Southwest Rapid Rewards - Multiple city search? NYC to SFO area?

Is there a way to search for flights between multiple cities at once?
I.E - I'd like to run a search for NYC (JFK,LGA,EWR) to SFO,OAK,SJC

Normally I'd use hipmunk or another fare aggregator, but those don't carry WN fares.

Thanks! - Tried searching, did not find anything.

No, and unfortunately...SWA apparently doesn't even understand the concept. The last time this was deficiency was lamented in this forum (Nov '08), the response from an otherwise very savvy and helpful SWA employee was:
Some type of "alternate airport" feature is definately on the wish list. For example we would love to be able to say "we don't fly to ATL but BHM is xx miles away"

http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.flyertalk.com/get/forum/albums/thumbs/4/2c8af19379421481750dc56cb3e3e22a_4080.jpeg?dl=1339 201575

Even back when SWA could be counted on for good fares, I loudly lamented the "time tax (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8#q=%22time+tax%22+ftnoob&hl=en&prmd=imvnsfd&filter=0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=7d54996066cd833d&biw=1366&bih=643)" imposed by southwest's pathetic web site (and that was even with the widely missed and inexplicably loved old version of the site).

I have in the past created my own front end for the fare search function that provided a multiple / alternate fare search future. It needed to be modified significantly when the web site changed. I posted a preview image:
http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/168bf183b2abe8bc9188aacc163dd507/swaexpertmode0.png (http://simplest-image-hosting.net/png-0-swaexpertmode0)


The last two fare requests in the Expert Mode column show examples of multiple / alternate fare search inputs. Not shown but also anticipated was a feature to borrow/create pseudo-codes that would automatically include all co-terminal airports. I recall using a site that would allow a code like "NYC" to mean "any New York City area airport," and I had planned to use an approach like that.

Note that Expert Mode never came to be because a) I no longer fly / use southwest.com enough to justify the effort required to finish the project for my own benefit, and b) only one FT member expressed an interest in seeing it come into existence. Help me find 100 people who promise to use Expert Mode, and I'll reconsider.

Normally I'd use hipmunk or another fare aggregator, but those don't carry WN fares.

And I really still think WN needs to reconsider allowing a fare aggregator to post their fares. I know at least one or two of the major aggregators would ask for nothing in return (aside for them to list alongside other airlines) and WN could easily stipulate the listing including baggage or whatever notes (like AA has done with some of the companies).

Today, the "tax" is actually going to their website. If they were consistently the cheapest, maybe, but they are not.

Rasheed

And I really still think WN needs to reconsider allowing a fare aggregator to post their fares. I know at least one or two of the major aggregators would ask for nothing in return (aside for them to list alongside other airlines) and WN could easily stipulate the listing including baggage or whatever notes (like AA has done with some of the companies).

Today, the "tax" is actually going to their website. If they were consistently the cheapest, maybe, but they are not.

Rasheed

Kayak now shows Southwest routes and times, but does not post prices. Interesting development.

Kayak now shows Southwest routes and times, but does not post prices. Interesting development.
I think probably Southwest had to publish its stuff "out there" for partners like Volaris to be able to access it. As a result, some others can access it too.

ExpertFlyer (a paid site, www.expertflyer.com) can show seat buckets and on-time statistics on Southwest flights in this format:

WN 1978
0
LAX 08/06/12 6:40 AM
LAS 08/06/12 7:45 AM
73H
M,T,W,Th,F,Sa
92% / 7m
R8 S8 W8 Y8 L8 B8 Q8 H8 M8 T8 N8 K8 O8

but it can't deal with OP's request (searching multiple airports at once). Furthermore, it doesn't translate those buckets directly to prices (though it does offer a Southwest fare list by subbuckets, but since there are multiple subbuckets per bucket, you can't really tell exactly which subbucket is available on a given flight, and thus you can't put together the exact price from that AFAIK).

No, and unfortunately...SWA apparently doesn't even understand the concept.
It's gotten so darn close though. Years ago, you had to select "Burbank" under B from the dropdown list. Now, there's "Los Angeles" in the dropdown, and under that all the Los Angeles area airports (that Southwest flies to). including Burbank. The only step missing: You can't actually select "Los Angeles" (the non-indented city level), you have to select one of the specific airports that indent from it.

It's just that not enough people at Southwest understand that there are plenty fliers who live in between two or more airports and don't want to have to search one airport at a time (at each end) for them to have actually done the work to implement this fully. I guess too many of them (that make decisions about the website) live in the DAL area where (to them, ie, as far as Southwest is concerned) there are no alternate airports. If Southwest were based in the Los Angeles or San Francisco areas (where they're served multiple airports for well over a decade), I'd bet this feature would have been implemented years ago. (They've had multiple airports in other cities such as New York and DC only since fairly recently. It wasn't that long ago that they only had ISP for New York and only had BWI for DC.)

Years ago, you had to select "Burbank" under B from the dropdown list. Now, there's "Los Angeles" in the dropdown, and under that all the Los Angeles area airports (that Southwest flies to). including Burbank.

That has been the case as long as I've been using the web site. About how many years ago are you talking about?

It's just that not enough people at Southwest understand that there are plenty fliers who live in between two or more airports and don't want to have to search one airport at a time (at each end) for them to have actually done the work to implement this fully.

How important is the "each end" part of your statement? Surely the HQ folks travel to the Bay area, LA area, Florida, NY, etc. enough that they are also sometimes significantly inconvenienced by this severe shortcoming of the web site?

Wait...maybe the problem is that with their flight benefits, they never actually have to worry about which of SFO, OAK, or SJC is cheapest?

From seeing how SWA typically operates, this issue has long struck me as part of their grand scheme of polishing their reputation as a "low fare" carrier while making it as difficult as possible to find the cheapest way to fly.

That has been the case as long as I've been using the web site. About how many years ago are you talking about?

I can't remember. But I've been using the website since 1996. In fact, I've been using it so long that in my Firefox browser (which inherited the bookmarks from two previous browsers, starting originally with Netscape) on my home computer, I still have it called "Southwest Airlines Home Gate".

Wait...maybe the problem is that with their flight benefits, they never actually have to worry about which of SFO, OAK, or SJC is cheapest?

There's more reasons to want to do a multi-city search than just price. In some cases, where your origin or destination is equally convenient to at least two airports, the schedule alone might work better for you at one airport vs another, even if you don't care about price.

And even if the Southwest executives don't care about price, wouldn't they care about schedule??? :confused: