I BLOGGED. YOU FLAMED. WE CHANGED.

> >

Wed, 04/18/2007 - 08:25 — Bill Owen

Admittedly, while that's not quite as catchy as Caesar's famous Latin phrase "veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), it pretty well sums up the aftermath of my "Why Can't I Make Reservations Further In Advance?" blog piece. In it, I explained the rationale behind Southwest's policy of not allowing reservations more than 180 days in advance, and why we on occasion will drop to 90 days of bookable "inventory" before we extend the booking window back out to 180 days. Talk about sticking your head into a hornet's nest! We got 274 replies, and from the tone of some of them we quickly realized that, at least for some of you, a few of our policies were out of step with your travel needs. So...we're changing! We heard, from both Customers and Employees alike, that you didn't like our policy of not publishing the dates on which we plan to extend the schedule. No problem! We now make the tentative, planned date of the next schedule extension available to our Reservations Agents, and in short order this information will be prominently displayed at southwest.com. Bear in mind that the planned schedule extension date will always be subject to change, as we have to "tweak" the date every now and then, due to forces beyond our control–so while you can use the date as a planning tool, please check back occasionally to make sure the date doesn't change. As they say in the commercials."but wait! There's more!" Effective immediately, we will consider 120 days of bookable inventory as our minimum when getting our schedule ready for peak travel periods, such as summer or the Holiday Season. I can't promise that we will never go under this minimum for those heavy demand periods again, but I can promise that we will do everything in our power to make sure you always have more than 120 days of available flights to choose from. I can promise that it will take something almost cataclysmic to prevent that from happening. For other, less heavy travel periods, we will try to keep a minimum of 100 days of inventory available for your booking pleasure. On the other "end" of the booking window, we're going to push the maximum available inventory from 180 days to between 190 and 200 days of inventory–and once again, we'll pay particular attention to making peak travel periods available for booking as far in advance as possible. So there you have it. We heard you, loud and clearly, and we reacted. I realize some of you wish we would extend the booking window even further out, and while we won't do that this "go-round" we will continue to study the issue and may, at a later time, choose to do so. In any event, I hope these changes make planning your travel on Southwest easier. Like all airlines, Southwest appreciates your business–but unlike other airlines, we LUV you, and we appreciate your honesty! Thanks for all of the responses and thank you for reading "Nuts About Southwest!"

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Comments

All very good changes, Bill. I especially appreciate the tentative advance notice of schedule extensions.

Thanks very much to you and your team for accomplishing these needed improvements!

Drew — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 13:57

Bill... Thank YOU for listening to the feedback, accepting it, and acting on it!

Again, you show to all that Southwest spirit.. many businesses would have ignored such comments, and stayed short of accepting any kind of responsibility...

Hopefully you didn't have too much of a hard time, as there were a LOT of comments made...

... and we do look forward to your next post :o)

Raphael Sheffield — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 13:58

Good to see you back Bill. I think the appropriate Latin phrase would be Ã

Jim — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 13:58

I just called Reservations and the person I spoke with didn't know when the schedule was going to get extended. I think usually a six month window is enough but when it is a big travel holiday and kids going back to schools over labor day planning occurs considerably further in advance.

Will — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 14:01

Another thought:

Many people have long been frustrated by the scheduling practices, but it took the responses to Bill's January 24 post to show the depth of that frustration.

These changes show how seriously Southwest takes this blog and its Customer participants, and further proves that this blog is not simply an avenue for corporate self-promotion.

Drew — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 14:22

I travel from Philadelphia to Hartford a few times a year and when I recently went on-line to makes reservations for my flight noticed there are no flights to Hartford. After calling a representative for Southwest she stated the schedules where closed to certain cities in slow periods. I'd like to know if you are going to open up the schedule again and offer flight between the two cities anytime soon? Thank You

Heidi — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 14:23

I am glad to see there are changes to this policy. I am trying to book flights for my honeymoon in September (Manchester to Tampa so I can get on a cruise ship) and I desperately want to fly Southwest due to the prices and great service, but can't yet.

Hopefully this means in the next week or so, I can book these flights!

Chris G. — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 14:58

Horray for Southwest! The schedule is open right now up to right about where I need it, but for the October and November holidays it'd be nice to be able to book in advance while still in classes this year!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Southwest's a winner!

Matthew Skok — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 16:32

Thanks for listening! Part of the reason I fly ONLY Southwest!!

Kim — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 16:34

Bill,

Hello my friend. You rock!!! I felt bad for you last time, you got hammered. It reminded me of the open seating post by Gary Kelly!!!! Gasp!!! That generated a lot of responses. Southwest has done it again... who needs a bill of rights????? Southwest has always put their customers first not second..

uss blog boy

francisco.delgado — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 18:22

question when does the south west booking books open up for christmas? Thinking of trying out the new SWA city Dulles.!?

