My wife’s family is in San Francisco, and we usually go out there for a couple of weeks at Christmas. Because money is tight, we book well in advance and get the cheapest fare possible. Sometimes that means flying into Oakland rather than SFO, which is fine because BART takes us right where we need to go anyway.
We are about to book our tickets and this year, unlike some previous years, the cheapest deal right now is on Southwest, who are offering $97 each way, for a total of about $225 per person once all taxes and fees are added in.
My ticket is no problem, as i’m probably going to go from about December 20 to anout January 4. My wife, however, wants to stay until about January 17.
The problem is that, right now, the Southwest website is only taking reservations up to January 9. I suggested to my wife that she just buy the ticket to Oakland now, and buy the return leg when they becaome available. The only concern i have is when that it likely to happen, and whether there will be cheap fares on offer when it does. I mean, if she has to pay $200+ for the return leg, she might as well fly United and add some frequent flyer miles.
Has anyone had any experience with this cutoff date? Any idea when it’s likely to change, and what the fares are likely to be?