Official schedule extension prediction thread
May 30, 2019, 8:24 am
#991
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 1,679
Was hopeful with booking decent priced holiday travel as soon as calendar was uploaded, I was disappointed in super high airfare.
In past years I was able to get good prices as soon as schedule went up, but today I am shocked.
Found nothing within my budget.
Do fares actually go down after a few hours?
I know, makes no sense, but that is what I hope for.
In past years I was able to get good prices as soon as schedule went up, but today I am shocked.
Found nothing within my budget.
Do fares actually go down after a few hours?
I know, makes no sense, but that is what I hope for.
I was noticing more "book travel now" emails the last few days form other airlines than is usual.
Last edited by N104UA; May 30, 2019 at 8:29 am
May 30, 2019, 8:32 am
#992
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
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Posts: 21,619
Edited to add: I built that URL and pressed the yellow button every couple minutes until it gave me the flight selection page. I then got the "unable to price" response on my first several attempts.
Last edited by nsx; May 30, 2019 at 8:46 am
May 30, 2019, 8:53 am
#993
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Posts: 38,311
Nice! I'm glad they expanding more new route from FLL. I hope the route will done very well. Hoped they becomes daily flight in near the future.
May 30, 2019, 10:09 am
#996
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
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Hawaii flights around Thanksgiving were down to 1 or 2 $199 seats a few minutes ago.
May 30, 2019, 10:30 am
#997
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: LAX
Posts: 588
May 30, 2019, 10:41 am
#998
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
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May 30, 2019, 10:46 am
#999
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 98
Ya, that's what made it worthwhile for me as well. 12/1 was a planned return from our Thanksgiving visit family trip that I had to move to the 2nd as well. That Sunday was a no go for everyone I bet.
I didn't see any $199 Hawaii fares in December for our date period unfortunately.
Going to LIH so have to see how that shakes out the next couple months. Could be making changes to all this anyways.
May 30, 2019, 10:54 am
#1000
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May 30, 2019, 11:47 am
#1001
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
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The Long Beach service might work well for segment runs where you have one aircraft making the turn.
May 30, 2019, 1:30 pm
#1002
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+1 The schedule release was completely worthless for my needs. All the flights to Cancun are full fare (WGA purportedly "sold out") and for some dates much higher than competitors. And these are for undesirable times (i.e. 6am departures). The "low fare" calendar shows that holiday fares are basically 2x-3x higher than the same flights earlier in December.
May 30, 2019, 3:40 pm
#1003
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
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Posts: 21,619
+1 The schedule release was completely worthless for my needs. All the flights to Cancun are full fare (WGA purportedly "sold out") and for some dates much higher than competitors. And these are for undesirable times (i.e. 6am departures). The "low fare" calendar shows that holiday fares are basically 2x-3x higher than the same flights earlier in December.
May 30, 2019, 5:59 pm
#1004
Join Date: Nov 2014
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 1,679
Yep, UA just opened up a bunch of W fares, $100 pp cheaper than WN.
Around here Southwest is notorious for opening the schedule at high fares for peak times. When the flights do not sell out Southwest relents on the fares about 8 weeks out. Other airlines seem better able to predict demand accurately. If you need to nail down a peak period flight months ahead Southwest is rarely your best buy. If you stay on top of fares as they fluctuate Southwest usually provides you the best value 4 to 8 weeks out.
I agree, I do wonder what percent of Holiday flights WN sells on schedule release day, as this must be a massive cash influx. Last year I found that my Christmas flights kept dropping, luckily most of them were booked with points, and about late September or early October they dropped to maybe $50 more expensive than the normal fare on the route.
I agree, even with checked bag fees on other airlines it is a better deal. For our Christmas trip last year we got the tickets for about $200pp OW and this year they were $250-$350pp OW and I can book UA and DL for $50+pp cheaper. I am going to keep an eye on the flights today to see if, for some reason, the WGA fares drop (or maybe even see if the big 3 come in and undercut WN even more).
Around here Southwest is notorious for opening the schedule at high fares for peak times. When the flights do not sell out Southwest relents on the fares about 8 weeks out. Other airlines seem better able to predict demand accurately. If you need to nail down a peak period flight months ahead Southwest is rarely your best buy. If you stay on top of fares as they fluctuate Southwest usually provides you the best value 4 to 8 weeks out.