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


MaiseyM
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I am flying a crew to Florida during peak time (Christmas, 2018). I am trying to compare prices and Southwest hasn't listed their prices yet. I know they have free luggage. I don't know if there is enough of a savings that it's worth waiting until they list the price or if I should just buy from someone else. I just have no idea when Southwest Air will list their December, 2018 prices. Does anyone else know? Trying to plan for a family of 5, so a few hundred on each ticket can make a bigger difference in my family. Thank you.

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I am flying a crew to Florida during peak time (Christmas, 2018). I am trying to compare prices and Southwest hasn't listed their prices yet. I know they have free luggage. I don't know if there is enough of a savings that it's worth waiting until they list the price or if I should just buy from someone else. I just have no idea when Southwest Air will list their December, 2018 prices. Does anyone else know? Trying to plan for a family of 5, so a few hundred on each ticket can make a bigger difference in my family. Thank you.

Probably not until July/August.

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Check to see how far out they are currently selling tickets. Then, count how many more weeks your would need to hit your travel dates. That should give you a good idea of when your tickets should be available for sale.

 

For example, if flights were available now through the end of November, you would need to wait another 4 weeks or so. If they are available through the end of October, you would have about 8 weeks to go.

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Southwest schedule is out through 8/6. On February 15 it will be extended through the end of September. I’d say some late spring. We are waiting too.

If I remember correctly, they usually come out with a schedule that stops just short of Thanskgiving. The next cycle covers Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I'd guess we are about 3 cycles away from Christmas flights.

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I am also waiting for flights for the week of Thanksgiving from MCO to SJU. Originally, the flight schedule said it would be released on February 2 and would include through October. Now, it says released on February 15 but it still only includes through October. We are waiting to book for November 17 so it looks like it might be a few more months. When possible, we only use Southwest; however, it is just a little frustrating that it is kind of hard to plan in advance because of the late release dates.

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On February 15, 2018 Southwest will open schedule for sale through October 1, 2018.

 

The next release after that will include to about mid-November and will be released about Mid-to late March....

 

BILL

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If you go on the SouthWest website and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Look in the category "Flying Southwest" go to the last part where it says "Flight Schedules".

If you click that, it says when they will open the next dates and how far out they will go too....

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I bought our tickets from delta last weekend 200 each person round trip.

April

 

Wow. Great price. And by the time Southwest opens up for those dates, the great Delta prices will be long gone. But on Southwest, bags fly free!

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And by waiting, the Southwest passengers pay a lot more....

 

 

 

No not necessarily. We fly out of Pittsburgh and I just checked American into Miami for our cruise in December and it’s almost $600 per person round trip which is nuts. Plus I’ll have to pay for bags.

 

I’m happy to wait for southwest, which will probably be at least half that if not more plus we will probably have enough points to fly free. The other plus to southwest is that we have a companion pass so I fly free when my dh does. Plus the bags. Totally worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

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No not necessarily. We fly out of Pittsburgh and I just checked American into Miami for our cruise in December and it’s almost $600 per person round trip which is nuts. Plus I’ll have to pay for bags.

 

I’m happy to wait for southwest, which will probably be at least half that if not more plus we will probably have enough points to fly free. The other plus to southwest is that we have a companion pass so I fly free when my dh does. Plus the bags. Totally worth the wait.

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That does seem very high. Did you check ITA software? For eight nights in December, Delta and American show $172-$184-$200 round trip for random dates.

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Just copy and paste the link that irishgal342 has provided you and you can check their website from time to time.

 

My experience is that usually they hit the dates they mention but sometimes the first day they don't have everything loaded.

 

Try to book when fares are first available assuming you like the pricing. You likely will not see them reduce rates.

 

In the meantime compare with other airlines but know that the rates on many airlines can change frequently.

 

Keith

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No not necessarily. We fly out of Pittsburgh and I just checked American into Miami for our cruise in December and it’s almost $600 per person round trip which is nuts. Plus I’ll have to pay for bags.

 

I’m happy to wait for southwest, which will probably be at least half that if not more plus we will probably have enough points to fly free. The other plus to southwest is that we have a companion pass so I fly free when my dh does. Plus the bags. Totally worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

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I agree. We always wait for Southwest, especially when flying to SJU from MCO and it has been half the price of other airlines. With Southwest, it really depends on where you are going and if you book early. We decided to fly to Vegas in a few weeks. We normally fly cheap with SW by booking on the release date but since it’s only a few weeks away, the rates were crazy expensive. We booked delta instead.

 

 

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We always wait for Southwest, especially when flying to SJU from MCO and it has been half the price of other airlines.
Just to be clear, is Southwest half the price that other airlines are charging when Southwest bookings open, or is Southwest half the price that you could have paid on another airline several months before Southwest bookings open?

 

It's one thing to say that Southwest is now charging $300 for flights on the route when it would now cost $600 to book on another airline.

 

But what if you could have booked that other airline for $200 at an earlier time?

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That does seem very high. Did you check ITA software? For eight nights in December, Delta and American show $172-$184-$200 round trip for random dates.

 

 

 

No I haven’t, I don’t know what that is. We are going over Christmas, so I know that it’s going to be higher.

 

 

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