does anyone know when southwest is going to release its next set of dates?

Answer 1

I know what you mean, the latest day for travel has been May 10th for quite some time. I'm going to guess within the next few weeks or so they will extend the booking window since we are nearing 3 months between now and May 10th. The same thing happened to me last year, I waited forever for them to extend the dates through the entire month of December.

GUESS WHAT??? Southwest JUST extended the sates to August 24th!

Answer 2

You can book up to 6 months in advance. There are reasons for the restriction on booking such as the times of year the flights are scheduled such as the differening flight availability requirements for different times of year.

Historically there are times of the year that are "the busiest travel times" and airlines have to make accomodations for that.

Also when new aircraft are introduced to the fleet there are flight schedule modifications, as well as new city openings, new base openings, staffing changes, and as always changes in demand for service to certain cities.

There are many variables taken into consideration when producing a flight schedule and restricting it to 6 month advance is most certainly not to inconvenience a patron.

It would be much more of an inconvenience to allow someone to make a reservation 1 year in advance and then, as some other airlines do suddenly cancel the flight and either reaccomodate the passenger on another flight, another day, or as sometimes happens not at all as the flight no longer exists.

Southwest tries to operate in the best interest of everyone involved and works hard to keep the prices low so that everyone has the opportunity as it says to be "free to move about the country".

Answer 3

I have no idea but this is just another reason why Southwest Airlines is not a good airline, haha. And they've potentially lost business from me (not that I usually fly them anyway) but I've booked a lot of travel beyond May 10 already - I fly a lot for business and have meetings and conferences scheduled into the summer and have booked with other airlines. Chances are I would have booked with other airlines anyway, but I certainly would have checked Southwest's fares if they had posted them.

Answer 4

It's a well kept secret. I've asked a couple of times when I've called into the reservation center and the agent has said that they can't tell me. But I have a hint that maybe will help a little. if you watch their website promotions, generally they specify a specific end date. However when they're only a few days away from extending the schedule, it will say "through the end of the current schedule." That's been a consistent clue for me that has worked.

Answer 5

Go to http://www.southwest.com

You can plan trips up to 6 months in advance