sharonsimon

Just went to buy a ticket for a trip in 8 days and unhappily discovered that fares were at a significantly higher level not just within a week as was the past practice, but also significantly higher flor flights within two weeks (though not quite as expensive as flights within one week). For my trip, fare for flights within one and two weeks was double the cost for flights more than two weeks in advance. Is this a new fare structure? I wouldn't have waited so long to buy the ticket had I known that fares went up so much for flights in the one to two week period, but I was relying on the past practice of fares not going up significantly until the one week point.

nsx

Sometimes the big price break is at 2 weeks, sometimes it's at 3 weeks. If you ever figure out a rhyme or reason for Southwest's varying choice, you should try your hand at picking stocks.

Totoro

I assumed that WN sells only a limited number of seats at a given fare. If the flight has only 2 seats left, WN might sell them at full fare even >1 week prior to departure.

sharonsimon

I don't think this is a seat availability situation as the market has at least 10 daily nonstops, most of which showed much lower prices online only yesterday.

Totoro

When WN simplified their fare structures for southwest.com, I recall that the previous fare buckets still exist behind the scenes although no longer labeled as such for the public. Hence, the price variation within the "wanna get away" fares.

Even if the fares you now see are not within the "anytime" column, WN may have sold out of the lower fare buckets in the "wanna get away" fares. Alternatively, the advance purchase deadline may have passed for some "wanna get away fares," leaving only the higher priced fares within that column.

Just for fun, try pricing out the flight exactly one week later. Repeat each day and observe how the fare buckets disappear. With many data points, you can determine with some certainty the advance purchase deadline for the cheaper "wanna get away fares." If you fly this route often, this information may help you save money for future travel.

pcsanity

I noticed this last week when trying to book HOU - ELP 8 days out. I used to be able to do it and get a pretty good fare. Now that same flight less than two weeks out runs over $400. Guess I have to change my booking practices. (And for the shorter hauls like HOU-AUS or HOU-SAT where I can not plan more than a week ahead.....I will just be driving. NO biggie there.

lougord99

It boggles my mind how they can manage all the various fares. I regularly look at my far out bookings watching for fare reductions. The fares are constantly changing. Some days, all fares on the city pair on that date are the same price and then suddenly there are many different fares on the various flights that day and then they are all the same again. A low fare might be available for 12 hours then never reappear.

sharonsimon

Well, just as one poster mentioned might occur, this evening, i.e., 12 hours later, the fares for the one week to two weeks in advance period went back down to what they had been yesterday, so I quickly booked a ticket as tomorrow things might change again. Clearly not a question of availability, and these volatile pricing changes makes no sense whatsover.

nsx

Now you're catching on. It's like looking for a pattern in a series of coin flips.

ftnoob

The initial premise (low fares on just 7 days notice) is not the long-term norm in most markets, IME. It has become common during the recent hard times, but for decades before that 7/14/21 day advance purchase tiers were the norm.

I would guess that SWA was attempting to move the market back toward long-term normalcy, but had to rescind because competitors did not follow suit.

formeraa

Remember when discussing fare availability, there are two KEY issues:

1. Inventory Management -- how many seats are allocated to each fare level (allocations change as bookings occur and when the inventory is re-optimized at fixed intervals before departure)

2. Fares -- fares tend to be based around 3/7/14/21 day advance purchase windows (WN usually has fare sales starting on Tuesdays and sometimes Fridays as well as matching other airline's fare sales)

These two factors combine to make a very volatile situation for every airline. Thankfully, at WN, you can book your ticket and then, if the fare drops, get a credit toward a later flight. Most of the other airlines don't allow this.

toomanybooks

It's been pointed out a thousand times here, but evidently worth repeating:

As long as you or someone close to you will be flying Southwest within a year, there's no reason whatsoever to wait and try to time the purchase.

Just buy the ticket when you first get an inkling to fly and if the price goes down, rebook and keep the 100% of the difference for the future.

If you are willing to fly at, say, $150, and the price is currently $200, you'll have to decide whether an interest-free loan to Southwest for a few months is worth it to you on speculation that the price will come down. Very often it does. Watch the DINGs.

In this scenario, if you buy at $200 and the price never drops, you can always cancel and use your credit for another flight. Best reason to fly Southwest. IMO.

With CDs yielding 2%, it's a good use of money.

formeraa

Good point! Interestingly enough, my Mother (70 yrs old) has caught on to this and flies WN almost exclusively for her domestic travel. She just wishes that WN had real international partners.