twice as expensive (& not uncommonly 3-4 times as expensive), which negates any benefits of flexibility they offer. Booking with points offers a lot more flexibility in terms of canceling & making changes, but obviously you've got to rack those points up before you can use them.
 
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Speaking from my experience yesterday.
1. Ticket prices do fluctuate. The "Wanna get away?" Price is up $15 today from what I checked yesterday.
2. Changing is very easy. I switched days and airports to save $800, but that credit does need to be used by 7/29/19, 1 year after our initial booking. I'll take it though!
 
Side note the staff in general seems much nicer and approachable than the Delta staff (sorry Delta)


I’m actually surprised to see you say that since you fly from Atlanta . My experience is the Southwest employees in Atlanta are the old Air Tran employees. And Air Tran specialized in being rude and uncooperative.
 
I’m actually surprised to see you say that since you fly from Atlanta . My experience is the Southwest employees in Atlanta are the old Air Tran employees. And Air Tran specialized in being rude and uncooperative.
I've never encountered rude or uncooperative employees at Southwest in Atlanta. They are extremely friendly and fun. Usually cracking jokes actually. Maybe they've weeded out the rude ones since Southwest isn't known for rude all that often
 
I've never encountered rude or uncooperative employees at Southwest in Atlanta. They are extremely friendly and fun. Usually cracking jokes actually. Maybe they've weeded out the rude ones since Southwest isn't known for rude all that often
A SWA employee was quite rude to me at the check-in counter in LAX last year.

We were traveling on Business Select tickets because Wanna Get Away was sold out. So we had access to the Fly By check-in line, but the desk agent obviously thought we didn't belong there, as a single mom and child returning from Disneyland didn't look very businessy or upper class. So she loudly commented before I could approach that I was in the wrong check-in line, that this was the line for priority customers and I should go to the regular line. When I politely tried to correct her and then approached her at the desk she kept it up, loudly arguing repeatedly that I didn't belong and that I didn't understand where to go.

Then she looked up our reservation, saw that we did belong there, and she finally quit embarrassing us. Her apology was very quiet and brief, in contrast to the loud way she had repeatedly kept telling us we didn't belong in her special line.

But I agree that kind of rudeness from SWA employees is not the norm.
 
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Good to know the GA info, thanks!

@Shanti, that employee in LAX was not cool. Did you get a survey and were you able to provide feedback?
 
Good to know the GA info, thanks!

@Shanti, that employee in LAX was not cool. Did you get a survey and were you able to provide feedback?
I don't recall ever receiving a post-flight survey from SWA. I could have pursued it afterwards by calling in, but I decided to let it go because she at least did apologize on the spot, and I know everyone makes mistakes. Maybe she won't treat another customer that way after that experience.

I was mailed a set of free drink coupons from SWA not long after that flight. No reason was given, and it's not normal to just randomly receive coupons from them. Since I never complained, I suspected that the desk agent tagged my account to get the coupons. Nice gesture, although I don't drink so they never got used.
 

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