Southwest "Wanna Get Away" Tickets?

[TheCowboy]

Hey everyone,
I will need to travel to Dallas (actually Denton) twice in 3 months come June. I am taking a look at the prices for a round trip 1 stop plane ticket and WOW they were a lot more expensive than I thought. Southwest Airlines seems the cheapest at $297 for one way "Wanna Get Away" tickets. It will be 600 round trip.

Anyone ever buy these tickets or know anything about them? The date will be June 16th. I want to get there as early as possible by 12 PM central time. These are the cheapest tickets I could find but I have been reading they come with a whole bunch of restrictions but I want some personal reviews.

If this is not recommended, what airline generally has the cheapest tickets? I've searched all the Orbitz, Priceline, Kayak websites but they all are the same things. Southwest just never showed up on there and I wonder if they are missing anything else too.

Thank you!

 

[Hoofbite]

www.kayak.com

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I love Southwest. Best airlines and second place isn't close. That said, the restrictions on the wanna get away tickets are that they are non refundable and I don't think they are transferable.

But if your dates are solid and you know there is no chance to cancel I'd go with it.

 

[VietCowboy]

southwest is great. If the price goes down, just re-book at the lower price. You won't get back the difference, but you will get the difference credited for a future flight within the next year. Plus, if something comes up and you do have to cancel, then you'll get credit for the whole cost of the flight to use towards a future flight on Southwest. Win-Win.

I would say, check the prices regularly. SW often has sales. Also, I hope you have Rapid Rewards, and sign up for the newsletter to know when their sales are happening. Sometimes, it's a one day event.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

southwest is great. If the price goes down, just re-book at the lower price. You won't get back the difference, but you will get the difference credited for a future flight within the next year. Plus, if something comes up and you do have to cancel, then you'll get credit for the whole cost of the flight to use towards a future flight on Southwest. Win-Win.

I would say, check the prices regularly. SW often has sales. Also, I hope you have Rapid Rewards, and sign up for the newsletter to know when their sales are happening. Sometimes, it's a one day event.

^^Trust this woman.^^

She knows her deals.

 

[ologan]

Where would you be flying out of? I don't think SW flies out of Rochester. Perhaps LaGuardia? Also,If memory serves correctly, SW doesn't fly non stop from the east coast to Dallas. I know to get to Dallas from Atlanta you have to have a stop in either Houston or Austin. Something about the "Wright Amendement" being in place for a few more years. I'm not sure,but I think Air Tran doesn't fly into Dallas. Could be wrong!

 

[TheCowboy]

AirTran was the main airline in Rochester but they were sold to Southwest. Last time I flew to Dallas we had to stop in Atlanta which was no trouble really. $1,700 for 3 tickets round trip for my orientation and then in August I will need 2 round-trip and 1 one-way. Crazy expensive.

I really like the idea of the rewards program but is it another credit card though? Or just a rewards card such as Sporting Goods or Best Buy? VietCowboy, would you recommend this for a freshman in college in the fall that might travel to Rochester, NY and back from Denton, TX maybe twice a year?

EDIT: I also see Delta offers 3 tickets for $1,550 but they do not have a rewards program.

 

[ologan]

I needed a new credit card for my company,as the old CC company really screwed up their rewards program. We got a SW Visa and got two round trip tickets on SW for free right off the bat. We pay the card off every month, and the rapid rewards points add up quickly. I am so glad they began to fly into Atlanta and Greenville-Spartanburg,SC. GSP is only 75 miles from the "barn", and Hartsfield-Jackson is about 120, depending on which way you go to get there in Atlanta.

I know Air Tran is owned by SWA now, as I think SWA really wanted the gates in Atlanta really bad. I looked on Air Tran's site, and didn't see where they go into Dallas anymore.

BTW,you DON'T have to get a SW credit card to join the rewards program!

 

[VietCowboy]

AirTran was the main airline in Rochester but they were sold to Southwest. Last time I flew to Dallas we had to stop in Atlanta which was no trouble really. $1,700 for 3 tickets round trip for my orientation and then in August I will need 2 round-trip and 1 one-way. Crazy expensive.

I really like the idea of the rewards program but is it another credit card though? Or just a rewards card such as Sporting Goods or Best Buy? VietCowboy, would you recommend this for a freshman in college in the fall that might travel to Rochester, NY and back from Denton, TX maybe twice a year?

EDIT: I also see Delta offers 3 tickets for $1,550 but they do not have a rewards program.

It's just a reward program, you can get a credit card so if you use the card, it can add points, but the cc is not necessary.

But, note, the rewards program is by passenger, not the person buying the tickets. So, the points go to the passenger.

Delta may be cheaper if you know for sure that you won't change plans. Plus, likely that in 4 months, the Southwest flights will drop in price. Also, you get 2 free checked bags with SW.

 

[TheCowboy]

It's just a reward program, you can get a credit card so if you use the card, it can add points, but the cc is not necessary.

But, note, the rewards program is by passenger, not the person buying the tickets. So, the points go to the passenger.

Delta may be cheaper if you know for sure that you won't change plans. Plus, likely that in 4 months, the Southwest flights will drop in price. Also, you get 2 free checked bags with SW.

So at Orbitz I can get 3 round trip airline tickets, 4 days car rental and a 4 night hotel room all for what Southwest is offering for 3 round trip tickets. Meeska!

 

[VietCowboy]

So at Orbitz I can get 3 round trip airline tickets, 4 days car rental and a 4 night hotel room all for what Southwest is offering for 3 round trip tickets. Meeska!

That might be the way to go. I use evreward.com to see which sites have cashback rewards to earn even more back.

looks like if you use discovers link, you can get an exta 5% cashback. Mr. Rebates will give 3%.

Evreward will also have coupons at the bottom of the page, see if you can use any of them (may negate Discover's 5% since they don't allow extra coupons).

http://evreward.com/store/go/1658##

 

[TheCowboy]

That might be the way to go. I use evreward.com to see which sites have cashback rewards to earn even more back.

looks like if you use discovers link, you can get an exta 5% cashback. Mr. Rebates will give 3%.

Evreward will also have coupons at the bottom of the page, see if you can use any of them (may negate Discover's 5% since they don't allow extra coupons).

http://evreward.com/store/go/1658##

Thank you for the help I really appreciate it!