# Southwest opening schedule



## Blues (Jun 22, 2007)

Southwest's web site now says they'll open up their schedule on June 27 for flights through Jan 11 2008.

I need to book travel during Christmas, so I'll be online whenever they open up.  But the question is, what time of day do they normally do this?  Do I get up early to make sure not to miss this, since my 7 AM on the left coast is already 10 AM for the right-coasters?  Or do they normally do this some other time of the day, say noon (which timezone?).  Thanks.

-Bob


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## Dave M (Jun 22, 2007)

Normally "about" 10:00 a.m. Central time.


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## Blues (Jun 22, 2007)

Thanks Dave.  Sounds like I don't have to wake up early.  8 AM PDT works well -- I can check it before I leave for work, and if the schedule isn't opened yet, I can check it as soon as I get into work.  Since my commute is only 10 minutes, that doesn't leave too big a hole. :whoopie:


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## bigeyes1 (Jun 27, 2007)

Woo Hoo!!  I just booked our tickets at SWA since they opened up the new schedule today. This is our first experience with them and thus far, it's pretty good.   

Quick question.  When do they assign seats?  I want to make sure DH and I are sitting together.


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## Luanne (Jun 27, 2007)

bigeyes1 said:


> Woo Hoo!!  I just booked our tickets at SWA since they opened up the new schedule today. This is our first experience with them and thus far, it's pretty good.
> 
> Quick question.  When do they assign seats?  I want to make sure DH and I are sitting together.



Southwest doesn't assign seats.  They board by area, A, B or C.  What you want to do is print out your boarding passes the day ahead so you're in the A group.


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## Blues (Jun 27, 2007)

Trish, SWA doesn't assign seats.  You get a "boarding" group based on when you check in -- group A, B, or C.  All the group A's board together and choose their own seats.  Then B, then C.

You can check in online up to 24 hours in advance, and this is a very good thing to do, as you'll usually get group A if you do so.  If you wait until you get to the airport, likely you'll get at best group B, and that's if you get there plenty early.

So, I booked my tickets for Christmas travel today.  I was disappointed.  It appears that they're not releasing the cheapest seats for those dates.  Makes sense -- it's a high demand period, so they might as well get the revenue.  But in past years, I was able to get SJC-MDW round trip for $200 per seat.  The tickets I just booked were $350 per seat.  Still better than the legacy airlines, but not by an awful lot.  I could have gotten cheaper seats by taking a red-eye on ATA, but no thanks.

So it's kinda academic since I've already bought tickets, but I wonder if they'll have seats available at the special internet or Ding prices later for this time period.  Any thoughts?


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## Luanne (Jun 27, 2007)

I had checked earlier today and they hadn't opened up the schedule.  I just checked now as we think we might be going to Santa Fe over Thanksgiving.  Yikes!    Either there were *no* discounted seats to begin with, or they went fast.


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## Blues (Jun 27, 2007)

That was my experience too, Luanne.  And I checked at 8:10 AM PDT (10:10 AM CDT), which presumably was within the first half-hour or so they opened it.

As I said, I think their plan is that, since it's a high demand period, they'll open up the high priced seats first.  I decided to buy the tickets anyway.  I believe that, if they open up lower priced tickets, you can get credit for the difference.


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## bigeyes1 (Jun 27, 2007)

My thanks to everyone for their super quick replies!!   

 I've been reading over "yonder" (Flyertalk) and got more confused.  Some (more) questions I have:

Is "WN" Southwest's abbreviation?  If so, what does it stand for?  

Booking 24 hours in advance isn't a problem. I prefer to do that, anyway.  But we don't have a printer when staying at the resort.  Can we still check-in online and then just print our tickets once we get at the airport? 

I sure hope we get Group A.  What worries me is I'm visually impaired.  I don't really need the airport's assistance, just my DH's.  As long as he's with me, I'm fine.  Should I have booked the reservation with disability assistance, anyway?  

Thanks, again.

Btw- we booked our tickets to PHX and they were going super fast!!


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## Luanne (Jun 27, 2007)

Blues said:


> I believe that, if they open up lower priced tickets, you can get credit for the difference.



That's true.  I *love* Southwest for how easy it is to make changes on their website, and how easy it is to use their credits (which can be applied to other passengers, unlike other airlines).


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## Blues (Jun 27, 2007)

Hi Trish.  Yes, WN is Southwest's airline code.  I don't know what it stands for.

You should be able to check in online even if you can't print the boarding pass.  In that case, when you get to the airport, use one of Southwest's kiosks to again "check in".  It will remember that you're already checked in (presumably with boarding group A) and will allow you to print the boarding pass from there.

Edited to add:  it would probably make sense to request disability assistance.  That should allow you to get into the pre-board group, which gets onto the plane ahead of the 'A's.


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## Diane (Jun 28, 2007)

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to when SW opens its schedule again?  Got some outbound tickets to FLL for early January the other day but will need to get back later in the month.  Not looking for any specific date, maybe just the month.

Thanks,

Diane


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## Dave M (Jun 28, 2007)

Here is the current general rule, as espoused by Bill Owen, the Schedule Planning Lead Planner at Southwest:





> So remember the “120/180 rule” for future bookings on Southwest.  We will usually make up to 180 days of inventory available for sale, then allow that booking window to tick down to 120 days-then “recharge” the booking window by putting another 60 days or so of salable inventory out there, taking the total days available back up to around 180.  But if you keep this general rule in mind, it’ll provide a good yardstick to see where Southwest stands in with respect to the booking window.


Following that rule, it would seem that the most likely date for the next extension would be Thursday, September 13 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. That would be 120 days prior to January 11, the current end-of-schedule date. Almost all extensions in recent years (not counting this most recent extension) have occurred on a Thursday at 11 ET. The rule would suggest that this next schedule extension will be to about the middle of March.

If I really want to make reservations when they first open for that January-March 2008 window, I would make sure I looked at Southwest's website daily starting about September 1 to get an update as to Southwest's projected date for releasing the January-March schedule dates.


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## Diane (Jun 28, 2007)

Fantastic, Dave!  More than I had hoped to learn, and more predictable than I had imagined.  Thank you.

Diane


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## blr666 (Jun 29, 2007)

Where on the Southwest website does it say when the next schedule will open?  Thanks


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## bogey21 (Jul 11, 2007)

Just booked  my early January trip (Dallas - Fort Lauderdale - Dallas) on Southwest.  Cost me just a touch over $200.  I figure if I can fly anywhere (reasonable distance) for $200, I'll take it and not look back.

GEORGE


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## Art4th (Jul 11, 2007)

blr666 said:


> Where on the Southwest website does it say when the next schedule will open?  Thanks



Click on "Travel Tools". Here's what it says right now:
================================
We are currently accepting air reservations through January 11, 2008. On August 23, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through March 7, 2008. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.
================================


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## pedro47 (Sep 7, 2007)

Does anyone have any idea when Southwest will open its schedule for the end of March 2008?  Any suggestion ?????


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## Dave M (Sep 7, 2007)

From the airline's website:





> We are currently accepting air reservations through March 7, 2008. On November 8, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through May 9, 2008. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.


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## pedro47 (Sep 7, 2007)

Dave M said:


> From the airline's website:



Thanks Dave M  !!!!!


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