The blog discusses the cheapest day to buy Southwest Airline tickets, focusing on key areas like low-fare calendar, rapid reward points, family boarding facility and credit card policy.Southwest Airlines was incorporated in 1967 as a major low-cost carrier in the US.
The airline is highly admired and awarded for its one-of-a-kind value and hospitality across 11 countries. Operating mostly in short routes, the airline features low-fare, no-frills air service with the exclusive use of Boeing 737 aircraft. Buying Southwest Airline tickets at the right time can be a bit of a struggle. This blog is going to take you through the secret sauce of snagging the best deals on Southwest Airlines, so that you can save extra for your snacks or souvenirs.
Southwest Airlines typically releases its flight schedules about six to seven months in advance. As a regular airline, Southwest keeps on offering attractive discounts to the frequent travelers. If you are a loyal customer, you can book a flight on a very good budget. To get the right price at the right time, you need to know the cheapest days to fly with Southwest Airlines. Middle working days, that is, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the highly recommended for buying Southwest airline tickets. If you wish to travel during the off-season, you are likely to get the most affordable deals at any day of the week.
Early bird check-in facility of Southwest gives customers the convenience of automatic check-in before the usual time bracket of 24-hour depending on the availability of seats. However, Southwest Airlines charges extra for this benefit depending on the length and popularity of the flight. Here’s a list of strategies you can adopt for avoiding Southwest’s early bird check-in fees.
According to Southwest’s Family boarding policy, if you have at least one adult in your group who has a child of six years old or younger, you can board through the “Family Boarding” window and grab your preferred seat. The child can sit next to an accompanying adult without any additional cost. This way the travelers can save money by taking their family along. A family of 4 is likely to save up to $100 this way and still find the best seats together.
You can leverage Southwest’s flexible change and cancellation policy to book a flight with the intention of changing it later if necessary. This will allow you to check-in closer to your departure time without needing to pay for the Early-bird check-in.
Check out selected credit cards of Southwest, such as Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, to get exclusive benefits like two Early Bird check-in credits per year.
Southwest Airlines releases its price chart at least 1-3 months in advance for domestic trips. For international travel, the schedule and respective prices are released at least 6-8 months in advance. Southwest Airlines uses a demand-based pricing system, and the charges of the tickets vary according to the travel dates. If your travel date is approaching, your ticket price is likely to go up. Note down these points while searching for the best time to get airline tickets on Southwest.
You can take the advantage of the “No Change fees” policy of Southwest to rebook when the prices actually drop. The good news? You will get the refund equivalent to the difference between the original and the new price. The refund will be disbursed in the form of a flight credit.
The Group Travel Program of Southwest airline is aimed towards extra flexibility and affordability for people travelling in groups. If you have ten or more people in your group, you can have access to special discounts off published fares.
The Southwest Low Fare calendar is a tool that allows users to easily search the available low fares for their desired routes across the whole month. You can identify the cheapest dates of flying with Southwest and plan your travel accordingly. Here’s a detailed explanation.
Southwest’s low fare calendar shows you flight rates on a monthly basis. You can filter out flight prices using specific routes or dates to decide on the right day to travel. If you are planning to book a flight within the US and are still confused about the date, you can have a look at the flight prices for an entire month in cash or points and find the cheapest flights during the first nine days of the month.
You can use Southwest’s low fare calendar to find flights that allow use of Rapid Rewards points (RRP) & Cash + points options. To try out this benefit, navigate to the Low Fare Calendar on Southwest Website, select your desired travel dates and routes. Within the flight viewing options, log in to your Rapid Rewards account and select “Cash + Points” as your payment method. The system will automatically display flights that combine cash + points to pay for your tickets.
You have plenty of time to monitor fares and find the price that suits your budget. Here’s a list of factors that help you find the best day to purchase Southwest airline tickets.
Many travelers opt for buying tickets on Tuesdays, as Southwest Airlines often announce sales on this day. However, no single day can guarantee the absolute lowest fare, and travelers are recommended to stay flexible.
