As of about 10:06 AM Central Time, Southwest's schedule is now open through May 10, 2007. This extension came 2 weeks late, and the schedule horizon is also beyond what I expected. Ding announced this schedule extension as usual.
For guesses on the next extension, please check the Official Schedule Extension Prediction Thread at
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527240. My initial guess is January 4, 2007 with the new horizon extending to mid-June.
Other news:
1. Ding functionality has been improved slightly. First, the Ding sale page layout makes it easier to find the sale you want. Second, once you click "Book Now" for any Ding offering, you have access to
ALL Ding offers in all markets.
Curbcrusher discovered that you can click on
Plan Trip at the top left of the window (along the Plan Trip -> Select Flight -> Price -> Purchase -> Booked horizontal bar) then select any city pair you like. Then look for the Ding fare column at the right. Enjoy hunting for Ding sale fares that are not listed in the sale announcement! Note: If you select a city pair for which there is no Ding fare, you may get the error message "Currently unable to get itinerary information."
2. fredpeckville has discovered that you can
book some single-day round trips or open jaw trips using only half an award ticket. See
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=617688 for an explanation and discussion.
3. Southwest has added a new feature called
My Offers to the My Southwest summary page of some lucky Rapid Rewards members. See
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=622893 for the latest findings.
4. If you would like to be notified promptly when someone finds a great transcon fare on Ding, subscribe to the new
Official cheap WN transcons thread at
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624311. That thread is open to all users, so please post any exceptional Ding sale fares there as soon as you find them and before you spend an hour booking them for yourself!