Greg — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 20:44

Thanks for the change in the booking process. I only have one question about that: WHERE ARE THE DATES? I CALLED THE RESERVATION LINE AND THEY ACTED LIKE I WAS CALLING FROM A NUT HOUSE! YOU POSTED THAT YOU WOULD MAKE THE TENTATIVE DATE AVAILABLE. WHY DONT YOU TELL THE EMPLOYEES FIRST BEFORE THE PUBLIC SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT AND BE ABLE TO USE THAT GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE WE ALL HEAR ABOUT!

Jonathan Thomas — Wed, 04/18/2007 - 23:39

Since the schedule was opened to August 24, there has been 3 changes with added services. Can you imagine all of the rewrites if the schedule was open for a year?

How many long nights and trucks full of candycorn has Bill and company been through lately? You can't even count on how many aircraft you will have because they keep getting more and those planes need to fly somewhere.

Modern life made easy
Ding! boy
Joe

Joe Friedmann — Thu, 04/19/2007 - 00:40

I called the reservation line to find out the new schedule release date and the customer service agent said "they promised to give it to us, but they haven't yet."

Miranda — Thu, 04/19/2007 - 15:21

What most people don't realize is that although many airlines will book up to 11 months in advance, when doing so I can guarantee you will receive a half a dozen phone calls from them advising of a "Schedule Change". By the time your travel date comes around, you are leaving hours later/earlier, changing planes in two cities rather than one or, on another airline period!

Southwest will put out it's flights a few months at a time, and in almost all circumstances you will be flying on the date, flight and time you booked in the beginning!

Way to go SWA, this is why you are #1 in Customer Satisfaction year after year and in my heart and eyes as well!

Robert Carner — Thu, 04/19/2007 - 20:06

"Thanks for the change in the booking process. I only have one question about that: WHERE ARE THE DATES? I CALLED THE RESERVATION LINE AND THEY ACTED LIKE I WAS CALLING FROM A NUT HOUSE! YOU POSTED THAT YOU WOULD MAKE THE TENTATIVE DATE AVAILABLE. WHY DONT YOU TELL THE EMPLOYEES FIRST BEFORE THE PUBLIC SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT AND BE ABLE TO USE THAT GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE WE ALL HEAR ABOUT!"

Whoa, hold on now. This was just announced to US (reservations agents) that they were going to announce the date of the schedule opening on the 17th. That was Tuesday. They said it would be released to us either Wednesday or Thursday. At what time of day it was released, I don't know. I wasn't here yesterday. All I know is the tentative day for release is April 26th open for sale until November the 2nd. Of course, the date is subject to change.

Paco Cerda — Fri, 04/20/2007 - 00:42

Greetings, all! Sorry I haven't responded until now--I've been out of town with limited access to email.

First, to Will, Johnathan Thomas and Miranda....the information went out, as scheduled, on Wednesday, but many Agents didn't see it until today. So--sorry 'bout that! But they have it now....and if you've read the above, you now know that as of April 26h we'll extend our booking window out to November 2.

Paco, I hope the info is in a place that is easy for the Agents to find. If not--let us know! Now go give Linda Schwarz and Tammie Flynn some LUV from me!

USS Blog Boy....thanks, and BTW I'm sorry I missed your celebration when you arrived home in ABQ. I arrived at the gate at Love Field just as the plane was pulling away--*OOOPS!* However, I'm glad you were surprised--hope you had a great visit home--and appreciate your support!

And to everyone else....guys, honestly, I didn't take all of the hubris and furor from the last post personally. (Well, okay, I took one of them personally, but I got over it really fast) I'm glad you all were honest enough to let us know we weren't meeting your needs--and, as you can see, we took that feedback to heart and changed things to make it easier and more convenient for you to fly us. And that's really what it's all about--getting your business, keeping you happy, and achieving total and complete global domination. bwaHaHAHAHAHAH!!!!! (kidding! just kidding about that last part!)

Thanks, everyone......keep booking! :)

Bill

Bill Owen — Fri, 04/20/2007 - 04:28

whoaaaah hold your horses there
:o)

Give the guys/gals a chance... this has juuuust been announced, and will require a little while to get going... and as Bill said, the dates should be available very soon on Southwest.com

:o)

Raphael Sheffield — Fri, 04/20/2007 - 07:15

I'm glad to see SWA is listening to what thier customers want. I fly a lot from Baltimore (Usually SWA when I can.) But there are airports that SWA doesn't fly to. It would be nice to see the company move into other airports. They have only moved into Dulles recently (and San Francisco coming soon.) I fly a lot to Minneapolis but usually have to pay a high price because one airline has monopoly on the gates. It would be nice to see SWA move into one or two gates there and fly to key cities like Chicago, Las Vegas, and a Florida city where they can switch planes. MSP is in desperate need of a discount airline and people there wouldn't mind switching planes for a good price and service.

Steve — Sat, 04/21/2007 - 21:19

Hi, you said on April 26th the schedule will open until Nov 2nd.
Do you have any idea when the rest of 2007 will open up?
Last year I booked a Dec 17th flight in the middle of August.
Do you think the rest of this year will open sooner this time around?

Thanks for the help!

Lois Rosenfeld — Mon, 04/23/2007 - 00:31

Lois,

Unfortunately, no. We just have a release date for April 26 right now. I'll post it here as soon as the next set opens.