Southwest Airlines runs weekly sales with additional promotions throughout the year. Sign up for price alerts and check the website for regular updates on deals and offers.
Southwest Airlines has introduced “Wanna Get Away Plus” fare that gives travelers all the freedom they want while flying with this airline. The most attractive amenity of this fare is 8x more Rapid Reward Points, which turns quickly into real rewards.
Known for its customer-friendly policies and flexible options, Southwest rolls out a range of perks on holidays seasons for the customers. Here’s a list of exclusive perks to find on Holidays.
If you plan to travel on Holidays, you are eligible for complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks on selected flights over 250 miles based on availability. The Holiday list starts from New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and ends at Southwest’s Birthday, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. For all cocktail lovers, you can request a beer, wine or cocktail on the house. You must be 21 or older to avail the benefit of free alcoholic drinks.
Southwest offers a wide range of free nonalcoholic and drink coupons for the Rapid Rewards members. If you are flying to Hawaiian Islands, this service is only limited to water and juice. If you are flying “Business Select” you are still eligible for the drink coupons. You can even save on drinks without Southwest drink coupons by booking with Southwest credit card. Get 25% back on in-flight drinks and Wi-Fi along with Rapid Rewards Points by using these credit cards.
Free Wi-Fi
Inflight entertainment is a surprising amenity of Southwest through which you can watch a variety of TV shows, listen to music and play games free of cost. Just bring your own tablet or smartphone to access this benefit. If you are a holder of Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business card, you can get up to 365 inflight Wi-Fi credits per year.
Truth behind Southwest airlines ticket price drop
Budget airlines like Southwest are widely known for changing prices very often, multiple times per week. If you look at past trends of price change, you can see many fluctuations and the early booking strategy may not always hold true. A lot of research works on Southwest price changeshas revealed that the safest approach is to book no later than 9 weeks to departure. Even 7 weeks to departure may get you 50% better deals. Southwest airline tickets go down according to a number of factors, such as, seasonality, popularity of destinations and balance between offers and demand. We suggest you make data driven decisions to beat smart airline price management algorithms.
Southwest regularly offers sales on fares, and this is seen mostly on Tuesdays. You can make either cash booking or redeem Southwest points to get tickets at “sale” price. You can check Southwest’s predictable fare sale calendar that shows reduced prices on selected routes nearly every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you’re lucky you may even get prices as low as $39 for one-way flights. Here’s a list of things you can have a look at.
Monitoring Southwest Frequent sales and promotions
Savvy planners know the real value of timing and save up to 50% during flight booking. Pay attention to promotional details and use these lucrative periods to enhance your journey under a tight budget. Track announcements made by the airline and stay informed about the upcoming events to get the alerts for price change at the right time. You may consider exploring new destinations if flights are cheaper.
A number of sales or promotional programs launched by Southwest apply to cash bookings. During these periods, customers are recommended to select “cash payment” mode for taking the full advantage of sales or promotional programs.
If you are searching for a low-cost carrier in the US, Southwest Airlines must have popped up in your search results. Unlike other low-cost carriers, Southwest offers exciting price discounts and an abundance of schedules to more destinations than you can find. Find below all the necessary details you need for booking a flight on Southwest.
Based in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Airlines flies nearly to 120 destinations in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Southwest Airlines offers four fare classes with their respective benefits. However, all fares have “No change fees, two bags fly free and No cancellation fees.”
Southwest allows you to bring one carry-on bag and one personal item onboard completely free of cost. In addition, you can also carry two checked bags for free if they meet weight criteria.
Southwest understands your last-minute plan cancellation and hence, it only charges a difference in fare if the new charge costs greater than the original.
Some of the special items are included in this section, such as, 3rd checked bags, overweight checked bags, upgraded boarding, unaccompanied Minor, and Wi-Fi.
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Timing is everything when it comes to snatching the best deals and discounts. Planning, strategizing and being flexible can be the key to making your much-awaited vacation budget-friendly. While travelling with Southwest Airlines, you must remember the fundamental terms & conditions and the policies to make every penny count. Stay savvy, stay smart and book your next adventure at your desired price. Happy Flying!
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