Segment Pricing Question
 

Looking for advice on booking a one way trip...

Traveling MCI-RSW, one stop in STL and the WGA fare is sold out...anytime fare is 586.00. If I look at booking the two legs separately...MCI-STL and STL-RSW, both have WGA fares still available for a total of 405.00. Which in my opinion seems strange that WGA is not available on the whole trip...

If I book the legs separately I realize I can't check a bag but is there a possibility one of the flights will be auto canceled ahead of time.

Thanks

There is always a possibility that this will happen. Thus, as with all such bookings, you should immediately call WN and ask that your PNR be noted with the explanation.

If the flights don't overlap I see no reason they would auto-cancel. Also, an agent at MCI should be able to check your bag thru to RSW.

They may not overlap to the minute, but pretty darn close given than WN schedules ground time to the minimum.

Not calling is simply setting oneself up for a lot longer on the phone later.

Um... overlap either is or isn't. If the itinerary is sold as a legal connection then there's no overlap.

This does not fall under the perimeters of Southwest's duplicate booking policy.

Sure, anything can happen. But if the idea in calling and adding notes to the PNR is to stop an auto-cancellation, it won't. That's not how it works. If either flight is auto-cancelled you'll still need to call to have it reinstated. Prior notes may or may not be helpful at that time.

And ultimately, the chances of it being auto-cancelled in the first place are very, very low.

[I'd recommend, as suggested by rwy, that it be booked as a multi-city itinerary, which would generate a single PNR and cut those chances to zero.]

Please provide the travel date(s) for which you are seeing the above situation.

The date I am seeing this is 10/16...

Yesterday afternoon the pricing for MCI-RSW (2391/3695--one stop STL)--WGA Sold out, Anytime 586.00...MCI-STL (2392)--WGA--113.00, STL-RSW (3695)--WGA--239.00

Today the pricing has changed a bit...MCI-RSW--same 586.00, MCI-STL--WGA--113.00, STL-RSW-- now WGA--279.00

As I mentioned, if you use the "multi-city" flight option, you can get both of those segments for the individual WGA price and get them on one reservation (PNR). (In which case you don't have to worry about any potential problems that might arise by booking 2 one way legs separately).

You'll have to click on "advanced search" on the full website (not the phone app or mobile version of the website), and choose the multi-city option instead of one way or roundtrip. You'd have MCI as your departure, STL as destination 1, RSW as destination 2, both departing on 10/16. When I did a search for that, I was able to combine both legs at the WGA fare prices you stated.

ryw...thanks so much for the tip! I have been booking flights on WN for years but just recently live in a city where connecting is oftentimes necessary. I will definitely use this tip...still makes no sense to me that they can't offer that fare in the simple one way booking method.

This ability to use A-B-C bookings for lower fares comes and goes on southwest.com. Old-timers will recall the intense interest in being able to force the website to display the full fare matrix specifically for purposes of finding combinable fare classes that would produce lower fares on connecting flights. (Relative n00bs can search the forum archives for insight.)

As to the specific situation, I can't give an explanation, other than to say that WN's fare coding is complex and proprietary. End result: weird stuff happens.

There's a ticket for $211 this morning via ATL if you don't mind getting in a few hours later. Shows up by simply search for MCI>RSW.

Not sure how tight OP's schedule is, but I see several one-stop options on AA,DL,UA for under $200.

Thanks all...

I did book the one way MCI-RSW via ATL on the day of my original post for 191.00. Interestingly, the prices increased after the fare sale was announced...