Jedi Blog Master

Paco Cerda — Mon, 04/23/2007 - 04:16

Steve,
I agree.
There would also need to be several n/s to dtw so they can "take" some customers away from that over priced hub carrier in both airports who just happens to hog both airports.

A tradition in airplane dining experience for over 35 years!
Ding! boy
Joe

Joe Friedmann — Mon, 04/23/2007 - 11:39

Well that's great that SW is listening to what some customers want. I'm a SW customer, and what I want, are rewards that I can use. Why have separate reservations available (or unavailable, as seems to be the case with any semi-popular flight) for use with the not-so-rapid-anymore rewards awards? Why not just make any flight you can book, payable with cash, credit, or award?? Maybe that would make too much sense and make the rewards worth too much. I guess the point of the SW's version of a frequent flyer program is to fill up flights in the middle of the week. Let's see if this flame produces a change. I won't hold my breath.

Brent — Mon, 04/23/2007 - 20:41

Hi. I have a couple of questions
1) Do you know what time on the 26th the new schedules will be released? Will it be at midnight?
2) Will DING notify users of the release of the new schedules?

Tom — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 12:16

Tom- Usually schedules are extended around 11AM- 12noon on the day of the extension, based on prior trends.

There's usually a Ding! notifier about it.

Matthew Skok — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 13:15

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Steve (and Ding! boy), patience, please....after all, it took us 37 years to become the largest airline in America. Completely taking over this country's air travel market will take just a while longer. :)

Lois, right now, the planned release date for the November - early January time frame is June 28--again, we get down to just about 120 days of inventory, but in our new, more "expansive" way of managing inventory, we'll go up to 202 days of bookable service. See? We've changed!!

Brent---ummm....if I understand your point correctly, it's way, way out of my field of expertise. My group gets the schedule out there for sale. Fares and specific fare-class availability is the work of the Revenue Management and Pricing group, and is usually based on (and reflective of) demand. I'll foward your comment to them.

Tom, we almost always open new schedules at 10:00 a.m. "Herb Time". As for a Ding! notification--I'm not sure, but it sure sounds like an excellent idea. I will ask around with my friends in the Interactive Marketing group.

Have a DING! day, everyone!

Bill

Bill Owen, Southwest Airlines Schedule Planning — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 13:37

I can't get DIng to download. I have tried a few times. What exactly is the benefit? Example please.
DM-Long ISland

Donna M. — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 14:17

Examples of low Ding fares? See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=624311 and http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=684468

The last two weekends have had some phenomenal $25 and $50 fares for May and June travel.

nsx at flyertalk.com — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 16:07

I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE FARES POSTED TO SOUTHWEST IN ADVANCE THAT WAY IT WOULD BE EASIER TO PLAN,I HAVE TO LET MY BOSS KNOEW TO GET TIME IFF 3-6 MONTHS IN ADVANCE

KAREN — Tue, 04/24/2007 - 20:01

Tom, I'm saying that the award reservations are never available at times that I need them. It seems that I have a better chance getting one of the
"Internet One-way" flights than getting to book a flight with my "award". I might not be super flexible with my travel dates, but I'm definitely not limited to specific times either. I just think that an award is not very rewarding at all if I can't use it on a friday (any time) and only at pre-7am on a sunday, especially when I'm booking my flight 3 months in advance. It seems to me that there aren't even award reservations allocated to flights that are at popular times. And it seems silly to me to generate award reservation availability based on demand. I usd to think these things were as good as a free flight.

When I read
"Fly just 8 roundtrips or receive 16 credits in 24 months and weÃ

Brent — Wed, 04/25/2007 - 06:53

Donna: What OS are you running? It downloaded fine for me on XP.

With Ding!, you can plug in your airport and, when certain low-cost flights become available, you'll get a notification on your desktop. Some of these flights can be as low as $25 each way. There are restrictions, of course, but with a little flexibility in your flight plans, you could save a lot of money. We're hoping to take advantage of Ding! to get from Baltimore to Buffalo in early September.

Paul T. — Wed, 04/25/2007 - 13:44

I have 2 Rewards tickets, one expires in December 2007. How can I set up to be auto notified ASAP when the Rewards (V) schedule opens up beyond the 24 August cutoff for specific departure and arrival cities? Our travel can be flexible to a certain degree but work schedules being what they are, we don't have full control over all the dates we'd like to take vacation. The earleir we submit, the better. Even your cutoff of August 24 is not far enough out on the horizon to ensure vacation approval where we work.

Mike S. — Wed, 04/25/2007 - 14:39

Thank you, Thank you, Thank You. Another reason to love Southwest. And I truly do.

Pam Blank — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 12:00

Well, I am very disappointed in the new release. All non stop flights from Houston to New York were removed from the schedule. Now it takes at least 6 hours to get from Houston to New York. Such a shame!!!!!

Miranda — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 15:36

Southwest.com just changed to accepting reservations until November 7th, but the calendar and drop-downs do not reflect this yet.

Chris G. — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 15:38

Miranda,

Flights from Houston/Hobby to New York were operated by ATA Airlines, our codeshare partner. We have no "say-so" in what markets they serve (or not serve).

