# Please Help Me - Southwest Opens Schedule Tomorrow (1/9/08)



## jlwquilter (Jan 8, 2008)

According to their website, SW still plans on loading fares thru August tomorrow.

For the first time, I will be trying to get fares as soon as the load is done.

How do I know the fares are loaded?? Is there a banner or something that will show on SW's home page? Do I get into Book and keep refreshing my travel dates until it grabs something? Is DING the best way to know?

I do know that they usually load some time between 10am and noon and have cleared my schedule so I can literally sit here until I buy tickets.... what fun!


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## Blues (Jan 8, 2008)

Go into "Book Travel".  Under the section "When are you travelling?", you'll see a comment that currently reads "(We are currently accepting reservations through May 09, 2008. )".  Just keep refreshing the page until that date changes.


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## BM243923 (Jan 8, 2008)

Go to the Southwest web site and download the ding feature.

You set up the airport you want to leave from and where you are going.  When something new comes up it ding your computer.

It will also ding you when the new schedule is released.

Good Luck


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## pointsjunkie (Jan 8, 2008)

MOST of the time they load it in around 12:00pm. i have done the 12am thing and just lost a night of sleep. check first thing in the morning .then at 11am and 11;30 but 12 has been the time 3 loads in a row. good luck


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## jlwquilter (Jan 8, 2008)

Thanks everyone! At least I have an idea of what to do to increase my chances of getting the lowest fares.

I will have to download DING on this laptop...my regular computer died a few days ago (figures).

One good thing about SW is that as long as I get ANY fare, I can search for lower prices up until depart date - which is in mid June for me. Gotta love that!


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## JudyH (Jan 8, 2008)

I did what you are planning for our trip to Fl. in April.  Then I just rechecked the fares today when they announced a system wide sale.  Our flight down has been reduced, so I will get about $30.00 back.  The return flight actually increased, so I made out well both ways.  I will keep checking these flights to see if there are any further reductions.

OK, I just called, and got the reduction.  However, since it was a non-refundable flight, I could only get a credit towards another flight.  They said anyone could use it until Nov 08, I'm not sure I will be taking another SW flight anywheres before then.  I know in the past I got the credit on the CC instead, I'm sure I didn't get more expensive tickets.  Maybe this is a new policy.


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## Dori (Jan 9, 2008)

Ain't Southwest grand?

Dori


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## jlwquilter (Jan 9, 2008)

JudyH said:


> OK, I just called, and got the reduction.  However, since it was a non-refundable flight, I could only get a credit towards another flight.  They said anyone could use it until Nov 08, I'm not sure I will be taking another SW flight anywheres before then.  I know in the past I got the credit on the CC instead, I'm sure I didn't get more expensive tickets.  Maybe this is a new policy.



A credit toward future flight tickets with some expiration date attached is what I had read here as SW policy... at least "recently", as I've only been on TUG for a year. That's why you still want to get the cheapest flight price to begin with - a potential credit is good but only if you can use it. Otherwise it expires and you essentially paid the origonal price.

It's 10:47am and here I sit refreshing the SW page after I read a thread  Do I chance taking a quick shower??


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## happybaby (Jan 9, 2008)

jlwquilter said:


> A credit toward future flight tickets with some expiration date attached is what I had read here as SW policy... at least "recently", as I've only been on TUG for a year. That's why you still want to get the cheapest flight price to begin with - a potential credit is good but only if you can use it. Otherwise it expires and you essentially paid the origonal price.
> 
> It's 10:47am and here I sit refreshing the SW page after I read a thread  Do I chance taking a quick shower??



I'd wait!!!  It usually happens shortly after 11am EST.

As far as credit..........  they will give you credit on your CC IF the change you make is on the same identical flight.  Meaning flight, day , and time!!

I changed mine for a lower fare at and earlier time, therefore received credit with SW to use a year from original purchase date.   Has to be used from purchase date and NOT date of flight.  When I couldn't use the credit within 1 year they sent me a LUV voucher good for 6 more months.

Worked out good ( I explanied to SW also) that my credit expired the end of May and I needed another flight in August.

At computer now at 1107 am and still no ding that the date has opened


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## BondGuy (Jan 9, 2008)

Schedule now open to Aug 3


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## happybaby (Jan 9, 2008)

BondGuy said:


> Schedule now open to Aug 3



It still isn't showing on my ding, so I went to book travel and that shows now open til Aug 3.

It has always showed up on the ding


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## arlene22 (Jan 9, 2008)

Just booked my July flight. Thanks!


