Need plane ticket advice

We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany
to MCO. Internet fares have been locked up since those dates opened
up. I've never been locked out of cheap fares on Southwest before.
Should I book what I can for a small fortune now or hold out for
cheaper fares?

If you haven't signed up for SW Ding. Do so and put in both airports. You
may see special fares there up to 1 week before flying. The good thing
about SW is that if you book a higher priced fare you can always "cancel" it
and use those monies to book the lower priced fare. I had a BWI-LAS trip in
January. 1 week before the flight I got Dinged for a $50 savings on one way
fare from LAS to BWI (I have both originating airports set in the My
Airports part of Registration). Did the two Windows Explorer trick (one on
the current reservation and one on the Ding reservation). Cancelled the one
way back and immediately the funds showed up to be used on the Ding fare.

They (as of Noon today) had a $69 one way NS from Albany to MCO on their web
site. Return wasn't very good though.

"Peppermint Patty" <cinderella836m> wrote in message
news:1170175628.784731.47420@j27g2000cwj. ...
> We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany
> to MCO. Internet fares have been locked up since those dates opened
> up. I've never been locked out of cheap fares on Southwest before.
> Should I book what I can for a small fortune now or hold out for
> cheaper fares?
>

Peppermint Patty wrote:
> We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany
> to MCO. Internet fares have been locked up since those dates opened
> up. > Should I book what I can for a small fortune now or hold out for
> cheaper fares?

Patty,
I assume you are talking of Albany, NY.
My daughter and family drove from Rochester to Newburgh to get some cheap
rates a few years ago.
Have you tried flying out of there ?

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany to
MCO.


You might want to fly out of Rochester.
I just checked and Airtran has non-stop flights from Rochester to Orlando
for $89.00 for those dates.

--
JerryD(upstateNY)

Thanks Jerry. Yes I meant Albany, NY. I think we want to keep it as
simple as possible. We've always had great luck with SW plus I have
a voucher I have to use by April so we will stick with SW for this
trip. Not only that, but we're talking about 6 people. I have two
dogs and an 84-year-old mother to get situated while we are away so
would prefer not to have to add a lot of extra time to the time we
already will be gone. I think we will just end up biting the bullet,
pay the high prices, and hope for pixie dust to open cheap fares for
us!

"Peppermint Patty" <cinderella836m> wrote in message
news:1170175628.784731.47420@j27g2000cwj. ...
> We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany
> to MCO. Internet fares have been locked up since those dates opened
> up. I've never been locked out of cheap fares on Southwest before.
> Should I book what I can for a small fortune now or hold out for
> cheaper fares?
>

Patty,
If it helps... our last few trips, I've booked SWA from ALB-MCO as soon as
the window opens up. I typically get round-trips in the $225-240 range. I
then respond to Dings and SWA Frequent Flyer emails and have typically
gotten it down to around $130 round trip.

The extra, unfortunately, is not a refund but a credit and it does have a
time limit.

> Patty,
> If it helps... our last few trips, I've booked SWA from ALB-MCO as soon as
> the window opens up. I typically get round-trips in the $225-240 range. I
> then respond to Dings and SWA Frequent Flyer emails and have typically
> gotten it down to around $130 round trip.
>
> The extra, unfortunately, is not a refund but a credit and it does have a
> time limit.

That's okay. I've been living with money account with SWA for about
2-1/2 years now so what a few more bucks? I really think that Ding
fares are going to come across as the time gets closer but my cousin
is starting to panic so we'll get our tix tonight and wait and see
what happens over the next couple of months. Thanks, Steve!

In article <1170175628.784731.47420@j27g2000cwj.. com>,
"Peppermint Patty" <cinderella836m> wrote:

> We're planning our trip for 4/27 - 5/05. Want to take SW from Albany
> to MCO. Internet fares have been locked up since those dates opened
> up. I've never been locked out of cheap fares on Southwest before.
> Should I book what I can for a small fortune now or hold out for
> cheaper fares?

Providence has experienced a surge in business since the trouble with
Boston/Logan tunnels/traffic. I found I got the best fare about 6 weeks
out, and then was able to save further with a DING fare about a week
after that. Our fare was 142 each with all taxes and fees, not the
cheapest I have ever seen out of PVD, that was 111 a while ago, but
still not bad.

--
Sandi

Dear Cousin (heretofore known as DC) got panicky so we ordered our SW
tickets together online the other night. I ran into a problem with my
SW voucher. Our trip dates are 4/27 to 5/05. My voucher for $352 had
an expiration date of 4/30. I go in to book the trip and couldn't
proceed. Due to the expiration date of 4/30, my entire trip has to be
completed by that date. I went in then and had to book the trip for
me, DH, and DD as two separate one-way tickets. I was able to use
$206.70 of the $352 for the tickets down (we got an internet fare for
the 12 noon nonstop flight). I called SW and was told that I had to
call customer relations to try to get an extension on the voucher.
When I finally got through, the woman would not extend the date by
five days. We couldn't get Internet fares so I had to pay the $566
for the return trip. HOWEVER, she did tell me that the remaining
funds are transferrable. Fortunately DS didn't get his ticket yet so
if he goes, he can use that money and reimburse me so all is not
lost. Of course when the fares go down, as they probably will, I will
have a refund due to me again. I will somehow have to argue for a
refund to my credit card and not a SW voucher again. Ah well, such is
life.

"Peppermint Patty" <cinderella836m> wrote in message
news:1170343649.355054.197350@s48g2000cws. o...
> Dear Cousin (heretofore known as DC) got panicky so we ordered our SW
> tickets together online the other night. I ran into a problem with my
> SW voucher. Our trip dates are 4/27 to 5/05. My voucher for $352 had
> an expiration date of 4/30. I go in to book the trip and couldn't
> proceed. Due to the expiration date of 4/30, my entire trip has to be
> completed by that date. I went in then and had to book the trip for
> me, DH, and DD as two separate one-way tickets. I was able to use
> $206.70 of the $352 for the tickets down (we got an internet fare for
> the 12 noon nonstop flight). I called SW and was told that I had to
> call customer relations to try to get an extension on the voucher.
> When I finally got through, the woman would not extend the date by
> five days. We couldn't get Internet fares so I had to pay the $566
> for the return trip. HOWEVER, she did tell me that the remaining
> funds are transferrable. Fortunately DS didn't get his ticket yet so
> if he goes, he can use that money and reimburse me so all is not
> lost. Of course when the fares go down, as they probably will, I will
> have a refund due to me again. I will somehow have to argue for a
> refund to my credit card and not a SW voucher again. Ah well, such is
> life.
>

Patty,
When you say 'voucher', is that the unused funds attached to a prior
reservation? If so, it sounds like you need to complete travel by the
expiration date - not just purchase a ticket. True?