Bill

Bill Owen, Southwest Airlines Schedule Planning — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 17:20

UPDATE! Besides now being open for sale out through November 2, 2007, you can now access information about tentative upcoming schedule release dates at southwest.com!

http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/
http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/hotfares2.html
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/

Happy booking, everyone!

Bill

Bill Owen, Southwest Airlines Schedule Planning — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 17:26

Regarding the new schedule, I noticed that the lowest fare on alot of days is $117 one way, compared with the $59 that everyone is used to. Is this typical of a new schedule release and can we expect $59 one ways on the new schedule soon?

John — Thu, 04/26/2007 - 17:36

Bill,
This is just one MORE example of the reason that Southwest is so appreciated by its Customers! Lots of us deal with firms all the time that are deaf to our comments and complaints, resulting in a growing cynicism among consumers of goods and services.

But NOT the Customers of Southwest Airlines! From minor things like honey roasted nuts and power stations to major things like reservations and online check-in, we see over and over a mindset that is based on serving Employees and Customers alike with the very best that is possible.

Thank you for ALL that you do to make it easier for us!
Kim :)
External Blog Boy

Kim Seale — Fri, 04/27/2007 - 16:38

Bill

What about New Orleans??? I see Southwest adding new flights and New Orleans is never on the list. I think the only addition has been a Dallas flight. I used to enjoy flying Southwest everytime, but now it is difficult to find a flight with seats. I've had to fly American because you guys didn't have a flight to Dallas, so that one addition is better. But I had to fly AirTran to goto Vegas, because I couldn't get a flight on Southwest. I had to fly Delta to go to Orlando because . . . no southwest flight available. Please Bill don't forget about us and give us some of our flights and do what Southwest promises . . . FREEDOM.

Thanks.

Brent — Fri, 04/27/2007 - 16:40

Just nabbed some nice low fares from BWI to BUF for my brother's wedding in September! Unlike a certain U.S. carrier (hint hint), we can fly there quick and nonstop! And we'll be able to visit Canada as well. Thanks, Southwest!

Paul T. — Fri, 04/27/2007 - 20:08

Bill,
Your Latin reference [Ã

Kim Seale — Fri, 04/27/2007 - 23:35

[...] So who’s doing this well? Here are a couple good examples: Dove’s Evolution Avis’ wetryharder.co.uk Nuts about Southwest [...]

Web Liquid | thinking:returns » Blog Archive » S — Mon, 04/30/2007 - 14:01

I cannot get Ding to work correctly - now I cannot get it off my computer - It is no longer listed under programs to be removed but I get an error message as follows - Ding.exe ding parser.dll not found. Error code 10. I cannot tell where to go with this problem. HELP

Mike Murphy — Tue, 05/01/2007 - 16:41

Hi Bill,
It was great seeing you at Tyler's wedding. I know how proud you must have been! Please stay in touch. I love you and have missed you!

Dee Kenney — Tue, 05/01/2007 - 17:46

Mike,
I tried e-mailing you, but AOL bounced back the address you gave us. If you will call our Customer Relations folks, they should be able to get to the bottom of the problem.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 05/01/2007 - 18:44

i have grown to love southwest! please add savannah georgia to your list of cities served! we hate having to fly delta!!!!

janice g — Wed, 05/02/2007 - 23:48

I agree with Steve and Joe about going to Minneapolis. I fly from South Florida (Usually West Palm Beach but sometimes Fort Lauderdale depending on price and DING specials.) about twice a month and Minneapolis is one of the few cities I fly to that SWA doesn't go to. I swear MSP is the highest price per mile traveled going in and out of there. MSP needs SWA bad. It was nice when SWA partnered with ATA but ATA pulled out so now I have to use other airlines that aren't as friendly and I'm very limited on choices on good airlines that go there from here. Like Steve said, I would think SWA could start just by going to hub cities like they do at Dulles and only use one or two gates at the new Humprey terminal, people at MSP would use them even if it wasn't a non-stop flight. I have gone through Humprey terminal many times and my longest wait at security has been about 10 minutes. I wish all airports were that easy :)

Mark — Sat, 05/12/2007 - 20:11

When you get to the Southwest home page, click the "Travel Tools" tab and at the very top will be the information about the next rollout.

Scott near SMF — Thu, 05/24/2007 - 21:57

Which currently states "On June 28th, we plan to open the schedule to through Jan 16th

Scott near SMF — Thu, 05/24/2007 - 21:58

Are we still on for a release date of June 28th for the end of year/beginning new year schedules???

Cathy — Tue, 06/19/2007 - 02:28

Cathy,

Yes, as far as I know.

Jedi Blog Master

Paco Cerda — Tue, 06/19/2007 - 02:53

Cathy, and all,

June 27th is the date.....10:00 a.m., Herb time. See link below for confirmation. Happy booking!

http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/

Bill Owen, Southwest Airlines Schedule Planning — Tue, 06/19/2007 - 14:46

Bill,

RES is NOT updated with this info in SWALife! We still have the 28th.

