Southwest has opened up another month of their schedule with bookings now available through April 6, 2014.
Most airlines allow new bookings around 330 days out whereas Southwest generally opens up their schedule around 90-180 days. There are no federal holidays over this newly opened period but booking early never hurts with Southwest.
The Southwest advantage
What makes being first to book even more attractive on Southwest is that you can book speculatively on both revenue and awards reservations! Southwest will refund your money in the form a Southwest dollar credit if you choose not to take the flight. Similarly, if booking a flight on points, Southwest will refund all points to your account. All taxes are refunded in full to your credit statement. This can be very useful if your plans are not completely finalized at this point.
Keep checking the airfare even after you book
Most people are used to checking airfare until the purchase is made and then ending their interest in the transaction. Southwest is the opposite. The first fare you pay is only the starting bid. Those seeking a better fare can continue to check the same flight and take advantage of fare sales, fare reductions due to capacity, and rebooking to be included in promotions. Southwest does not charge any change fees so when you see a lower fare on your route, you can rebook (call or online) and take the difference as a credit for a future flight.
The next window of availability
Southwest has indicated the next window of availability will open on October 14, 2013 which will enable bookings through June 6, 2014. A quick hint. I always keep an eye on the calendar and can tell you 99% of the time the calendar actually opens a few days before the date they suggest. Happy bookings!
About alex
Alex loves to travel and does so a lot. Logging 100,000 flight miles each year over the past 4 years, Alex uses points and miles to power his passion. Alex is continuously striving to experience the far reaches of the globe. In his day job, Alex is a Management Consultant frequently on the road advising Technology organizations. I love thinking about, reading about, and talking about all things travel. Feel free to reach me at pmmalex@gmail.com
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@Tyler – You think this was bad?! I once left my phone unlocked in my jeans and my butt blogged about a 5% off hotel coupon. It spelled Hyatt with a unicorn emoji. You can’t possibly think this post was worse than that one.
Thank you for posting this information. I found it very helpful. I live near SNA where 80% of the direct flights are serviced by SWA, so for me this is need to know info.
Thanks for posting this. I’m bummed… I tried to convert some AirTran points over to Southwest and that availability for flights was already gone to NC in March. Thinking more about it, that’s because of March Madness and Duke, NC State, and UNC are always major players in college basketball. So, it’s not unrealistic that these flights would already be gone with 24 hours.