Airlines extend summer booking schedules
We are seeing great prices on summer flights, but you’ll need to act fast if you want to catch a bargain.
Southwest recently extended its booking schedule through Aug. 24, bringing down the price of domestic summer travel.
Other airlines are matching the budget carrier’s fares, so you aren’t limited to travel on Southwest. But if you think you may have to change your ticket before a summer flight, it’s a good idea to book travel on Southwest, since the airline doesn’t charge a change fee.
Keep in mind that you still have to pay any difference in the fare if the price goes up for your desired Southwest itinerary. (Many other carriers charge $100, plus any difference in fares, if you need to change a ticket.)
When we checked prices before Southwest extended its schedule, round-trip prices for summer travel on other carriers on many routes were running up to $120 higher than what we are currently seeing.
For example, for travel from Dallas, sample round-trip fares for late-June travel included $240 to Fort Lauderdale, $326 to Seattle and $349 to Boston.
After Southwest extended its schedule, we priced fares for travel on the same dates at $189 to Fort Lauderdale, $239 to Seattle and $245 to Boston. These sample fares include taxes and fees.
Even though we are seeing sale fares for summer flights, discount seats may be hard to find for travel June 15 through Aug. 15. During that period, you have competition from many travelers who have summer break, and since cheap seats are limited in number, they will sell fast.
Seats will be especially tight for July 15 through Aug. 15, so if you want to travel then, you may have to pay a higher fare. If you’re traveling to a destination that doesn’t have high summer demand, fares probably won’t jump, but if you’re heading to the western U.S., the northeast corridor or Florida, demand will be high, and fares may reflect that.
It usually pays to be flexible when shopping for low-cost fares, and it’s especially important during peak seasons. Travel on Friday, Sunday and Monday often is more expensive than travel midweek.
Another strategy is to look at alternate cities if your desired itinerary is high-priced. For example, flights to Fort Lauderdale often are cheaper than flights to nearby Miami, and flights to Manchester, N.H., usually are lower than those to Boston.
Sometime at the end of March or the beginning of April, we expect Southwest to extend its schedule again for travel into September. If you want to travel at the very end of summer within the U.S., that will be the time to look for bargains.