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When will Southwest relent on insane summer fares? (Answer: June 3, 2016)

When will Southwest relent on insane summer fares? (Answer: June 3, 2016)

Old Jun 14, 2016, 7:13 am
  #136  
 
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Well, for those that thought last week's sale was a prelude to a Birthday Sale this week; that doesn't appear to have happened. There's a generic 'Flights as low as $69' banner at the top of their page which doesn't appear to translate to any great system-wide discounts.
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Old Jun 14, 2016, 8:27 am
  #137  
nsx
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Some Fall dates (e.g. Tuesday after Thanksgiving and Dec 15) which were $68 last week are $59 now. So that's worth checking.

At the moment the Change Reservation feature is "undergoing maintenance" but I'll be patient.
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Old Jun 14, 2016, 9:23 am
  #138  
 
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There are some deals to be had out there this week -- I've spotted fall (late Aug-Oct) fares between DAL and TPA, FLL, PHX, MDW, SAN, and DEN for $36-$41 (or 1465-1800 points) each way.
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Old Jun 14, 2016, 11:43 am
  #139  
 
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MDW - BWI - some fall dates for $36/1459 pts (!) (2.4 c/pt)
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Old Jun 14, 2016, 1:05 pm
  #140  
 
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Priced down my fall DEN-TUL flight from 5216 pts to 3676 pts. Thanks for helping me save some points.
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Old Jun 14, 2016, 6:00 pm
  #141  
nsx
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This is weird. I've been watching fares for July 4 and 5 daily for weeks. July 4 has held at $113 and July 5 at $123. No way will intra-CA flights sell out at those prices.

Today, exactly 3 weeks out, the price for July 4 dropped to $69 for all times except one. The July 5 price is still $123. July 1 and 2 are $138. July 3 and July 6-31 are $69. In no universe does this pricing make any sense.

At this point I'm following the pricing for entertainment, since I have already made plans to avoid flying on July 4 or 5. I suppose I would travel on July 5 if the $69 fare appeared, but I don't really care one way or the other.

I have been favorably impressed with the ease of booking AA flights with Avios, especially the instant redeposit at a cost of only $5.60 if you want to cancel and rebook a different time. Because of this and good AAvailability I plan to stop booking any high-fare dates on Southwest.
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Old Jun 15, 2016, 9:03 am
  #142  
 
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Location: Chicago, IL USA AA Platinum, UA, Hilton Blue, Starwood Platinum, Amtrak Guest Rewards
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Thumbs down

$200 is the going rate from Chicago to Detroit, and sometimes it is higher than that. I've slowly given my business to American & United whose fares are now more competitive than SW in Chicago. I have a MP Visa which I have been using for car rentals, so I still get a free bag. SW has to give me a better reason than peanuts and 2 bags to continue to fly with them.
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Old Jun 18, 2016, 12:42 am
  #143  
nsx
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Originally Posted by nsx
I'll be flying the competition (AA) for my next two flights. This will be my first defection from Southwest in many years, but Southwest earned it. I will go out of my way to avoid paying them double the normal price.
Today was my first non-Southwest domestic flight in years. It was an A321 on AA. Economy minus legroom was better than Evolve. A320 seats are also a little wider that B737 seats. It was SFO, so of course the flight was late. I have no standby priority on AA so I couldn't get on the earlier flight. But I hung out at the United Club during the delay, so no harm there.

AA's boarding was a complete zoo, something for them to be ashamed of compared to Southwest's orderly and efficient lineup.

All in all, AA fights using Avios are worthy competition to today's Southwest. Yesteryear's Southwest would have won going away.



Edited to add: My return flight on AA today was very different. Lots of gate space at SFO, audible announcements, and orderly boarding. Seating on a 737-800 was just as tight as Evolve, but the seats appeared to be fully padded and soft rather than Evolve's thin, hard padding. Load was 100%, possibly due to the NBA playoff game last night.

AA flights would add at least 30 minutes to each trip, so I still prefer Southwest when they aren't trying to gouge me.

Last edited by nsx; Jun 20, 2016 at 9:31 am
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Old Jun 18, 2016, 6:25 am
  #144  
 
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One side "benefit" I've maybe noticed on the high summer fares is they they don't appear to be raising the last minute fares as much as they were. I had a flight last Thursday ( the last day before the Summer Fares kicked in) which I changed on Wednesday to Saturday for only $44 then I changed it again on Friday to Wednesday for no additional fare, but I could have changed it to Monday or Tuesday as well without additional cost. The original fare was a WGA at less than $100 and WGA fares were still fairly available even on peak time times. The fare I paid was only about $13 over the lowest summer fare on the route ($113).
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 7:39 am
  #145  
nsx
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Originally Posted by nsx
I predict historically low loads for high-fare summer flights, especially LAX-OAK.
Wow, it's been years since I've seen only 54 pax on a peak commute hour flight. Only 74 on the preceding flight. That's nuts. But it's great for an early AM nap.

To get the $69 fare on today's flight you would have had to buy the ticket June 3 afternoon through June 7. Before and after that it was $128. As the weeks go by more people will have had a chance to pay the $69 fare, so loads should pick up.

Last edited by nsx; Jun 27, 2016 at 10:04 am Reason: date typo
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 7:56 am
  #146  
 
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WN lost my business returning to STL out of TPA/MCO. $209/$199 one way was the lowest it went for weeks. Wound up on DL. Maybe they'll make more money with the higher fares, but that was just too high for me.
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Old Jun 27, 2016, 9:48 am
  #147  
 
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Loads out of LAX to OAK have been light this month. I have traveled this route each week this month and there were several times the load was in the low 60's. Fares were very high, even booking 5 weeks in advance. Decided to fly out of Long Beach today for less then $100 round trip.
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Old Jul 2, 2016, 11:18 am
  #148  
 
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Been looking at the following fares for October-

BNA-MCI
MCI-MCO
MCO-BNA

The prices haven't budged since prices were released, nearly 5 months ago. Prices are the same today, on a weekend as they are on Tuesday, Wednesday, and any other day.

Are they ever going to go down? Has anyone ever seen anything like this with Southwest?
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Old Jul 2, 2016, 9:46 pm
  #149  
 
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The flight I needed to LAX finally dropped to a reasonable fare but I already bought on UA for a little cheaper than what WN wants now. Oh well, at least I'll get to fly on a 787-9. I'm usually pretty patient but they waited too long and this was one of those times where it needed to be a particular flight time.
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Old Jul 3, 2016, 2:21 pm
  #150  
 
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For many years I've flown SWA 80% or more of my flights. Now it is down to less than 25% as SWA prices have increased so dramatically (except for the limited highly competitive routes with other low-cost/upstart carriers). It will be interesting to see who will benefit more from upcoming IT capabilities, the customer or the airline's bottom line. In the old days under Herb, I felt these were both tied in the same direction ... but now I believe they will be in opposite directions...like fewer Tue/Wed flights will result in fewer low cost options for leisure travelers.
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