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-   -   Online booking Search Engines that include SWA (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/southwest-airlines-rapid-rewards/656111-online-booking-search-engines-include-swa.html)

Mary Louise Feb 4, 2007 7:39 am

Online booking Search Engines that include SWA
 
Hello,

Are there any online search engines that include SWA fares in their searches? I thought there used to be one, but I can not recall which one it was.

Thanks

ML

lougord99 Feb 4, 2007 7:49 am

No there are not.

curbcrusher Feb 4, 2007 7:52 am

IIRC, ExpertFlyer.com lists the available fares, but not availability, and you cannot purchase through them.

Mary Louise Feb 4, 2007 7:53 am

Thank you,

I will visit expert flyer.

ML

lougord99 Feb 4, 2007 3:37 pm

I am not clear why you would use expertflyer.com in order to get SWA fare buckets. You must pay to get that and you can it free and more simply by going to the SWA website.

rove312 Feb 4, 2007 9:36 pm

If comparing fares, I would most likely have Southwest.com in one window and sidestep.com, searching across several sites, in another.

justageek Feb 5, 2007 12:09 am

The info is not available outside of Southwest's internal system, and that's exactly the way they want it. If you could easily comparison shop Southwest's fares with other airlines, you would realize that they're rarely the cheapest option.

ExpertFlyer does have the list of published fares for each route, but since Southwest does not make the fare bucket availability info available outside their internal systems, you can't use the list of published fares to determine the fare you can get on any particular flight.

Susie Stewardess Feb 6, 2007 12:25 am

Oh Darling!
 
The only place to find SWA fares is at Southwest.com. Why??? Because they refuse to spend the dough to get in on Orbitz, Travelocity, Etc, ad nauseum... no extra money spent on advertising, no extra costs to you... Southwest.com. Um, could I please have another shot of koolaid? Please?

lewisc Feb 6, 2007 10:40 am

I'm sure that's part of the reason. SW didn't like the fact that the search sites were listing airlines that pay a commision first. Some of the sites didn't check availability and just displayed the lowest published fare. Passengers got upset when they couldn't book the rate that was displayed.




Originally Posted by justageek (Post 7161037)
The info is not available outside of Southwest's internal system, and that's exactly the way they want it. If you could easily comparison shop Southwest's fares with other airlines, you would realize that they're rarely the cheapest option.


Beckles Feb 6, 2007 11:36 am

Travelocity used to show Southwest fares, but Southwest cancelled the deal because Travelocity was selling tickets for fares that were no longer available (Article on Southwest/Travelocity deal being cancelled). At one point Orbitz was displaying Southwest fares also and Southwest sued them, at which point Orbitz stopped (Article on Southwest suing Orbitz).

MikeyZBT Feb 6, 2007 11:36 am


Originally Posted by justageek (Post 7161037)
The info is not available outside of Southwest's internal system, and that's exactly the way they want it. If you could easily comparison shop Southwest's fares with other airlines, you would realize that they're rarely the cheapest option.

ExpertFlyer does have the list of published fares for each route, but since Southwest does not make the fare bucket availability info available outside their internal systems, you can't use the list of published fares to determine the fare you can get on any particular flight.

That's very true. Sure, Southwest has a lot of routes that other airlines don't even fly... I mean, Harlington, TX? Yeah, ok. But on the routes that they actually compete, they are RARELY the lowest.

Beckles Feb 6, 2007 11:54 am


Originally Posted by MikeyZBT (Post 7169164)
That's very true. Sure, Southwest has a lot of routes that other airlines don't even fly... I mean, Harlington, TX? Yeah, ok. But on the routes that they actually compete, they are RARELY the lowest.

I think that's a gross exaggeration, while Southwest isn't always the cheapest, I'd be the first to admit that, I'd sure be reluctant to claim they are rarely the cheapest. To test your theory, I'm going to pick five trips I've taken over the past year from here in Kansas City and price them on Southwest then Orbitz, not very scientific, but let's give it a try:

Kansas City - Las Vegas February 23-Febraury 25
Southwest - $399.30 (wow, I only fly this on Dings usually)
Orbitz - $379 on multiple carriers (CO there, America West connecting to AA on the way back), $426 on a single carrier

Kansas City - Chicago March 2-March 4
Southwest - $118.80
Orbitz - $123 on UA or AA

Kansas City - Dallas March 5 - March 7
Southwest - $114.30
Orbitz - $119 on AA

Kansas City - Fort Myers March 9 - March 11
Southwest -$451.60 (ouch, must be getting into Spring Break)
Orbitz - $372 on multiple carriers, $376 on a single carrier there and back

Kansas City - Pittsburgh March 12 - March 14
Southwest - $172.60
Orbitz - $178 on NW

rove312 Feb 6, 2007 2:14 pm

The Orbitz fares include their $5 fee, right? So most of those would be effectively the same on the other airline's site. Also many legacies' fare sales expire May 10: just a coincidence that that's the end of WN's available schedule?

Not claiming a lot of knowledge here, just observing: WN sets many baseline low fares, although sometimes other competition keeps them down. You might find that WN's low fare buckets sell out sooner, though.

nsx Feb 6, 2007 2:25 pm


Originally Posted by rove312 (Post 7170237)
You might find that WN's low fare buckets sell out sooner, though.

Or they never had inventory to begin with. A common criticism of the legacy carriers over the years has been that deep discounts are advertised but not allocated in reasonable quantity. You know, like saver award seats but not nearly so bad. But here's the flip side:

With its flight-by-flight pricing, offering dramatically different prices for different times on the same date, Southwest can bleed other airlines who attempt to match the lowest price. Those other airlines offer free same-day standby and therefore cannot maintain as high an intra-day price differential.

MikeyZBT Feb 6, 2007 3:52 pm


Originally Posted by Beckles (Post 7169295)
I think that's a gross exaggeration, while Southwest isn't always the cheapest, I'd be the first to admit that, I'd sure be reluctant to claim they are rarely the cheapest. To test your theory, I'm going to pick five trips I've taken over the past year from here in Kansas City and price them on Southwest then Orbitz, not very scientific, but let's give it a try:

Kansas City - Las Vegas February 23-Febraury 25
Southwest - $399.30 (wow, I only fly this on Dings usually)
Orbitz - $379 on multiple carriers (CO there, America West connecting to AA on the way back), $426 on a single carrier

Kansas City - Chicago March 2-March 4
Southwest - $118.80
Orbitz - $123 on UA or AA

Kansas City - Dallas March 5 - March 7
Southwest - $114.30
Orbitz - $119 on AA

Kansas City - Fort Myers March 9 - March 11
Southwest -$451.60 (ouch, must be getting into Spring Break)
Orbitz - $372 on multiple carriers, $376 on a single carrier there and back

Kansas City - Pittsburgh March 12 - March 14
Southwest - $172.60
Orbitz - $178 on NW

If you subtract the Orbitz fee (usually $5), then Southwest is either more expensive of the same as everyone else. Thanks for proving it.

Also, even if Southwest is cheaper by $10, the benefits of a legacy carrier are leaps and bounds over Southwest: assigned seat, elite status, partner airlines to earn/fly on, etc...


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