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## Luanne (Jan 9, 2008)

Booked my flights for June.  No internet fares available (and probably never were) for the return flight time I wanted, but felt I did the best I could.


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## jlwquilter (Jan 9, 2008)

I waited on the shower, except in my case it didn't matter after all. I realized I had several questions and ended up calling SW twice to get answers before I booked.

As my questions are general in nature I will post them here in case it helps someone else.

1) Flight(s) out of my preferred airport (PA for ease of typing) are crappy. Really crappy. And there is only one flight listed to begin with (there have normally been at least 2 and mostly 3 flights offered in the past). My next preferred airport (NPA for ease of typing) has much better times. IF I book for my NPA and later on flights are added to my PA, can I switch over to my PA without a penalty?

YES. If the PA cost is higher then you will be charged the DIFFERENCE only (in essance, you pay the PA flight cost in total). NO added fee. If the PA flight cost is lower, then you will get a credit toward a future flight.

2) Flight info shows there is a stop (or 2 stops in my case) but when I choose that flight, no stop info is given at all. What does this mean?

It means there are the number of stops listed but you do not leave the plane. You have to call SW and ask (if you care) where the plane stops and for how long. NOTE: I just realized that I am not 100% clear if "you don't leave the plane" means you CAN'T leave the plane or you could if you wanted to but layover time is very short and they prefer you not to leave the plane and maybe get left behind :ignore: 

******************************************************

My flights are MUCH more expensive (double!) than I was expecting based on the cost of the flight offered prior to this fare load. And I was unhappy to see that my PA had only the one (crappy!) flight offered. Boo...hiss..... I guess I will be haunting DING! to catch lower fares and hopefully an added flight out of my PA.

I hope everyone else made out better than I did!


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## jlwquilter (Jan 9, 2008)

BTW, I have to book my Dad's flight from BUF to WPB as he'll be traveling with us. I am going to wait on that so IF I get lower fares or I can change to my PA, I can apply any credit that happens to his BUF-WPB flight. The BUF-WPB flights for June are plentiful AND only about $30 more than what they were previously. Go figure.

Now for that shower! :whoopie:


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## Blues (Jan 9, 2008)

Hi jlwquilter.

1. SWA is very flexible about allowing you to change and/or cancel flights.  You can cancel any flight or segment you wish, and use the credit for any other flight you want, even a totally different trip.  That's essentially what you're doing if you change from your PA to your NPA.  If the cost of the change is lower, you have additional credit left to use on anything you want.  If it's higher, you pay the difference only, no extra fees.

2. They highly discourage getting off the plane at intermediate stops.  They may even prohibit it; I'm not sure.  But SWA turns around their planes so quickly, you wouldn't be able to do anything if you did exit the plane, anyway.  You'd need to immediately get back into the boarding line.  In my experience, I was barely able to use the lavatory on the plane.  By the time I came out, the aisles were jammed with the new passengers.


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## susieq (Jan 9, 2008)

Just booked July flights for DH and I - PVD/LAS, and DD and her Boyfriend - TPA/LAS ~ really good deals, IMHO.  I'm Happy ~ YEA!!  We'll get to spend _TWO_ weeks with her this year!!


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## jlwquilter (Jan 9, 2008)

Blues said:


> Hi jlwquilter.
> 
> 1. SWA is very flexible about allowing you to change and/or cancel flights.  You can cancel any flight or segment you wish, and use the credit for any other flight you want, even a totally different trip.  That's essentially what you're doing if you change from your PA to your NPA.  If the cost of the change is lower, you have additional credit left to use on anything you want.  If it's higher, you pay the difference only, no extra fees.
> 
> 2. They highly discourage getting off the plane at intermediate stops.  They may even prohibit it; I'm not sure.  But SWA turns around their planes so quickly, you wouldn't be able to do anything if you did exit the plane, anyway.  You'd need to immediately get back into the boarding line.  In my experience, I was barely able to use the lavatory on the plane.  By the time I came out, the aisles were jammed with the new passengers.



Thanks Blues for clarifying it! I am new to all of this and I like to understand what I am doing - LOL!


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## JudyH (Jan 9, 2008)

As I posted above, my already very cheap flight to Fl. was priced even lower.  I rebooked the same exact flight, day, time, at the lower price, but SW would only give me a credit to be used by 11/08.


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## bigrick (Jan 9, 2008)

Luanne said:


> Booked my flights for June.  *No internet fares available* (and probably never were) for the return flight time I wanted, but felt I did the best I could.




