On August 26, 2013, Southwest's schedule should open for sale through April 6, 2014. Previous extensions have happened between 5:30 AM and 6:15 AM Central Time.
We failed to flash the last extension: On July 22, 2013, the schedule opened through March 7, 2014. I was having fun on vacation with limited Internet access.
In other news:
1. Award space is now searchable by everyone. You need not have awards in your account. Just login and click "Where are my old credits?" to get to the normal award booking prompt. You will not be able to select a flight, but you will see the availability matrix:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...-searches.html
2. Starting September 13, you will lose your travel funds if you no-show a flight booked on a discount fare:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...-may-10-a.html
This policy does not apply to points bookings, but don't be surprised to see that change within a year or so.
3. Southwest's latest Contract of Carriage allows it to cancel multiple bookings for the same passenger on the same date:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...l#post21313360
You have been warned against this trick that some people must have used to avoid paying full fare to travel earlier in the day.
4. Installation of 143-seat interiors is nearly complete, including most 737-300's. There is no truth to the rumor that Southwest's next gift to A-List members will be a free set of knee pads.
5. Do you have family members whose points may expire due to 2 years of inactivity? Southwest will notify them of the upcoming expiration by email only. MySouthwest does not display an expiration date anywhere.
6. Delta is starting hourly service between LAX and SFO, using modern, roomy small jets. This is the first large-scale challenge to Southwest's intra-California dominance in many years:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...ia-market.html
7. Club Carlson recently devalued its transfer option with zero advance notice. This program has a history of such abrupt customer-unfriendly changes (Google ValueMags, Hallmark, and GoldPoints), but this one occurred just days after the program sold millions of points to unsupecting members in the Amex Daily Getaway. Such decisions are the hallmark (pun intended) of what I call a treachery program rather than a loyalty program:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...een-hosed.html
8. For those visiting Las Vegas, MLife is a new partner. You can earn 600 Rapid Rewards points per stay at quite a few hotels in Las Vegas, including the Bellagio:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...rtnership.html