Paco

Paco Cerda — Tue, 06/19/2007 - 22:08

I am currently experiencing the WORST airport design I have ever seen. Kansas City International !!! Here if you want to make your connection, have to go through security again, if you want anything to eat, you have to go through security again, basically if you want to change your mind, you have to go through security again. And if you a an infant they will take her juice and water and you just have to sit and listen to her scream!!

AVOID KCI AT ALL COSTS IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS!!

Phillip Wiginton — Mon, 06/25/2007 - 21:26

What is "herb time"? I need to score dEc. 21 CLE to MCO for family of 6 for WDW xmas trip. I want to be sure I"m on the right "time" to snatch them up! Thanks, Bill- we LOVE SWA! My kids, husband and I are "regulars"!

Michelle Kocar — Mon, 06/25/2007 - 22:26

Herb Time = Central Time

Jedi Blog Master

Paco Cerda — Mon, 06/25/2007 - 23:31

THANK YOU!

Michelle Kocar — Tue, 06/26/2007 - 17:59

Bill,
As always, my hat continues to be off to you and your outstanding co-workers who manage to juggle all of the various factors involved in keeping the best airline in the world moving every day.

Today's Dallas Morning News had a good story that many of the blog audience might find very interesting and informative. It discusses the challenges of working out a daily schedule for 472 airplanes crammed full of passengers, bags of peanuts and sacks of candy corn. It is very cool how your computer program helped you "find" four or five planes that you can use.

Even if you have this super-brain doing some of the crunching of data, I know that you and your team are the REAL brains behind the scheduling!

Congratulations on a job well done!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062607...

Kim
External Blog Boy :)

Kim Seale — Wed, 06/27/2007 - 02:40

Maybe at the holiday times more than ONE NS from Vegas to Orlando could be considered. Last year when I called and was unable to get info regarding the schedule update date, I monitored the SWA site daily for months and was successful getting the lowest fare. This year I did the same but I was unaware of this blog and the release of the tentative and actual date and time. This morning I was a few hours to early to see the change and by this afternoon I was to late. Obviously "everyone" but me knew. Now I have to cut something in the household budget to to cover the extra $1,000 needed for air travel in the vacation budget. I love SWA but needless to say I am very unhappy and disappointed. I guess I have learned my lesson Cie-la-vie

Kent — Thu, 06/28/2007 - 01:21

Hi this may have beeen covered but I'm new to SWA...I'm waiting for seats to be released for the week of Feb16 '08. (Presidents week) Any idea what date they will be adding those seats? Is there a specific time(12:00a?) they come out or a strategy to get the best price?

thanks in advance for your help
Sue

Sue — Fri, 08/03/2007 - 12:51

Are you kidding, where are those dates you promised back in April. There are no planning dates or any notice as to when they will be extended on the web site. As for you customer service reps. They have no clue what I am talking about. When can we book Feb. flights?

wlhsl — Thu, 08/16/2007 - 15:11

Hi Bill
Now that we are thinking about spring break for our new college freshman we are eargerly watching for the schedule to open up past March 7, 2008. Will there any advance information of the next release date and time like the one I missed last time? Is this the right location to look for this information?
Please let us know.

Kent — Sun, 09/02/2007 - 04:05

Just wondering how decisions are made regarding new airports/destinations when Southwest is expanding?

I would like to vote for Green Bay, Wisconsin, it's an NFL city not served by you! The people of Wisconsin want to see the country and being held hostage by NWO and UAL. Unreasonable prices and unreliable service have driven many of my friends to travel to Chicago for flights on Southwest.

I think you are overlooking an incredible opportunity, the business and working class need you.

Scott Laurin — Sun, 09/02/2007 - 17:33

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, bring back the Phila to Hartford route !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lori — Wed, 09/12/2007 - 20:54

Does anyone know why SWA has not offered DING fares for almost 5 days ?

RT — Tue, 09/25/2007 - 20:24

Where are the promised dates???? I need to book a flight for April vacation and I need to know when the next group of dates will be released. If I can't even know WHEN they will be released my Mom will just book all 9 of us through another airline...

elecia — Wed, 09/26/2007 - 14:01

Elecia
One of the places they are located is on the "Travel Tools" page of southwest.com. This is what it says:

We are currently accepting air reservations through March 7, 2008. On November 8, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through May 9, 2008. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Wed, 09/26/2007 - 15:09

Sure would like to know where the next release date is being posted. I can't find it anywhere. Right on the scheduling page would be a customer friendly place.

Tom — Wed, 09/26/2007 - 21:02

Ummm, Tom
Did you read my comment that is just above yours before you posted?
Your answer is there
Brian

Brian Lusk — Wed, 09/26/2007 - 21:28

OK, you posted it in a comment just before I asked. It would be a lot more customer friendly to post it on the reservations page.

