Airfare strategy

[EuroDate20]

We are booked on a cruise in early November and Southwest just released their flight schedule for the fall. The rates are crazy expensive! We are flying out of the Sacramento (California) area, so we don't have many airlines to chose from. Does anyone have any insight on Southwest fares, when are they likely to go down, best time to book, etc? The fares now are the most expensive I've seen. Thanks in advance!

[EuroDate20]

Senior moment! We will be flying from Sacramento to FLL.

[Desert Cruizers]

It is very difficult to predict air fares. I generally book on a Tuesday, when checking flights, and dates are not open, go to the closest month and day when you plan to fly. Example, we will fly out on a Friday ( two days Pre cruise) I will regularly check the prices and once i see a price I am comfortable with then I will book our flights. Try and not book a flight over a weekend as they tend to be higher. We live in So Calif and have a relative in Willows, so she will use Sacramento next April. Four ourselves, I will book with AA and if she uses AA we can meet in DFW. a RT Ticket right now for us to Orlando is around $1100. Dates are open going over but not back.

[eandj]

We fly Southwest to Florida a ton. We book our flights as soon as they open at the lowest fare. (Wanna Get Away) When we have decided on a trip at the last minute, we ended up paying one of the higher rates. Haven't seen rates drop on our preferred itinerary as the date nears.

Rates for our customary flights to FLL in the winter have gone up $100-150 over the last couple years. And they dropped our early morning nonstop departure:confused:

[lax19]

The advantage in booking SWA is that if fares go down, you can re-book with no fees. You will have a credit you will need to use within a year, but it is better than the re-booking fees some airlines charge.

[DaveOKC]

The advantage in booking SWA is that if fares go down, you can re-book with no fees. You will have a credit you will need to use within a year, but it is better than the re-booking fees some airlines charge.

 

We have done this for many years and it has worked well. You just need to keep track of your credits and use them up within a year.

 

Sometimes we have booked on SW and then later cancelled and rebook on a different airline.

[Roz]

We have done this for many years and it has worked well. You just need to keep track of your credits and use them up within a year.

 

Sometimes we have booked on SW and then later cancelled and rebook on a different airline.

 

I do the same. I've generally been able to get lower fares as time went on, sometimes some real bargains. It just means being on top of their sales and checking fares frequently. I'm so used to SW's policies on re-booking and 2 bags fly free that it pains me when I have to fly another airline.

 

Roz

[gottaluvcruises12]

I am flying out of NC and was considering southwest as well. Our flight coming back at the time I want is $140. That's crazy to me. Fight going down in order to get a great price we would have to leave at 7 AM for a non stop flight at least. I am with you on trying to figure out when the best time to buy. I have heard Tuesday's at 3 ***** airlines release prices and new flights etc based on availability and such. I have also heard to book one way tickets possibly from different airlines. Another tip I received was to wait within 6 weeks of your flight. And to go a day early and fly back a day later. I am flying in a day earlier on a Wednesday and I see a difference in prices. I want to fly back the day we get back from the cruise. Not sure if I can help.

[Roz]

I've paid $300 for round trip Nashville - FLL during peak season, so $140 one way doesn't seem crazy at all to me.

 

Roz

[EuroDate20]

I wish I could pay $140, but the fare from Sacramento to FLL is between $320 - $580 each way. All of the flights have at least one stop, with most stops being in the cities that are what I consider, potential bad weather areas (Denver, Chicago, Baltimore) in mid November. On the return, there's no flights between 10 am and 4 pm. The Wanna Getaway fare for the 10 am flight is sold out. Flying out of Oakland is cheaper, but still costing the two of us nearly $1300 round trip. Yikes!

[Roz]

Got it; you're right, that's crazy!

 

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[DoubleEntry]

I'm in Philly going to FLL over the Thanksgiving weekend for a Monday Cruise. SWA was not good from here both pricewise and scheduling. AA has the best times non stop from FLL. With AA, round trip was $461. I used JetBlue going down and AA coming back for a total of 334 saving about 260 for 2 tix. Don't be forced to use the same airline both ways.