The internet fares used to appear on Tuesdays through Wednesdays.  I don't see these fares any more either.  Did Soutwest stop these fares?


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jan 10, 2008)

Now the lowest seems to be called, "Wanna Get Away" - and usually not as low. In addition some will have a note by that fare that says, "Web only".
Liz


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## riverdees05 (Jan 10, 2008)

*Better than last time*

Prices were better this opening period than last.  Last time, booked a Nashville to Las Vegas and it was high,  This time, booked Nashville to Salt Lake City, Nashville to Reno, Nashville to El Paso and St. Louis to Reno and think they were decent fares.


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## happybaby (Jan 10, 2008)

JudyH said:


> As I posted above, my already very cheap flight to Fl. was priced even lower.  I rebooked the same exact flight, day, time, at the lower price, but SW would only give me a credit to be used by 11/08.



You have to ask SW to give you credit on your CC.  Otherwise the credit is automatically given as credit for future travel.

That's what I was told and I did receive credit on my CC for one change.  The other was credit with SW since I changed the times


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## Luanne (Jan 10, 2008)

bigrick said:


> The internet fares used to appear on Tuesdays through Wednesdays.  I don't see these fares any more either.  Did Soutwest stop these fares?



What I was seeing were internet fares, except for  certain flights on the weekends.  So I was able to get a much lower internet fare for our flights from Oakland to Seattle on a Wednesday, but had to pay a higher rate for our return on a Sunday.  I could have gotten a lower internet rate, if we'd wanted to fly home on a 6 or 8 a.m. flight.  I opted for a later, more expensive flight so we could spend a bit more time in Seattle.


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## jlwquilter (Jan 10, 2008)

For the options I looked at, there were both "Web Only" fares offered on some specific flights as well as "regular" flights offered at other times on the same day. One "Web Only" flight was actually $2 more than the lowest fare offered but at a better time and with only 1 stop so I naturally chose that one and suffered paying the $2 more per tix 

I too chose a more expensive flight out on the return - just to not have to get up at 4am to make it to the airport (2 hours away plus have to add on returning a rental car) to make the cheaper flight.

What I am REALLY hoping is that all of this will be a moot point and my preferred airport will get more flights added and I can "start over" choosing the actual flights.


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## JudyH (Jan 10, 2008)

Happybaby, I called twice and got different people and asked and got the same answer, only a credit.  It was a "wanna get away"   "web only" really cheap fare.


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## Luanne (Jan 10, 2008)

JudyH said:


> Happybaby, I called twice and got different people and asked and got the same answer, only a credit.  It was a "wanna get away"   "web only" really cheap fare.



I believe the only time you can get a refund is when you purchase a fully refundable ticket.  Otherwise it's a credit.  But, what is nice about Southwest is that you can use the credit towards a ticket for anyone, it doesn't have to be for you.


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## happybaby (Jan 11, 2008)

Luanne said:


> I believe the only time you can get a refund is when you purchase a fully refundable ticket.  Otherwise it's a credit.  But, what is nice about Southwest is that you can use the credit towards a ticket for anyone, it doesn't have to be for you.



unless they changed their policy, I received a credit on my CC for my mom's flight.   Same flight but at a lower rate.   On our flights, I received the credit with SW since I changed the times (took an earlier flight)


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## Luanne (Jan 11, 2008)

happybaby said:


> unless they changed their policy, I received a credit on my CC for my mom's flight.   Same flight but at a lower rate.   On our flights, I received the credit with SW since I changed the times (took an earlier flight)



Hmmm, that could be.  I guess because we tend to use Southwest a lot I'd never worried about getting a credit instead of a refund.  Are you sure your mom didn't have a refundable or senior fare?


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## happybaby (Jan 11, 2008)

Luanne said:


> Hmmm, that could be.  I guess because we tend to use Southwest a lot I'd never worried about getting a credit instead of a refund.  Are you sure your mom didn't have a refundable or senior fare?



Mom had the same fare as us.....  special  , internet  ... whatever
Besides the senior fares are too high even tho I know they are fully refundable.  We just booked her with the regular fares as us.

If she couldn't go for some reason, then we would have cancelled her ticket and used the credit for future travel


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## Luanne (Jan 11, 2008)

happybaby said:


> Mom had the same fare as us.....  special  , internet  ... whatever
> Besides the senior fares are too high even tho I know they are fully refundable.  We just booked her with the regular fares as us.
> 
> If she couldn't go for some reason, then we would have cancelled her ticket and used the credit for future travel



Just one more question.  Do you request the refund, or did they just automatically give it to you?  It could be that I've just always had the credit go into my account for later use and never investigated getting a refund.  I've always figured that non-refundable meant just that.....no refund.