Tom — Tue, 10/02/2007 - 19:52

Tom,
It is on the Book Travel page. Go to the section that asks when you want to travel, and it will tell you how far out we are booking. It's also on the front page of the site under Book a Flight. The dates are under the "From" and "To" boxes.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 10/02/2007 - 20:23

YOu say that November 8th is the next release date. Is that effective 12:00 a.m.? What time zone?

chris — Thu, 10/04/2007 - 00:05

Chris, the time varies depending on the way the computer loads are going. In the past it usually is between 8 am and noon Central Time. However, we really don't know the exact time until the schedules are being loaded into the computers, and we can monitor the process.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Thu, 10/04/2007 - 12:40

I know the current through date is posted. What would be helpful is posting the next release date. Right now we need to keep guessing. I need tickets for May 17, 2008. The Nov 8 release is only going to May 7. Is it safe to assume the next release after that will be about January 8? Having that on the site would help me not waste a lot of time.

Tom — Fri, 10/05/2007 - 17:50

I understand Air Tran has most of the market in the South East portion of the United States but with the Savannah airport expanding was wondering if Southwest would try to move into Air Trans market a little more. or any other South east airports??

Patrick — Mon, 10/15/2007 - 16:12

I have DING installed on my Mac and am no longer able to browse United.com...how do I resolve this without removing DING?

Julie — Sun, 10/21/2007 - 17:48

My last experience with your site ended up costing me more money than it should have! You site is not user friend at all! I was attempting to purchase tickets for a party of two and wanted to use two credit cards, one for each passenger. Your site would not allow me to do that and instead I had to do it in two separate transactions and thus I missed a lower fare because another transaction was completed before mine. If your site had allowed me to utilize two credit cards for one order I would have gotten the lower fare and not have to pay over $30 more for the same flight just so I could travel with my party. I tried to remedy this issue with a customer service representative over the phone but they told me I would have to pay even more than what I ended up paying. This experience has been incredibly dissatisfying and I do not like how this has effected me!

ACK — Mon, 10/22/2007 - 03:11

Why can I not schedule a flight from Phoenix Az. to Orlando Fl.? All I get is we are only excepting until 3-08? How can the little person make reservations when the big guy's hold all the cards. I have been trying to make this trip--to see my grandkids with no help from you. Even though I fly with you at least three times a year.

patricia hennigan — Sun, 10/28/2007 - 03:20

What ever happened to the Bradley - Philadelphia flight? I use take this flight about 10 times a year.

Andy — Thu, 11/01/2007 - 01:50

Patricia,
They will release the flights for after March 2008, on November 8th.

chris — Sat, 11/03/2007 - 02:33

Do we have an update on regarding the release time on 11/8?

Kent — Wed, 11/07/2007 - 05:19

When will the flights be released for the weekend of May 9th if on November 8th they are only released through that day?

Katie — Wed, 11/07/2007 - 15:47

What TIME are tickets released? Any idea? Midnight?

Mario — Wed, 11/07/2007 - 22:43

[...] CUSTOMER FEEDBACK ONÃ‚

Corporate blogging and Web 2.0 at 'Webcom Montreal 2007' | S — Wed, 11/21/2007 - 23:45

I want to book Southwest flights from Albany NY to Orlando for Thanksgiving 2008 (specifically, Sat. 11/22 departure and Sat. 11/29 return). I know this is too far out to book yet but wondered when those dates might be released . Also, is there any kind of notification system available that I can sign up for? Thanks so much. . .

Michael Mendrick — Wed, 12/05/2007 - 16:06

Since Southwest has announced the intention of open their schedule to Aug on Dec 20th, I would start looking for Thanksgiving 08 stuff begin in March 08.
Southwest keeps its schedule intentions on the "Shortcuts" page on their main web site.

Scott near SMF — Wed, 12/05/2007 - 20:54

how do i go into southwest airlines gift shop to order t shirts and caps?

virginia — Mon, 01/07/2008 - 04:03

I thought the policy had changed. I do not see the statement for hte next opening of dates on the site anymore. It only lists the dates to which you can currently book. Has the policy changed again and for the worse?

Craig — Thu, 02/07/2008 - 16:25

Craig - go to the Travel Tools page - it's posted at the top there.

Laura — Wed, 02/13/2008 - 16:07

what's the latest on flights from hartford to philadelphia?

does SW plan to re-start this schedule?

I also noticed that this questioned as asked previously and I didn't see any response

AKA — Sat, 03/15/2008 - 02:47

[...] CUSTOMER FEEDBACK ON CORPORATE BLOG TRIGGERS CHANGE - SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: After announcing on its corporate blog changes in the advance booking reservation program, the blog receives over 200 comments form [...]

Corporate blogging and Web 2.0 at 'Webcom Montreal 2007' | M — Fri, 03/28/2008 - 02:41

The "we will expand the schedule on" messages have been returned. It is currently (3/28/08) planned that Southwest will roll out its schedule to October 30th on April 17th.

Scott near SMF — Fri, 03/28/2008 - 22:21

Holiday 2008--When will Dec 08/Jan 09 be announced? June time frame?

Thanks so much,

Peggy — Sun, 03/30/2008 - 15:38

I am trying to plan a mulit city trip, and the southwest site won't make reservations past Aug. 22. Today is May 11, 2008. When will the rest of the year open up. This is getting close.

