Southwest Airlines Price variations

gingerbride82

I've been watching the fares on Southwest for our honeymoon,  (not till October) Last week, the price was 944. Today it's 593.   Has anyone else had experience with these price fluxes?  I really want to go ahead and snatch up the 593 rate, but it is awfully early... when is the absolute latest I should buy my our tickets?  I've read that Southwest will credit you the difference if your purchased fare goes down, has anyone had experience with this?

Maggie0829

If you know that you are 100% going to wherever it is that you are going in October for your HM (meaning you have booked your lodging) then there really isn't a point in waiting to buy plane tickets closer to your travel date unless you really want to play the wait and see game of trying to get a lower fare.  But then you have the chance of having to pay more rather then less or the flights that you want being sold out making you have to take a flight that has 3 stop overs and takes you all day to get to your destination.

Prices fluctuate all the time and for various reasons so the fact that you are seeing such 'drastic' changes is not uncommon.

If it were me I would snatch up the $593 tickets and call it a day.  I am not sure about Southwest crediting you the difference though.

dolewhipper

Where are you going and from where? Which week are you going? I personally don't buy until 2-3 months before, unless it a "special" week (holiday, large school vacation, special event that week) and then I book 6-4 months before. Mine is going to stray into Spring Break week so I'm booking mine in September for a March HM. I book a lot of travel and have found this to be the best timing.

KatieinBkln

Southwest tends to have wild fluctuations (and many sales). I don't think they typically refund the difference if the price goes down, though. 

See what price Orbitz is quoting. If it's the same (or really close) then I would actually purchase through them--Orbitz guarantees a refund if the same ticket is listed for a lower price later. The downside here is that Southwest does not always "give" companies like Orbitz/Expedia/etc. its lowest fares because it wants to encourage people to book directly through its site. 

If you don't see it on Orbitz or another online travel agency that guarantees pricing, I would just get the tickets. If they are sometimes more than $300 more pricey, then this is probably a solid deal.

kat1114

Southwest will not give you a refund for the price difference. However, you can modify your existing reservation. If this results in a fare reduction, you will receive the difference as a credit for a future Southwest flight.

mlg78

What kat1114 said.  I have two vacations planned in November and December.  The November one dropped with Southwest by $7 and that credit was applied to December.  December then dropped by $12 so I'll use that on my flights next May.  Sure, it was only $19...but hey! A savings is a savings, right?