Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Southwest Airlines | Rapid Rewards
Reload this Page >

Online booking Search Engines that include SWA

Online booking Search Engines that include SWA

Old Feb 4, 2007, 7:39 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: UA, AA, WN, JB, Hilton Honors, Starwood
Posts: 426
Question 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
Mary Louise is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2007, 7:49 am
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,452
No there are not.
lougord99 is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2007, 7:52 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: WN CP
Posts: 6,360
IIRC, ExpertFlyer.com lists the available fares, but not availability, and you cannot purchase through them.
curbcrusher is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2007, 7:53 am
  #4  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: UA, AA, WN, JB, Hilton Honors, Starwood
Posts: 426
Thank you,

I will visit expert flyer.

ML
Mary Louise is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2007, 3:37 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,452
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.
lougord99 is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2007, 9:36 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,968
If comparing fares, I would most likely have Southwest.com in one window and sidestep.com, searching across several sites, in another.
rove312 is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2007, 12:09 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: SFO
Programs: AA PLT; UA Gold
Posts: 5,378
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.
justageek is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 12:25 am
  #8  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Soul of Texas
Programs: Mile High Club! Not really, but it got your attention
Posts: 77
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?
Susie Stewardess is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 10:40 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,252
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
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.
lewisc is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 11:36 am
  #10  
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,577
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).
Beckles is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 11:36 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: ATL
Programs: DL - PM (Sky Priority);HH - Gold; Marriott - Silver; National - Executive; DL Reserve AMEX
Posts: 5,231
Originally Posted by justageek
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.
MikeyZBT is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 11:54 am
  #12  
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,577
Originally Posted by MikeyZBT
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
Beckles is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 2:14 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,968
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.
rove312 is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 2:25 pm
  #14  
nsx
Moderator: Southwest Airlines, Capital One
Hyatt Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: California
Programs: WN Companion Pass, A-list preferred, Hyatt Globalist; United Club Lietime (sic) Member
Posts: 21,572
Originally Posted by rove312
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.
nsx is offline  
Old Feb 6, 2007, 3:52 pm
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: ATL
Programs: DL - PM (Sky Priority);HH - Gold; Marriott - Silver; National - Executive; DL Reserve AMEX
Posts: 5,231
Originally Posted by Beckles
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...
MikeyZBT is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.