Summary

  • Southwest Airlines offers great deals and perks, like two free checked bags and open seating.
  • The Low Fare Calendar helps travelers find the cheapest days to travel to their chosen destination.
  • Travelers can use the Low Fare Calendar to rebook flights at a lower cost and utilize Rapid Rewards points for even cheaper fares.

The Dallas-based carrier is among the favorite low-cost carriers in the United States. Southwest Airlines offers great deals for domestic flights within the US and offers flights to Hawaii and the Caribbean as well. The airline is well-known for several standard inclusions per ticket, including two free checked bags for every passenger and open seating.

A Southwest Airlines 737-700 flying in the sky.
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Southwest Airlines utilizes a special tool to help travelers find cheap flights. The Low Fare Calendar helps travelers find when their flights are significantly cheaper or assists in tracking price changes before booking. The airline also prohibits automatic devices from scraping data on its website. This means that no tool can pull any information from the Southwest Airlines website to another website, including ticket prices or routes. This prevents the airline from being included in popular search tools, such as Google Flights. Because of this, it is essential to know how to find the best deals on the Southwest Airlines website itself, which is typically done by using the Low Fare Calendar. Let's take a look at how the Low Fare Calendar works and some other tips that many travelers may benefit from in the future.

How the calendar works

The Low Fare Calendar can be found on the Southwest Airlines website home page. The calendar displays the starting price of tickets from two selected destinations per day on a month-by-month basis. The calendar makes it easy for travelers to see which day would be the cheapest to travel to their intended destination and back to their original departure city.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 as it takes off.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

For travelers looking for cheaper flights, users can open the Low Fare Calendar under the flight booking interface. The traveler can then enter a departure city and arrival city. The user also selects a month to display flight prices. The Low Fare Calendar then shows the cheapest ticket price for each one-way route to the desired destinations in the given month. Clicking on a day of travel then displays all flight options for that day. This provides a clear display of ticket prices for travel between specific cities.

Tips for finding great prices

There are a few unique ways to utilize the Low Fare Calendar to secure budget-friendly tickets. One way travelers have found to take advantage of Southwest policies is by rebooking flights when the price drops. Southwest Airlines has unique cancelation and flight change policies. Travelers can use the Low Fare Calendar to wait for price changes on days they have already booked flights. If the flights drop below what they initially paid for the tickets, the passenger can rebook the flight at a lower cost. Southwest will credit the difference back to the passenger. This difference will either be paid in travel credit or Rapid Rewards points.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 about to land.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

The Low Fare Calendar also has a search option for passengers trying to pay for tickets with Rapid Rewards points. This allows users to take advantage of cheaper flight opportunities while also using up some of their earned reward points. The point offerings are also flexible for certain days, indicating that some days have much cheaper travel fares.

There are other options for Rapid Rewards members to find cheap fares. Members can take advantage of Companion Passes, which allow someone to fly with the member for free, by earning and spending Rapid Rewards points. This benefit can be acquired by earning 125,000 Rapid Rewards points throughout the year.

  • Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 San Francisco
    Southwest Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    WN/SWA
    Airline Type:
    Low-Cost Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Dallas Love Field, Denver International Airport, Harry Reid International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Midway International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1967
    CEO:
    Robert Jordan
    Country:
    United States