Southwest to Ft. Lauderdale

[Julma]

Just checked and the flight I booked is down about $50 pp. It is a web only rate, can I still call and ask for a credit? The tickets are non-refundable, so I know the credit will be in the form of a voucher.

[familycruzer]

I did it a couple years ago. I had to cancel my flight and then rebook using the credit. Just be aware that you only have a certain amount of time to use the credit.

[amilicia]

You should be able to log on to southwest and change your reservation to the lower fare which would then in turn leave you with a credit on your account. Then they will email you a voucher for future use with southwest, at least that's what I've done in the past. Vouchers are only good for a year though.. so don't forget to use it or you'll lose it.:)

[familycruzer]

I guess I had to cancel mine because the first reservation was done over the phone and then the web special was lower.

[Julma]

Thank you. I had to do it on-line. It was easy. Just had to go into Travel Tools and then to Change Reservations and work through it. Took about 3 minutes and now I have a $110 credit....good reason for another trip!!

[Nanatravel]

Good for you. That is one reason I like Southwest. I have never received a voucher, just have to "remember" that I have a credit to use later.

 

Bon voyage

Nanatravel

[martinchem]

Hope you save some $$.

[recyclelady]

I did this last year when my flight to LA dropped twice. Just did it via the web sitel

 

They did not mail me anything. My credit, however, was visible on the site.

 

We are using the $200+ we saved from the California tickets for our fare to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks.

 

I love Southwest for this reason too. It is kind of like booking a cruise and staying on top of the price changes. On a cruise it can become OBC...on Southwest it comes travel $ credits!

[megr1125]

just be sure to use it or lose it. IIRC, it must be used by 1 year from the date the ticket was originally booked....

[Keith1010]

You can cancel it. You can rebook it. And then you must use the credit within one year from the time you booked the original flight.

 

Keith

[Michael Kays]

I just booked on SW yesterday and the fare was $89 FLL to SMF. I didn't book SMF to FLL because the fare was $169 so I thought I would wait and see if it went down. Now I see after two days the fares have skyrocketed. Can anyone tell me why that fare was only for a couple of days and now the fares are all up to $179+:eek:

[Keith1010]

Many times SW has several different prices on a route so it's possible that the lowest fare prices sold out. It's all about supply and demand and what the competitors are doing.

 

Keith

[Michael Kays]

good thing we got it when we did..guess I'll just sit and wait and see what happens for our fly from SMF to FLL I'd rather pay a bit more for SW becasue we still get free baggage which for the four of us on this cruise willbe $400 dollars

[NCMtnBoys]

Vouchers are only good for a year though.. so don't forget to use it or you'll lose it.:)

 

just be sure to use it or lose it. IIRC, it must be used by 1 year from the date the ticket was originally booked....

 

And then you must use the credit within one year from the time you booked the original flight.

 

Keith

 

I've actually been able to extend my credit by a year, too. This was probably 2-3 years ago so I'm not sure if they still do it, but I called and told them I was not going to be able to use it, and asked if there was anything I could do to extend it. They said if I paid $50 I could extend the credit by a year. So if your future credit is more than $50 and you're not going to be able to use it, it might be worth it to pay the $50 to extend it.

[recyclelady]

One thing I've learned about booking Southwest--

 

I don't book it as a roundtrip, but rather two one ways. That way if a fare goes down on one of the legs I don't have to rebook the entire thing.

 

For instance: Suppose the original prices were $100 each way. That would be a total of $200. But then the fare on one leg went down to $70 but the other half skyrocketed to $160. Rebooking would result in a RT of $230. But if each leg were purchased separately, I could rebook just the fare that went down ($100 to $70). Then my original $100 fare would stay in place and I would have the new $70 fare on the second half. My total would have then dropped to a total of $170.

[sharona211]

That's a great tip - thanks for sharing it.

[Michael Kays]

SW has no sense to adjusting fare prices..they just came out through March..I'm looking for SMF to FLL r/t 1/22/2010 return 2/30/2010.. Tuesday I grabbed a $89 pp FLL to SMF, but the SMF to FLL was all $179, so I grabbed one way only. Wed all fares went up to $179 for several weeks in front and behind my departure date..so today two of the four flights on the Friday I want went back to $89 fares, but not the early one I'm looking for..but the day before, Thurs has the $89 fare at the early flight I want....wondering if I should grab it and pay for a hotel one extra night? There are four of us and the savings is significant over other airlines averaging $269 pp plus luggage ($100 pp r/t)

 

SW r/t @$89 for 4 is $910, while other airlines average $1466 with luggage.

[Julma]

Originally I booked roundtrip for my husband and myself. Our flight down went down in price and our flight home went up. I changed our flight down, leaving our flight home. So you really don't have to book them one way, just change the flight you want. SW is very consumer friendly.

[blindrid]

I just booked on SW yesterday and the fare was $89 FLL to SMF. I didn't book SMF to FLL because the fare was $169 so I thought I would wait and see if it went down. Now I see after two days the fares have skyrocketed. Can anyone tell me why that fare was only for a couple of days and now the fares are all up to $179+:eek:

 

Does the term supply and demand mean anything to you ;) ?

[TakeMeAway1001]

One thing I've learned about booking Southwest--

 

I don't book it as a roundtrip, but rather two one ways. That way if a fare goes down on one of the legs I don't have to rebook the entire thing.

 

For instance: Suppose the original prices were $100 each way. That would be a total of $200. But then the fare on one leg went down to $70 but the other half skyrocketed to $160. Rebooking would result in a RT of $230. But if each leg were purchased separately, I could rebook just the fare that went down ($100 to $70). Then my original $100 fare would stay in place and I would have the new $70 fare on the second half. My total would have then dropped to a total of $170.

 

I always book r/t on SWA and always change just one leg of the trip if the price drops. It gives you the option online to change any portion of the r/t and you don't have to cancel and rebook. I have made at least 4 changes to our r/t in Oct which for us has resulted in a nice credit for future use.

[Michael Kays]

Does the term supply and demand mean anything to you ;) ?

 

supply and demand would provide a logical answer for the rise in price if the demand was constant and the supply diminished..yesterday the price dropped back down to $89 for 2 of the four flights for that date.

[letsgocruz1]

I always book r/t on SWA and always change just one leg of the trip if the price drops. It gives you the option online to change any portion of the r/t and you don't have to cancel and rebook. I have made at least 4 changes to our r/t in Oct which for us has resulted in a nice credit for future use.

 

Yep, same here. You do NOT have to book two one-ways.

[Michael Kays]

I did grab those two $89 fares SMF/FLL, and I'm thinking it makes sense to grab the other two regardless of the price and then rebook them if the price drops..that way I'm assured of having 4 seats on the same plane:D

 

I will get the Early bird options for all four fares both ways.

[BarbaraP]

I have 2 questions for those of you that fly SWA frequently:confused:

Is there no charge to change a flight once it is booked online?

 

Also I am claustrophobic and need an aisle seat, has anyone paid the extra $10pp for early boarding so I can assure an aisle seat???

Thanx in advance, BarbP

[recyclelady]

I always book r/t on SWA and always change just one leg of the trip if the price drops. It gives you the option online to change any portion of the r/t and you don't have to cancel and rebook. I have made at least 4 changes to our r/t in Oct which for us has resulted in a nice credit for future use.

I didn't realize you could rebook one leg and leave the price of the other leg intact! Thanks for clueing me in!:o