 

Jeff

[Desert Cruizers]

Our daughter uses SW as much as she can out of Denver, we haven't got SW into our So Calif City yet,so rely mostly on AA , United, sometimes Delta depending on where we are going. We use Alaska for Northern flights. Our RT flight to Boston for our 1 way flight to Copenhagen in August cost us $1300 out of Palm Springs, connecting in DFW. We were no cheaper going out of LAX when we factored in our travels and 1 night stay

[hrwi]

I am not going to buy until prices drop either. I do google's "fare tracker" which is great, but you have to commit to a specific flight. I also have an app called "hopper" that I tell it the dates I want to get to tampa and it tells me when prices drop or raise, and will even speculate that I could get a better price by waiting. The only thing is, for all of these, I do NOT want to fly spirit air, and that's the cheapest. But add bags in and it's not cheaper and becomes much more stressful. But minor issue!

 

The rumor is that 6-8 weeks prior is the best time to buy, but being a planner that seems to close for me!

[EuroDate20]

I agree, better to have a booking in place earlier than later for the sake of sanity! I have heard too many horror stories about Spirit and Allegiant. Southwest is my go-to because of their cancellation and change policies. But prices now are just crazy!

 

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[gottaluvcruises12]

After seeing this thread I did some looking around. It appears it was cheaper for us to fly in the next day rather than the Monday. Save a lot of money. You may want to look into flexible dates.

[DaveOKC]

After seeing this thread I did some looking around. It appears it was cheaper for us to fly in the next day rather than the Monday. Save a lot of money. You may want to look into flexible dates.

 

SW has some great deals, but mostly on Tues, Wed and Sat. We just booked a $92 one way from Oklahoma City to Seattle!

[EnterCruise]

Senior moment! We will be flying from Sacramento to FLL.

 

There's no rhyme or reason to the rise and fall of airfares, especially at Southwest. If another airline like Virgin decide to run a sale from CA to Florida, Southwest will react and drop their fares. Then when the sale is over they will go back up again. The only thing you can do is check them several times per week and book them when they seem reasonable.

 

Continue to monitor them, though. If they drop again you can rebook at the lower fare and save the difference as a credit for future flights. Also, a little flexibility on travel dates, such as a day earlier on the outbound and/or a day later on return could get you a lot lower fare.

[EnterCruise]

I've paid $300 for round trip Nashville - FLL during peak season, so $140 one way doesn't seem crazy at all to me.

 

Roz

 

I'll be flying from BNA to FLL this coming Tuesday for $57.

[Roz]

I'll be flying from BNA to FLL this coming Tuesday for $57.

 

Wow, that's great! Every once in a while you snag a good fare like that.

 

Roz

[EnterCruise]

Senior moment! We will be flying from Sacramento to FLL.

 

Flights from SFO to FLL on Southwest look fairly reasonable right now. You can always change them later if you get a better deal out of SAC.

 

Also, how do you feel about a side-trip to Vegas? I'm seeing fares as low as $110 from LAS to FLL.

[EnterCruise]

Wow, that's great! Every once in a while you snag a good fare like that.

 

Roz

 

Doing it again in June.

[ssmea03]

We just booked Southwest yesterday for November, the best price was from DTW to FLL. The saving wiped out the exchange rate deficit of a SW flight from BUF, and was way better than any flight from YYZ.

[oldfolkie]

I wish I could pay $140, but the fare from Sacramento to FLL is between $320 - $580 each way. All of the flights have at least one stop, with most stops being in the cities that are what I consider, potential bad weather areas (Denver, Chicago, Baltimore) in mid November. On the return, there's no flights between 10 am and 4 pm. The Wanna Getaway fare for the 10 am flight is sold out. Flying out of Oakland is cheaper, but still costing the two of us nearly $1300 round trip. Yikes!

We're also flying from Sacramento (SMF) to FLL in November and we're paying the prices you're finding. However, while we're taking Southwest going, we're taking American back. Like you're finding, Southwest has terrible return times (too early or really late afternoon) and questionable connections. American flies through Dallas and has better return flight times (late morning and early afternoon). And the prices were actually a little cheaper than Southwest.

 

Southwest had the best going times (and connections) to FLL. Plus we prefer to fly Southwest when we can.

 

It doesn't really cost anymore to reserve two one-ways on separate airlines than a round-trip on one.

[ssmea03]

• Hi

  I wish I could pay $140, but the fare from Sacramento to FLL is between $320 - $580 each way. All of the flights have at least one stop, with most stops being in the cities that are what I consider, potential bad weather areas (Denver, Chicago, Baltimore) in mid November. On the return, there's no flights between 10 am and 4 pm. The Wanna Getaway fare for the 10 am flight is sold out. Flying out of Oakland is cheaper, but still costing the two of us nearly $1300 round trip. Yikes!

Have you looked at flying via Mexico with a Mexican airline? It may be an option for you.