Any Tips Or Tricks On Snagging A RR Ticket?
Jun 30, 2008, 12:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA
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Any Tips Or Tricks On Snagging A RR Ticket?
Perhaps I don't know what to search for, but this doesn't seem to be in the Wiki and a search is unavailing. I have not gotten a RR Award ticket since 2002, and apparently (according to the posts here), Southwest has now imposed capacity controls on tickets.
I now have 2 RR tickets that I will have to use by June 2009. I have done searches for all of the dates that we will be traveling in the next year. Tried one RR ticket or two, even tried dates 4 days before and 4 days after the trip, and the response from southwest.com is consistently that there are no available RR tickets for those dates. Even tried searching for all of January 2009 (until 1/8, when the schedule is not yet open) on June 26, when the new schedules opened up.
Is there a way I can do a flexible search without entering in each date individually and searching? Are there tricks to actually snagging these tickets? Or is it essentially impossible to use RR tickets nowadays?
Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
I now have 2 RR tickets that I will have to use by June 2009. I have done searches for all of the dates that we will be traveling in the next year. Tried one RR ticket or two, even tried dates 4 days before and 4 days after the trip, and the response from southwest.com is consistently that there are no available RR tickets for those dates. Even tried searching for all of January 2009 (until 1/8, when the schedule is not yet open) on June 26, when the new schedules opened up.
Is there a way I can do a flexible search without entering in each date individually and searching? Are there tricks to actually snagging these tickets? Or is it essentially impossible to use RR tickets nowadays?
Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
Jun 30, 2008, 2:15 pm
#3
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
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Availability has been improving in the last 8 days or so before flight time. So you can make a second-choice booking and check back frequently starting a few weeks out. Getting 2 RR seats on one flight that way would be harder, though.
Jun 30, 2008, 2:18 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
Programs: WN, BA, Kimpton Hotels, Starwood Hotels
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or, you can just find it here
http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/low...der=SeatFinder
Jun 30, 2008, 4:05 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
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For awards they actual call it "Southwest Seat Finder", and in addition to being available on the no-availability screen - it is also available on your account snapshot . . its the first thing at the top of the page.
or, you can just find it here
http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/low...der=SeatFinder
or, you can just find it here
http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/low...der=SeatFinder
Jun 30, 2008, 4:15 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
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OK, I looked for the link on the screen that says no tickets, and there is no link. What I get is the following screen:
What happened?
There are no Rapid Rewards Ticketless Awards available for this trip.
What you need to do:
Please go back and choose another form of payment.
That's all it says, in a box with a picture of the Southwest Logo and a plane.
What happened?
There are no Rapid Rewards Ticketless Awards available for this trip.
What you need to do:
Please go back and choose another form of payment.
That's all it says, in a box with a picture of the Southwest Logo and a plane.
Jun 30, 2008, 6:57 pm
#9
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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No, I tried SNA and LAX. ONT is about an hour+ drive, so I'd rather not leave from there. I also tried SFO and OAK, since I can usually get there pretty cheaply and easily, with no luck.
Jun 30, 2008, 7:15 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: Nothing - I'm useless!
Posts: 2,441
SNA is a pain to find availability out of.
LAX can be better, but sometimes still a pain.
SAN (as in San Diego) has ended up being my alternate when in a pinch. Plus you can change to SNA or LAX should they open up without any fees.
LAX can be better, but sometimes still a pain.
SAN (as in San Diego) has ended up being my alternate when in a pinch. Plus you can change to SNA or LAX should they open up without any fees.
Jun 30, 2008, 9:42 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,975
OK, I looked for the link on the screen that says no tickets, and there is no link. What I get is the following screen:
What happened?
There are no Rapid Rewards Ticketless Awards available for this trip.
What you need to do:
Please go back and choose another form of payment.
That's all it says, in a box with a picture of the Southwest Logo and a plane.
What happened?
There are no Rapid Rewards Ticketless Awards available for this trip.
What you need to do:
Please go back and choose another form of payment.
That's all it says, in a box with a picture of the Southwest Logo and a plane.
Jul 1, 2008, 8:06 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Rural TN (but WAS native)
Programs: National Executive Elite, none of the others matter
Posts: 23,823
I take it that you have confirmed that the awards are in your account and they aren't attached to a reservation? Your message is what I get when my one award is being used for a booking. If you have an award and there's no availability for the dates you search, it should list the flights and say "Unavailable" by all of them. Did you get this once you went from your Account Snapshot page?
Jul 3, 2008, 7:43 pm
#13
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Yes. I found availability once I went through the Seat Finder link. But only out of San Diego or Oakland, with a long connection, and only arriving around midnight. So, now I need to decide if paying for a seat is worth more to me than losing two days traveling and arriving after midnight.
Jul 7, 2008, 11:12 am
#15
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Varies :-)
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Posts: 2,250
Sad transcon availability... Not one seat eastbound for PDX-ISP for the entire month of August, and only three dates toward the end of August for westbound. I thought maybe the next few days of July might have something (using the approx. 8 days in advance idea proposed above) and nothing there either...