We are flying from California to Florida next January and plan on flying southwest (we use their credit card and have a bunch of miles). We have to buy 5 tickets, so of course would like to save $ if possible! It looks like they will release flights for our dates in july—do I buy when they’re released or wait until October when they usually have their sale? Hoping to get opinions from those that buy airline tickets more often than I do!
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I would look at them when they are released and see what you think of pricing. I expect that the sooner you buy the cheaper on Southwest but if it isn't a super high demand time maybe it will get cheaper? We just bought tickets this am literally right when they were released for OAK to OGG flights over Christmas. I knew those weren't going to be any cheaper and have seen that if we had waited until later today they would have gotten more expensive.
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I usually never wait for sales, I find it better to buy right away in my opinion.
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Since you're booking Southwest, I think you're safe to go ahead and book whenever. If the price does drop you can rebook and get a credit with no extra fees. Since you're planning on booking with miles it's not like you're tying extra money up in Southwest. But even if it is extra $ you might get a lower price booking right away, and even if you don't it's not completely lost.
ETA: This link describes how that all works: https://thepointsguy.com/2017/11/rebook-southwest-flights-lower-rate/
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Agreed with the above, particularly because I find many of the 'ideal timing' or lower points fares tend to sell out.
We also have the SW cards and use points for our flights. If you haven't, you might want to look into upgrading to the Priority card (vs. premier) as there are some nice perks if you know for sure you will be traveling. Things like a SW travel credit which we use to cover fees for booking that aren't covered by points. It also gives you 4 priority boarding upgrades for free so you can get on the plane during A1-15 boarding which is really nice when traveling with kids so one parent can get on immediately and sort of save seats for the rest of the family when they come on with family boarding.
Also thanks@JennyPenny: I didn't know about this and it will for sure ease any anxiety around booking early!
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Thanks for all the info! I will plan on booking in july when our dates are released!
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5 comments