When does Southwest begin to sell tickets for December, 2018 flight?

We thought this last time and booked with spirit bc the price was cheaper. We ended up having to pay $50 per bag per way. We both had one bag and it ended up costing us an extra $200. So make sure you consider the cost of luggage when determining if one is better than the other. Looking back, I could have saved money by booking the higher fare on southwest.

 

People need to consider everything when booking with any airline. Research is needed. Spirit thrives on people only looking at the base fare and not doing any research beyond that to figure out additional costs and fees. And it's not just checked bags...it's carry on, it's seats, it's food and drink.

 

 

That being said, I have nothing against Spirit. I have flown them before a couple of times and actually enjoyed it...but I flew them because I found a great base fare, knew I wouldn't need to check a bag, knew I could pop for the big front seat (which was great), knew they had better times than the other airlines flying on that route, knew I would just need by own bottle of water for the flight, and knew I was going somewhere that wasn't time sensitive. I still saved over $200 roundtrip versus other airlines, and would do it again in that situation.

 

 

Each transaction is going to be different, but it does require some research and comparison, as well as knowing your specific situation and preferences. And a calculator, usually.

We get free bags with United. Comparing $25 bag on Jet Blue with $15 early bird check in on South West, and the fact that the non stop flight was 5:00 AM we made the best decision for us.

I saved about $200 per person ...

When compared to which / whose price?

When compared to which / whose price?

 

 

I did a search this morning on Kayak before Southwest opened up. Kayak prices were about $700 per person, depending on the airline/times. I tried to not be too picky in criteria, but I wanted to make sure we didn't land too late at night pre-cruise and fly home too early on departure date since it's the busiest time of year. The airlines on Kayak were Delta, United, and other traditional airlines. I paid a little over $500 per person on Southwest (pre taxes). I was also able to get a direct flight home at a good time. The direct flight to Florida was too late in the day for me; a risk I'm not willing to take with snow in December.

 

 

I agree; you have to find the right airline for your needs. I knew I wanted direct flights, free luggage, and not to spend too much. Southwest sold out super fast last year when they released the Christmas dates (flying to Florida), so I was happy that I was able to get my reservations so early. Last year I logged in about an hour after the flights were posted and many of the flights were already booked.

I booked my SW nonstop flights this morning ELP to LAX on January 5 and while not much different in price to American the times are much more convenient. The SW return flights from FLL are not yet available so will have to see who we will fly with on that leg of the journey. Typically we check in two bags post cruise and on American we have a one bag each free allowance (AA credit card) then pay $35 each for the second bags.

I did a search this morning on Kayak before Southwest opened up. Kayak prices were about $700 per person, depending on the airline/times.

So, as is often the case, I wonder whether the proper comparison should have been to other airlines' prices on 4 February 2018 (the date on which you started this thread), by which time you were already looking at other airlines' prices. If you could then have bought a ticket on another airline for (say) $350, then you haven't really saved $200 by booking Southwest.

 

In your case, of course, the situation is complicated by the fact that it looks like Southwest offers the only non-stop flights on your route. That's worth paying some extra money for, and in your shoes I might well have waited for this reason alone.

True! I did compare way back when I started this thread. Obviously I didn't check every day, but I checked periodically to see if I could find something that was a good deal, considering it's holiday time. I can't recall the prices back then, but at the low end, I probably saw some at $600ish (low 600s). I considered buying a few times and forgetting waiting on Southwest, but it was the direct flight/free luggage that swayed me to wait. I don't like the cattle call to Southwest in that you don't have assigned seats, but given that we chose the most expensive time to fly, I'll deal with that. It's not too long of a flight.

 

I was playing around w/so many options, including staying a night after we get off the cruise just to lower the rates (b/c it still would have saved money), but I wasn't crazy about flying home on 12/31, in case I wanted to celebrate NYE. I looked at flying out of/into other airports and driving. We have done that before, but it makes the travel days feel so much longer. Ironically, I wasn't going to save much money by flying out of Chicago (2 hour drive for me) or by flying into Miami or PBI. It just wasn't worth it.

 

I look forward to the days that school schedules aren't binding my travel plans and I can travel at less expensive times of the year. It's crazy how much money I could save if I went during non-peak times. In the mean time, I am happy I figured this portion of the trip out.

It's crazy how much money I could save if I went during non-peak times. In the mean time, I am happy I figured this portion of the trip out.

 

Not crazy at all. It's simply a matter of supply and demand, ol' Econ 101.