Travelers are increasingly looking away from Southwest after the airline's recent pivot to charge bag fees and other widely despised changes. But when it comes to flight prices, there's still good news…
Southwest Airlines and its frequent sales are still driving flight prices down – whether you decide to book with Southwest or fly American, Delta, United, and other carriers.
For years (or decades, even) Southwest has set the tone for flight prices—especially domestically. A big Southwest sale with $89, $69, or even $49 one-way fares almost always results in other big U.S. carriers slashing their own fares. That's why we've been telling travelers to subscribe to Southwest's promo emails for years.
But even as travelers question Southwest's new bag fees and lament the end of its famously flexible fares, Southwest's pricing power remains in place. If anything, this trend seems to be accelerating: Southwest is firing off these sales more than ever … and Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, and United are just as scared of Southwest as ever
Southwest Sales Still Drive the Airfare Market
Southwest sales are like clockwork.
- Tuesday morning: You'll wake up to an email from Southwest saying they're running a sale with significantly lower fares.
- Tuesday afternoon: Other airlines (like Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, and United) will match Southwest's lower prices.
- Thursday at midnight: The Southwest sale ends and most of the fares will go back to normal, including on the other airlines, too.
Every single Southwest sale triggers the same chain reaction. It's an easy way for Southwest to make some money, put pressure on its competitors, and make travelers happy in the process.
The key: Booking (or rebooking) your flights between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday night to get the best fares on any airline. Here's an example.
On Sunday, July 6, we spotted and rounded up a bunch of really cheap flights to Phoenix (PHX). We sent the flight deal alert to our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers to showcase the awesome nonstop fares. And they were awesome!
I would have booked any of these deals without hesitation. But on Tuesday, July 8, Southwest launched one of its sizzling sales, dropping fares from all of these cities flying to Phoenix (PHX) to incredible new lows.
Seeing their already low fares undercut even further, American Airlines retaliated, offering the same low, basic economy fares from Dallas (DFW) and Minneapolis (MSP) as Southwest did in this deal. That's why, in a matter of hours, American ended up offering a $92 roundtrip flight from MSP to Phoenix, a flight that would normally bottom out at around $156, like it did just a few days prior.
American isn't the only carrier that succumbs to this pricing pressure either, though. If you don't like to fly Southwest, you probably do like to fly Delta. The Atlanta-based airline is the nation's most popular, but it's known for also being the most expensive – especially in its hubs like Salt Lake City (SLC). SLC flyers don't need me to tell them that fares get expensive to and from their home airport … except during Southwest sales, that is.
With many of these routes inching closer to $300 or $400 roundtrip, some of these fares were a breath of fresh air for travelers near the Wasatch. And while Southwest had some of the lowest fares, Delta made sure it didn't lose too much business to their competitor.
I assure you, on an important, revenue-boosting route like this one, Delta does not want to be charging less than $100 roundtrip. But because Southwest dropped fares, Delta had to respond to keep its planes full.
So you don't have to fly Southwest if you don't want to, but you get to pay Southwest prices … you're welcome!
Finally, we see this pattern play out for travelers who like to use points and miles, too. Southwest's Rapid Rewards points currency often leads to great sales. Like Delta, Southwest now runs “flash sales” on its miles flights, raising and lowering rates based on demand. So, speaking of Las Vegas (LAS), we found a nationwide sale to LAS on Southwest when booking with Rapid Rewards points for some of the lowest rates we've ever seen – just 4,000 points roundtrip from Oakland (OAK) and 7,000 points roundtrip from Minneapolis (MSP)!
We started rounding up these Rapid Rewards fares Wednesday morning, July 9, right after the sale took effect. And wouldn't you know it, it seemed as though Delta was paying attention, too. With Southwest offering alluring 7,000-point redemptions from its hub airport of Minneapolis (among others), Delta caved…
These 5,400-Delta SkyMile prices included the 15% off discount you get from being a cardholder – putting them right on par with Southwest's sale at a much, much lower rate than you'll usually find for a SkyMiles sale.
It's all thanks to Southwest's predictable Tuesday to Thursday sales. During the last sale, we found and sent the following flight deal alerts with Southwest sale fares (and those of their competitors):
- Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) from $97 RT
- Las Vegas, NV from 4k Points RT
- Phoenix, AZ from $74 RT
- Hawaiian Islands from $212 RT
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) from $135 RT
- Costa Rica (SJU, LIR) from $222 RT
- Santa Barbara, CA (SBA) from $97 RT
- Savannah, GA (SAV) from $122 RT
And that's just what we at Thrifty Traveler Premium thought were the most alluring deals! All of our searches are human-powered to ensure quality control, so we could have missed a few lower fares from other airports.
But if Southwest flies to somewhere you want to go, it always pays to check those fares during sales – whether its Costa Rica or Kansas City (MCI).
Why I Subscribe to Southwest's Sale Emails
The trigger to all of this are the Southwest sales, which they announce promptly by email on Tuesday mornings.
In general, you can expect some sort of a Southwest sale just about every week. These are usually targeted to a few regions or even specific airports. But every month or two, you'll get the big, sweeping, mega sales like they launched on Tuesday, July 8. Those sales usually have a name like “Wanna Get Away Sale” or “Week of WOW.” The weekly “Wanna Go Wednesdays” or emails that have no sale name but are just showing “from $59 each way” are usually less exciting.
The sales with names, however, are what's worth subscribing for.
Look…I can't believe I'm doing this, but I truly believe one of the best ways to save money on travel is to …*gulp*… sign up for Southwest's promotional emails.
I know, I know. “More corporate email slop in my inbox? C'mon, Gunnar.”
Well, friends, this is arguably the most valuable corporate slop you'll find in your inbox. (FYI, we have zero relationship Southwest. They are not paying us to say this. And honestly, we've been super critical of the airline in the past. So we're just honestly telling you to do what we think is best … it's what we all do!)
To sign-up, go to this link on Southwest's site. You won't regret it!
Bottom Line
Flyers might be more wary of flying Southwest Airlines than ever, but the key to booking the best flight prices on any airline is to pay attention to Southwest's sales … their competitors sure are.
The best fares on Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, and United can usually be found during Southwest's sales – making Southwest these limited-time periods the best time to book cheap domestic flights.
thats awesome, as long as the other airlines drop prices, I am happy haha