Thanks,

JBR

JBR — Sat, 04/12/2008 - 12:31

At what time of day does the new schedule open. I know tomorrow April 17th opens travel throught Sept but what time of day Eastern time???Please someone advise.
Thanks

Jeanne — Wed, 04/16/2008 - 16:31

What time of day does Southwest extend the reservation window? That's is the mega question that has never been answered.

Busy people who need to book travel to popular destinations during peak holiday times have three options:

1. Sit at your computer and refresh the reservation window until the date changes. (Hope you have a day or two off and can afford the down time)

2. Check back a few times during the days before, during, and after the advertised date. A song comes to mind, "You're always on my mind". Distracted from everything else in life trying to plan for the fun things.

3. Book another airline that offers reservations further in advance.

Makes you crazy doesn't it!

Debbie — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 11:48

In the past, it has been 10:30 AM Central Time on the day listed under Travel Tools.

Scott near SMF — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 22:58

You market your business and sell "bookable inventory". That's fine for you rinternal business planning. However, we as travelers do not buy "bookable inventory". We buy airplane tickets for travel for business and pleasure. Perhaps you should consider OUR mindset when planning how you offer us a way to travel.

Jeff Noreman — Fri, 05/02/2008 - 14:00

Love flying Southwest. But I do not agree with the policy change. Parents having small chrildren should be allowed on by pre boarding. Guess who ever changed this policy does not have small chrildren. I feel sorry for the parents and try to give them some help. It is hard enough trying to get to your seats . And then have a couple chrildren and everything else you have to carry. my view. Big mistake. A caring person

Anonymous — Mon, 05/12/2008 - 06:09

Does anyone know when Southwest will expand their schedule through October 30th?

Diaz — Thu, 05/22/2008 - 15:56

It's June 3rd and I still can't book a flight in November??? When will the schedule open up to book flights for the month of November????

Carol S. — Tue, 06/03/2008 - 07:45

Gee Carol,
did you read Bill's post above? He commits to having at least 120 days or four months of inventory to book. Right now (July 3) , we are offering almost five months of inventory. Please be patient a little while longer.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 06/03/2008 - 08:37

I will be booking a trip on Thursday 6/26/08 when the schedule opens up until January. Is 11 AM still the time to check? Does this vary often? Thank you

KC — Tue, 06/24/2008 - 12:44

Southwest.com states: "We are currently accepting air reservations through January 9, 2009. On August 21, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through March 6, 2009. This date is subject to change. Please check back frequently."
It's Aug 25th and still no booking beyond Jan 9th??????????

Anonymous — Fri, 07/25/2008 - 13:25

Again??
Southwest.com states: "We are currently accepting air reservations through January 9, 2009. On August 21, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through March 6, 2009. This date is subject to change. Please check back frequently."
It's Aug 25th and still no booking beyond Jan 9th??????????

Anonymous — Mon, 07/28/2008 - 16:13

Ummm, Dear Anonymous,
You must be living in a unique time zone. The current month is July not August. Those schedules will open in a little less than a month.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 07/29/2008 - 07:25

Wow...clearly I need a vacation...My Bad

Anonymous — Tue, 07/29/2008 - 11:04

That's okay, and we can help you with that vacation.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:26

We are planning a trip for our entire family to Disney World in April 2009 during the school break. Several of us flying from cities that don't offer Southwest flights have already booked our flights, but my daughter, who lives in Albany is waiting for Southwest. I realize you'll be releasing the dates through March 6 in another week or so. Due to the business of the spring school vacations, do you think April will be close behind in release or will it be another few months? Don't mean to be a pest, just anxious to get the flights taken care of, so we can start working on the rest of the trip. Thanks very much.

Chris S. — Fri, 08/08/2008 - 21:41

We're going on a Disney cruise in March. While we've got a deposit on airfare through Disney, we're hoping to get better fares and more control over flight times with SWA. I'm anxious to find out when the flights through March 21st will be posted. SWA is one of the few airlines that fly nonstop from Houston, and they also have the best fares. It would be great to know when the rest of March will be posted on the website (right now just throught March 6th).

Thanks!

Martin

Martin — Sun, 08/24/2008 - 08:04

Martin,
Stay tuned, Bill is doing another post about upcoming schedules.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Sun, 08/24/2008 - 12:05

When new dates are released are there always seats at the lowest price range of the wanna get away prices available? For instance I want to go from CityA to CityB on date X. The wanna get away price range for flights from these two cities is $69-$125. When the schedule for date X is released are there always some $69 seats available until they are sold? Or are there higher minimum prices for some dates?

Keith — Tue, 08/26/2008 - 20:56

Keith — Wed, 08/27/2008 - 01:36

I am planning a trip to Disney for April 2009. When will April flghts be available for purchase?

Angela D — Thu, 08/28/2008 - 19:44

I just called Southwest tonight and was told it was projected to be November 20th; in other words, starting on 11/20/08 you will be able to book flights through May 2009. That 11/20 date is tentative and subject to change, though.

