Tricks to get the lowest prices on Southwest flights
These are the best tips I know for getting the best deal on Southwest flights.
First some important background information: Southwest ticket pricing is extremely volatile. Prices can go up and down every day. There are statisticians whose job it is to maximize revenue for Southwest. So they are going to do their best to do that.
And because Southwest uses dynamic pricing for its points tickets, you see all the same pricing variations as you do with cash tickets.
When a cash price on a Southwest ticket goes up — the number of points to book that ticket will go up proportionally.
And because pricing is ever-changing — the price on a route can change up and down a lot.
This is ultimately a good thing because Southwest also allows you to change your ticket for free.
If your ticket has dropped in price and you paid with points — you can cancel your ticket and then rebook the exact same route — and you'll therefore get a refund of any difference.
This is one reason we LOVE paying with points on Southwest, it makes it so easy to get these refunds back to our account when ticket pricing changes.
Since I recorded this video, Southwest has made a few slight changes to fare classes. With the Basic fare, you can only cancel and not change your flight. This means it is important to book one-way tickets if you’re booking Basic fares. That means if EITHER of your legs change in price, you can cancel that one leg and rebook the cheaper flight.
This video also explains how to use Southwest schedule changes to your advantage!