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## happybaby (Jan 11, 2008)

Luanne said:


> Just one more question.  Do you request the refund, or did they just automatically give it to you?  It could be that I've just always had the credit go into my account for later use and never investigated getting a refund.  I've always figured that non-refundable meant just that.....no refund.



Luanne:
You have to call SW and have them credit your charge card, otherwise it will automatically go into your account as a credit for future travel.
I never knew this until I had to call SW Customer Service about something and then they mentioned about the credit on your CC and then asked for it to be transferred from my SW account back to my CC

It takes some time to show up, but it does get done!  I believe my credit went back to my bank account since I used that when booking.


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## Luanne (Jan 11, 2008)

happybaby said:


> Luanne:
> You have to call SW and have them credit your charge card, otherwise it will automatically go into your account as a credit for future travel.
> I never knew this until I had to call SW Customer Service about something and then they mentioned about the credit on your CC and then asked for it to be transferred from my SW account back to my CC
> 
> It takes some time to show up, but it does get done!  I believe my credit went back to my bank account since I used that when booking.



Thanks!  Now I'll know for future reference.


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## jlwquilter (Jan 14, 2008)

happybaby said:


> Besides the senior fares are too high even tho I know they are fully refundable.  We just booked her with the regular fares as us.
> 
> If she couldn't go for some reason, then we would have cancelled her ticket and used the credit for future travel



Senior fares are fully refundable?? 

I didn't know that. I've booked my dad twice, once as sr. fare and once (this time) as regular fare...the cost of the sr. fare was the same as the other listed fare and I figured it was best to have his the same as ours (just in case). Hmmm... if this is true, then I will do the sr. fare going forward...why not have it refundable for the same price?!


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## Luanne (Jan 14, 2008)

jlwquilter said:


> Senior fares are fully refundable??
> 
> I didn't know that. I've booked my dad twice, once as sr. fare and once (this time) as regular fare...the cost of the sr. fare was the same as the other listed fare and I figured it was best to have his the same as ours (just in case). Hmmm... if this is true, then I will do the sr. fare going forward...why not have it refundable for the same price?!



Double check if the senior fare is refundable.  My sister (who doesn't travel much) is the one who told me this.


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## happybaby (Jan 14, 2008)

Luanne said:


> Double check if the senior fare is refundable.  My sister (who doesn't travel much) is the one who told me this.



Travelers 65 years of age or over may get details on fares, limitations, and any restrictions via Reservations on southwest.com, from a Southwest Airlines Reservations Sales Agent or a travel agent. Fares are subject to change until tickets are purchased, but Senior Fare tickets are fully refundable. Please see details below for tips on how to make your travel experience on Southwest Airlines even easier.

Even tho the Senior fares are refundable I still purchased my mom a fare at the ding or internet special.  The senior fares are not always cheap.  I figure if she couldn't go, I would use that money towards credit on a future flight.


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## Luanne (Jan 14, 2008)

happybaby said:


> Even tho the Senior fares are refundable I still purchased my mom a fare at the ding or internet special.  The senior fares are not always cheap.  I figure if she couldn't go, I would use that money towards credit on a future flight.



I agree.  Most of the time the senior fares are not the cheapest.  A few times when I've checked they have been though.  And as you point out, if the flight needs to be cancelled you'll still have the money to use towards a future flight.


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## travelplanner70 (Jan 14, 2008)

My trip begins July 31, but does not end until Aug. 9.  Does anyone know when the next group of tickets goes on sale?  Thanks.


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## Luanne (Jan 14, 2008)

jo-jo said:


> My trip begins July 31, but does not end until Aug. 9.  Does anyone know when the next group of tickets goes on sale?  Thanks.



You can go ahead and buy the outbound tickets now.  I did that one time since my trip was "split" like yours is.  With Southwest there is no penalty for purchasing your tickets like this.  You just need to remember that they will have different locator numbers.

Since Southwest changed the opening date this time around I don't know if anyone would feel safe quoting a date at this point.


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## jlwquilter (Jan 15, 2008)

I just checked and SW had not posted a tentative date for the next schedule yet. As I will be looking for better flights for my upcoming trip, I'll be checking often and will post the new date when it's listed.


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## travelplanner70 (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks so much for your help.  I, too, need to purchase the return segment of my summer trip.


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