Southwest Airlines has long been focused on direct bookings, and historically hasn’t partnered with online travel agencies or third parties when it comes to promoting its flights. That’s slowly starting to change. Recently, Southwest started displaying flights on Google Flights, and you’ll now also find the flights on KAYAK.
Continue reading: Southwest Airlines Flights Now On KAYAK, As Changes Continue
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Hey ben? when is your next trip report coming? are you still planning it or are you already flying?
Thanks,
Reads all your trip reports
Curious if any OMAAT readers actually use Kayak for flight searches? I use Kayak occasionally for rental cars but for flights searching it doesn't seem to offer any competitive edge over Google Flights.
Kayak is my favorite tool because :
1. You can search multiple days at once
2. The filter's amazing. You can filter out separate bookings, or filter a specific airport and duration of layover.
The biggest change to effect profitability will probably be the redeyes. 100 MAX8s flying east will boost Southwest's utilization about 40%. That's like 40 free planes, especially when Boeing is sooo sloooow to deliver.
I also find that KAYAK is sometimes better finding interline itineraries (tickets that involve connections between different airlines) than Google Flights -- useful when traveling to destinations that have more limited service.
Do you ever feel angry at your parents for naming you "reads all your trip reports"?
I wonder what, if anything, will happen to the companion pass --the best deal of all the airlines!
Good tips everyone. From playing around with it again, I definitely see what you mean about the interline itineraries. Guess I'll add Kayak to my list of search tools.
@wayward...excellent advice. I do refer to Kayak often, and I overlooked the interline connections that they offer.
The real message is that WN fares are often comparable or better IF you add in the "free" baggage and if you consider the routes where they have nonstop service.
WN often doesn't compare favorable against economy basic type fares.
WN's recognition that they are willng to allow their fares to be compared to other airlines is a big deal - and once you add one site, you might as well add them all for comparison purposes. WN still does not want to pay OTAs for bookings but allowing comparisons is a big step forward