Flying to any of the shows on Southwest? READ THIS

chukdotcom

So, because of the 737MAX issues, Southwest has to change their schedule every month or so.  There is currently a "loophole" where you can book the cheapest flight you can find between your two cities that falls between April 14 to June 6.  You can then change to it any day/time within 14 days of the flight you just booked for no cost.  Example:

Let's say the flight you want from Chicago to St Louis on 4/4 is $300.  But the flight on the 17th (13 days from 4/4) is $100.  You book the $100 flight on the 17th.  As soon as you book, click change and change to the date/time you want for free.  That $300 flight now only cost you $100. 

Note:  this loophole will only last a few days.

darwinstheory

Interesting...

dogtown

Thank you! I just tried this and saved $87 on my flights in April. I looked at the low fare calendar for that month and booked the two cheapest flights, then immediately changed the flights to the dates and times I wanted.

dunewall

I'll have to take a look...Southwest is already only $173 roundtrip from Cincy to Baltimore on the dates I want

chukdotcom

dogtown said:

Thank you! I just tried this and saved $87 on my flights in April. I looked at the low fare calendar for that month and booked the two cheapest flights, then immediately changed the flights to the dates and times I wanted.

Yup.  The only caveat is that the cheap flights need to be within 14 days.  Other than that, can potentially save a ton of money easily.  A lot of the shows are happening over school spring breaks so it can make a big difference.

MD190661

How exactly did you rebook? Call SW?

chukdotcom

MD190661 said:

How exactly did you rebook? Call SW?

Nope.  As soon as you book, there is a "change" link.  Just click it and it will show a message saying you can do a free change within 14 days.  Select the new flight and you are done.

Pro tip:  Some airports have "sister" airports (BOS/PVD/MHT).  You can actually change airports in that case.  So you can book the cheapest BOS/MDW flight, and then change it to PVD/MDW for example.  For those heading to the west coast, I believe SFO/OAK/SJC are sisters.

chukdotcom

dunewall said:

I'll have to take a look...Southwest is already only $173 roundtrip from Cincy to Baltimore on the dates I want

Unfortunately, BWI dates are going to be just outside the range anyway.  it is 4/14-6/6.  You would only be able to book a flight on 4/14 and change to 4/1 (or maybe 3/31).

dunewall

chukdotcom said:

dunewall said:

I'll have to take a look...Southwest is already only $173 roundtrip from Cincy to Baltimore on the dates I want

Unfortunately, BWI dates are going to be just outside the range anyway.  it is 4/14-6/6.  You would only be able to book a flight on 4/14 and change to 4/1 (or maybe 3/31).

Gotcha...thanks.  Based on the current fare calendar, I wouldnt save but $10-20 anyways but I'm not going to complain about any round trip ticket under $200!

chitownp76

So if I wanted to fly from Chicago to Phoenix on 4/10 and return 4/13 would this work?

vedpunk

Does this work when booking with points?  So you can book the flight with lowest points and then change to your more desirable flight without having to use more points?

Leezestarr313

Too bad it's only good for April.

chukdotcom

chitownp76 said:

So if I wanted to fly from Chicago to Phoenix on 4/10 and return 4/13 would this work?

Yes. 
The cheapest outbound is $117 on 4/18.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/10.
The cheapest return is $97 on 4/15.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/13.

You can probably book this as a round trip from 4/18-4/22 as well and then change, but I always book my southwest flights one way at a time.

AlltheWay23

chukdotcom said:

So, because of the 737MAX issues, Southwest has to change their schedule every month or so.  There is currently a "loophole" where you can book the cheapest flight you can find between your two cities that falls between April 14 to June 6.  You can then change to it any day/time within 14 days of the flight you just booked for no cost.  Example:

Let's say the flight you want from Chicago to St Louis on 4/4 is $300.  But the flight on the 17th (13 days from 4/4) is $100.  You book the $100 flight on the 17th.  As soon as you book, click change and change to the date/time you want for free.  That $300 flight now only cost you $100. 

Note:  this loophole will only last a few days.

So if I already booked my flight two days ago does that mean I'm SOL?

chukdotcom

Leezestarr313 said:

Too bad it's only good for April.

Well, it goes into June as well but that won't help for PJ concerts.

chukdotcom

AlltheWay23 said:

chukdotcom said:

So, because of the 737MAX issues, Southwest has to change their schedule every month or so.  There is currently a "loophole" where you can book the cheapest flight you can find between your two cities that falls between April 14 to June 6.  You can then change to it any day/time within 14 days of the flight you just booked for no cost.  Example:

Let's say the flight you want from Chicago to St Louis on 4/4 is $300.  But the flight on the 17th (13 days from 4/4) is $100.  You book the $100 flight on the 17th.  As soon as you book, click change and change to the date/time you want for free.  That $300 flight now only cost you $100. 

Note:  this loophole will only last a few days.