Lisa — Thu, 08/28/2008 - 21:07

November 20th for April 2009 tickets. I really want to fly Southwest but I am afraid that if I wait until the end of November to book tickets that the fares will really be out of reach by then. I have a group of 8 and I currently have tickets from Buffalo to FLL for $375 spring break week. I am going to have to go with tickets on another carrier because I just can't chance waiting for Southwest to open up (even though I would book 8 tickets today at a simlar price!).

Bob — Tue, 09/09/2008 - 17:13

I have to go with Bob on purchasing from another carrier. I was waiting for SW but need 5 tickets in April BUF to TPA and can not wait until November. The carrier I am purchasing from ...prices just went from $426 to $449 in less than 24 hours. I hate to wait and see where things are at in Nov.

Anonymous — Wed, 09/17/2008 - 09:28

I just saw this on Southwest's website "We are currently accepting air reservations through March 6, 2009. On November 6, we plan to open the schedule for purchase through May 8, 2009. This date is subject to change. Please check back frequently."

kim — Thu, 10/23/2008 - 13:26

Do you know what time on November 6th SW will open the new booking window? Is it midnight or later in the day? Thank you

Anonymous — Sun, 11/02/2008 - 12:10

Hi-
Does anyone know when reservations will open for the end of July/first of Aug 2009? Hopefully by the first part of february? I am planning a trip to Disney and Sounthwest is the only airline who flys direct from my city to Orlando.

Anonymous — Sun, 11/16/2008 - 23:34

I have 2 suggestions and am unable to find a way to email them to you, so I'm using this comment.

First, as a long-time Customer and a SW evangelist, I suggest you upgrade our ability to check flight status when we're on the move. See my blog post here: http://www.allbusiness.com/transportation/air-transportation-airlines/11...

Second, when you send me a Zoomerang survey because I flew yesterday, the last question should be, "Do you have any other comments or suggestions for us?" I should be able to use a comment box to respond. Yes, you can allocate manpower to read the comments. That's what interns are for. What better way to teach them about business than analyzing comments. And that could be a solution to your inability to accept e-mails thru your Web site.

See you Thursday when I fly back.

Regards,

Glenn

Glenn — Mon, 12/15/2008 - 21:56

Glenn you will be happy to know both of your requests are on the way for the first part of the year.
Brian

Brian Lusk — Tue, 12/16/2008 - 08:48

Ok, I called and they told me new booking for June will be the 30th, I stay up till 1am, and no good, and while waiting I see the Feb 2nd Date, I take a deep breath and I set my alarm again. I am waiting patiently for Feb 2 to arrive in Dallas, and while I surf this blog I see that Feb 2nd is not going to happen till somewhere between 8am and noon( depending on which entry you happen to read ) . I would be less aggravated if this was just listed where the other info was. I will be spending almost two thousand dollars on the tickets, and as you can tell by me waiting up till 1am, in an attempt to save any money possible, do you think you could just put a specific time when the new schedule will be available for booking?? I love the airline and want to be a long term customer, I take my family of four , plus relatives,to florida at least once a year, sometimes twice. I know you have folks who fly more often, but please,realize that my annual trips represent a HUGE portion of my expendable income, and any TIME, I can save as well as money, is something that drives my purchasing decision. Please add a time, or a time range,next to you not so easy to find announcement for when you will open up the schedule for booking. Now I will be tied to the silly computer later today,checking to see if Feb 2nd has arrived yet on this website :( Thanks , a very tired and frustrated Dad. ( yes I could have booked on JB, please don't drive me to that, I have invested about 3 hours into just booking this flight, I love your airline, but hate wasting my time checking to see if the website has joined the rest of the world)

Chris C. — Mon, 02/02/2009 - 00:41

Thanks for following through Bill!
Now can we know when the next window is ? I'm not flying anybody else...
But I must admit to sitting in front of my computer somenights and "thinking "
about booking somewhere else. I already paid for my beach house vacation on Anna Maria Island in FLA. I would really like a best possible guess to book 4 people from (MAN)
Manchester NH to Tampa on the 19th Dec. -returning 2 Jan. 2010.. it makes me nuts having details- ( flight availabilty ) - not ironed out and tickets firmly in hand.
Come on Bill..give us a hint..Pleeeeeeaaaasssseeee?
( I'll send you a bucket of candy corn...ok?) -Bob & family in NH.

R Estabrook in NH — Thu, 04/30/2009 - 11:12

Any idea if there are any plans to add Savannah, GA as a Southwest city? The closest city to fly SWA is Jacksonville which is 2 hours away!!

crod8966 — Fri, 05/29/2009 - 10:52

Anyone know when Southwest will post their November schedule?
Dave

Dave — Wed, 06/03/2009 - 13:55

Bill, do you have a pdf file of all the schedule changes for November 1, 2009?? I cant seem to find one.. thanks..

jack tighe — Mon, 07/20/2009 - 16:45

Where on Southwest.com is the cycle of posting travel dates that are reservable posted - as committed in the original post? This leaves travelers calling into your CSR's - expensive for SW, and frustrating for travelers.

Andy — Sun, 08/16/2009 - 11:44

Andy,
it is at the top of the Travel Tools page.

Brian Lusk — Sun, 08/16/2009 - 20:25

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