End of Middle Seat Blocking on SW - December 1

Yeah, I agree 100%.

I have booked a solo mega trip (aka 2 weeks), potentially with girlfriends for a few days, for April. I normally would be traveling with my mom then but I want to wait a couple of extra months (more folks vaccinated) before she travels to Vegas. I nabbed for myself $622 out of Newark on MINT in late April and $760 on MINT in early May back to JFK, which is always the most expensive route. Not spectacular but not bad either. In contrast, my MINT flight for 12/26 I was able to book yesterday for $510 out of JFK and $433 I think for MINT back to Newark in early January.

I can very much see fares going up starting in April and May and I think SW purposefully isn't booking past mid-April now because they want to see how things play out in the next few weeks. That booking window, however, seems so short. I love that you can book Jet Blue flights now through Labor Day.

I'm looking at late June/early July for the trip with my mom and nabbed the last two MINT pods for July 5th LAS back to JFK. The fare was definitely higher but not horrific; about $950 but that includes the flight from JFK to Buffalo. I think without that the fare would have been about $760. It's now $1000 given that I just purchased two tickets for the flight last night.

And I agree, the fares can drop. I've had my fares drop almost in half. My April/May fares are good so I don't see those changing nor do I see a July 5th fare dropping but hopefully prices get a tad better for our June flights TO Vegas. They aren't bad now though so I may just bite the bullet.

 

That bums me that they eliminated middle seats so soon.

So my next MAYBE trip, end of Jan., I booked FIRST flights of the morning.
In the hopes that will be light.
Especially on the return.... Not too many folks want to Leave Vegas at 6:30Am.

Other than that..... I'm surprised, but maybe not shocked, that you can only book SW into April.
Never seen their schedule be that short before.
But I would be booking a gazillion $39 fares, and they know it.

 

Sorry to be hijacking the thread a bit OP, but another update is that Jet Blue cancelled the Buffalo to JFK flight I am on and instead put me on one that is at 6 am, getting into JFK at 7, for my Vegas flight that leaves almost 13 hours later. That first flight is now already a little crowed and will only become more so. So, I can't believe it but I took a look at Delta, which is blocking middle seats until the end of March. It's not MINT, but there's a FC fare from Buffalo to Vegas, connecting through Detroit, for less than $400 and it's a great flight with a very short layover, leaving Buffalo after 6 pm and getting in a little after 10 pm, so now I'm seriously considering that.

Anyone have recent experiences with Delta?

Edited to say: FC from Buffalo to VEGAS for under $400.

 

anyone have the full plane experience yet on SW post Dec 1st?

 

I Flew back from Vegas December 2. It was about the same as before. As we boarded they told us flight was only 75% full and encouraged people to spread out. While Middle Seats were not blocked I did not see anyone in middle seats on either of my flights. In flight service was still the same with water and snacks. Masks on unless drinking or eating.

 

Thought VMBers might like to see communications from SWA if plane full... I got this today.

We want to make you aware that a portion of your trip with Confirmation #XXXXXX to Las Vegas includes a flight that may not allow for an open middle seat next to you. In addition to the multi-layered approach we are taking to support your well-being and comfort, we are currently making an exception to allow you to change to a similar flight option at no additional charge*.

Alternate Flight Option
To change your flight at no additional charge, your new flight option must (1) include your same origin and destination, (2) be within three days from your original date of departure, and (3) at the time you are requesting the change, have a forecasted capacity of space available onboard greater than your original flight. If you'd like to book to an alternate flight, please call us at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792), and we will be glad to assist you.

Do not attempt to change your flight on Southwest.com® as that may result in a change with your fare. Please be aware that the alternate flight you choose may ultimately depart with middle or all seats occupied as tickets are often purchased right up to the time of departure**.
.......

 

That may come up for me in a couple of weeks. Wanna guess on which flight I am booked?



The other problem is that just based on flight costs, there aren't a lot of seats remaining on any of the flights, and none of them are particularly enticing options for switching.

 

It is the Monday after Super Bowl. Maybe some people will cancel based on how Big Game parties turn out.

 

Curious how far before departure did they send that out?

 

These messages are not new. Usually they are sent out a few days before the scheduled flight

 

In the small print it says if you change you flight you may still be screwed and have middle seats filled

 

Yeah, when I received this message before a flight last month I interpreted it as saying your flight will have middle seats occupied, but if you want to change to a different flight that may or may not have middle seats occupied, you can do that

 

OK, not seen one that warns about middle seats, but also not flown SW since November. Haven't seen one yet for my flight tomorrow, hopefully I won't.

 

Yep got the same email yesterday for my Friday flight out as well. Figured it would be pretty full being a Friday.

 

I flew on SWA last week (MKE to LAS) and there were plenty of empty seats...I had an open seat next to me.

 

It most likely means they are not anticipating enough passengers to fill the middle seats. Good luck

 

I head right to the main counter, ask for a pre board and extra seat, due to my fat ass, bad legs, and bad back.
Never been refused.

 

Yeah, if you purchase an additional seat, then you don't have to worry about discussions of someone sitting in the middle seat

 

Well... I won't be able to report whether the cautionary email was an accurate indicator of plane load- I just canceled my trip this weekend.

 

Did not receive any warning email. Just boarded our flight every seat is Completely Full!