So if I already booked my flight two days ago does that mean I'm SOL?

Not entirely.  I assume you booked on cash and not points?  Southwest allows you to cancel flights and the $ goes as "travel funds" that have to be used within 1 year.  Here is what you could do:

1)  You have a flight booked for $400.  Cancel that flight.  You now have $400 in travel credit
2)  Your "cheapest" combo of flights is now $300.  Book those and use the travel funds to pay for it at checkout (not credit card)
3)  You will now have $100 in credit remaining that you have 1 year to use.  2nd leg of US tour maybe?!!?

If you did it with points it's even easier, but I assume you did not.

chitownp76

chukdotcom said:

chitownp76 said:

So if I wanted to fly from Chicago to Phoenix on 4/10 and return 4/13 would this work?

Yes. 
The cheapest outbound is $117 on 4/18.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/10.
The cheapest return is $97 on 4/15.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/13.

You can probably book this as a round trip from 4/18-4/22 as well and then change, but I always book my southwest flights one way at a time.

Thats awesome. Does the time of flight matter?

chukdotcom

chitownp76 said:

chukdotcom said:

chitownp76 said:

So if I wanted to fly from Chicago to Phoenix on 4/10 and return 4/13 would this work?

Yes. 
The cheapest outbound is $117 on 4/18.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/10.
The cheapest return is $97 on 4/15.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/13.

You can probably book this as a round trip from 4/18-4/22 as well and then change, but I always book my southwest flights one way at a time.

Thats awesome. Does the time of flight matter?

Nope.  You can book a 1pm connecting through 2 cities on the 18th, and then change it to a direct at 9am on the 10th.

chukdotcom

And for anyone nervous about trying this, southwest allows you to cancel for 100% refund within 24 hrs of booking.  So if you mess up the directions, you can just cancel and try again.

mace1229

I have a request. Could you start a thread that tells us all these loopholes! You said they make these changes every month or so. When else can we exploit SW?!

chukdotcom

mace1229 said:

I have a request. Could you start a thread that tells us all these loopholes! You said they make these changes every month or so. When else can we exploit SW?!

Sure, except it may be coming to an end.  It has been going on since July of last year.  It basically re-opens once a month around now.

rey

So the cheapest fare on the flights I want to take is the Wanna Get Away fare.  If I buy flights in this fare class but one of the actual flights (on the date I want to travel) currently says Sold Out in the column for Wanna Get Away fares, will I be able to switch to that one?  Or, am I only going to be able to switch to the flights that show availability in the flight class I have purchased?

gotthebottle

rey said:

So the cheapest fare on the flights I want to take is the Wanna Get Away fare.  If I buy flights in this fare class but one of the actual flights (on the date I want to travel) currently says Sold Out in the column for Wanna Get Away fares, will I be able to switch to that one?  Or, am I only going to be able to switch to the flights that show availability in the flight class I have purchased?

lol...ask Southwest....

Poncier

chukdotcom said:

MD190661 said:

How exactly did you rebook? Call SW

Pro tip:  Some airports have "sister" airports (BOS/PVD/MHT).  You can actually change airports in that case.  So you can book the cheapest BOS/MDW flight, and then change it to PVD/MDW for example.  For those heading to the west coast, I believe SFO/OAK/SJC are sisters.

And Santa Ana, Ontario and Burbank are sisters for LAX
Have flown into both SNA and BUR and they are tiny and much easier to navigate than LAX

gotthebottle

chitownp76 said:

chukdotcom said:

chitownp76 said:

So if I wanted to fly from Chicago to Phoenix on 4/10 and return 4/13 would this work?

Yes. 
The cheapest outbound is $117 on 4/18.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/10.
The cheapest return is $97 on 4/15.  Book that.  Then hit "change" and change your date to 4/13.

You can probably book this as a round trip from 4/18-4/22 as well and then change, but I always book my southwest flights one way at a time.

Thats awesome. Does the time of flight matter?

I just tried that with a trip to PHX on 4/11...didn't work. 

gotthebottle

I chose the cheapest outbound on 4/10 and booked, went to change to 4/11 and it wanted to add the difference in order to make the change

cincinnati dude

Damn I wish I knew about this before the presale ended... But thank you so much! I hadn't heard about this and I fly SW all the time!

I'm gonna go look at some flights and might add some shows!

gotthebottle

gotthebottle said:

I chose the cheapest outbound on 4/10 and booked, went to change to 4/11 and it wanted to add the difference in order to make the change

AHA..but I was outside the range...GOT IT...wonder if it will work for my Oakland flights

gotthebottle

OMG..IT WORKED!!!!

Ground_on_Down

gotthebottle said:

I chose the cheapest outbound on 4/10 and booked, went to change to 4/11 and it wanted to add the difference in order to make the change

That's because the original booking needed to be in the 4/14 to 6/6 window, not 4/10 like you booked.

gotthebottle

saved $60 on SAN to PHX