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Southwest full flights?

Discussion in 'Getting There & Getting Around' started by sheilawithvegasfever, Oct 28, 2014.

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  1. sheilawithvegasfever

    sheilawithvegasfever Tourist

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    We have direct flight, round trip to Vegas on 11-10 to 11-14. Usually flights are full, but I have been checking and booking is still available for 8 seats. Isn't that unusual, this close to flight dates?
     
  2. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

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    Two weeks is still lots of time. Plus, airlines oversell flights by 10-15%, so being able to book a seat does not equate to it's actual flight load. Then there are airline employees flying standby that won't show until the flight is boarded as well.
     
  3. user3657

    user3657 VIP Whale

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    yep. and not all flights are always full. I have been on plenty with just a handful of folks. Really depends on where you are coming from and the time. This time of year is slow until the holidays as vacations slow down and kids are back in school.
     
  4. KKB

    KKB VIP Whale

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    You are also flying weekdays--weekdays in November are some of the slowest times of the year, (Dec. is probably the only slower month)
     
  5. lotso-bear

    lotso-bear VIP Whale

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    +1. Also have to account for those who might have misconnected. Generally, this is when a lot of companies book their travel so they avoid change fees.
     
  6. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    What site are you looking on where it tells you there's 8 seats left on a Southwest flight? I've never seen that on Southwest, you don't choose your seats at booking, and they overbook, so I don't see why they would display a number for seats remaining.
     
  7. GottaLuvCruising

    GottaLuvCruising High-Roller

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    I expect my Southwest 11/9 -11/14 flights to be full as they usually are. But I tried the OPs method just for kicks & giggles. I can still get "wanna get away" fares for 7 people...surprising to me that those would be offered unless there still are a number of spaces available.

    I paid for EBCI and when a lower fare was offered, I did NOT re-price my ticket as I'd have no use for the credit. So my hope is for a lower "A" boarding pass on my outbound (aisle seat towards the front or window bulkhead.) On the return, I'll be happy just to get an aisle seat as I did book a low fare (with EBCI.)
     
  8. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    Aha, now I know how OP figures there's 8 seats left.

    Also, on not rebooking the lower fare:
    If you kite Travel Credits like I end up doing a lot, you do wind up in situations where there's no point in rebooking because the credits will end up expiring before you can use them. So it makes send to leave the fare alone and get the "additional" Rapid Rewards points. Plus, I've come to the conclusion that the #1 determinant of EB position is price paid, and then date booked.
     
  9. mdlee3_46041

    mdlee3_46041 MIA

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    I may be wrong, but I don't think that's the order when it comes to EB position. I say this because in February, I booked a flight to Vegas. While I was looking, I checked out Delta fares because they are my preferred airline and also SWA fares. This was 2 1/2 weeks before the flight. Delta had a really low fare so I booked through them and SWA still have Wanna Get Away fares still available on the flight I was looking at, but they were $700. Keep in mind, this is close to departure date so that's why they were so much. If I would have booked that flight, no matter how much I paid, I shouldn't have ended up in a better position than somebody that booked 2 months earlier. If it worked this way, then you'd see a bunch of people waiting until the very last minute to book their flights to get a better position even though they'd pay a lot more.

    A few years ago, I booked a flight for myself and about a month, month and a half later, somebody else asked if they could go with me. I said it was fine and they said they weren't comfortable booking airline tickets so they gave me the money to do it for them. When I booked my flights on SWA, it cost me $360ish and then after EB, it came to $375 or so. This was the year they raised the price of EB, but before they actually raised it. My friend's flight came to $470 and then I got EB for her too so it ended up being $484 or something like that. I do know that she paid roughly $100 more than I did. Anyway, it came to the day to fly and I printed out our boarding passes at my house and I got A19 and she was somewhere in the A30s. If it was based on price paid, she would have been ahead of me somewhere.
     
  10. sheilawithvegasfever

    sheilawithvegasfever Tourist

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    I just went to sw site, entered rdu to las, dates 10/10 to 10/14. Under number of seats, I chose 8, the max number showing. Only 1 way nonstop showed each way available, which are the flights we have. It would book them for total of just under 4k.
     
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