JustChurnin

Thanks for taking the time to create this! I just set up an alert, the website is very simple and user friendly. I'll let you know if I come across any bugs.

pitflyer

Nice idea, but as others have posted Southwest will come after you, even if you don't sell anything.

While there is a need for this functionality I think the only way to stay away from the Southwest demons is to open source the code on GitHub or something like that so people can run it independently. Of course that limits the number of people that can use it too.

It's funny for a company that advertises 'transFAREncy' that they are in some ways the least transparent; can't see their fares on other sites, can't track fares.. for someone like me that is the epitome of Wanna Get Away (give me a good deal and I"ll go) I end up booking other airlines since I can see their fare sales much easier on Google Flights or other engines.

lougord99

This is one of the few cases where I totally understand Southwest's position. Airlines ( all companies ) create sales to drive new business. With all the other airlines, a sale period does not cannibalize previous sold tickets. However, Southwest has to contend with people re-faring. If they allowed third party sites to track pricing, to many people would re-fare and the point of a sale has been lost.

jeffandnicole

It takes seconds to pull up the Southwest site, punch in your cities and dates, and view the current fares.

LegalTender

It takes seconds to pull up the tracking site, punch in your cities and dates, and view the current fares.

lougord99

And most people do not regularly do so, but would probably do so if notified that there was definitely a fare reduction.

screeton

This is one of those things where, on principle, its easy to side with SWMonkey. However, on further reflection, it is in our best interest for SWA to maintain their "no charge" change policy, and automated sites like SWMonkey potentially threaten that process. I would much rather manually run my own checks periodically, and let the lazier people pay higher fares, than to be saddled with change fees whenever my plans are altered. Amtrak has recently implemented some onerous change fees, approaching 20-25%, which has certainly worked to drive my business away from them to other transportation options. Southwest gets my business because of no (or few) hassles, so regardless of "free speech" principles or other altruistic ideas, in this case, the best course is to leave well enough alone.

synergistic

Do you think that's why they continue to make their site so difficult to quickly check pricing? I mean, the 'seconds' jeffandnicole talk about above are multiplied greatly when there are multiple airport options in an area, particularly when your dates are somewhat flexible. God help you if you're flying from DC to LA with flexible dates and want to compare your flight costs fairly often. I miss the Getaway Finder map very much for making that process easier than it is now... I've chalked its loss up to IT not being able to even keep the wheels on the regular functions, but it wouldn't surprise me if the real reason was trying to keep things a little less transparent.

toomanybooks

Some coverage:

https://theoutline.com/post/2554/swm...kills-startups

pitflyer

It is a good point that the no fare change policy is a likely reason Southwest doesn't want this to be easy -- otherwise every fare sale would mean losing hundreds if not thousands if not millions of dollars if all of us could sign up and re-fare whenever we want. But my own two cents its more sinister than that. Southwest wants me to only shop with them, and not compare. While a frequent flier I've pretty much thrown away loyalty to any brand. Just a few years ago you wouldn't have caught me on any flight other than American or Southwest. Now while I still may slightly favor them, because Southwest doesn't show up unless I make a separate search I am often forgetting the Southwest option. Which is funny since Southwest drives a lot of the fare pricing in markets I'm looking at; I end up booking another airline at was likely a Southwest driven fare.

I agree with synergistic; I routinely use Google Flights Explore where I just pick random cities and random dates and see where I can go for cheap. Southwest's GetAway Finder was the closest to that. Now I have to say I want to go from Pittsburgh to a specific city and see a month calendar and click back and forth.. Can't just 'Take me somewhere for $100!'

steved5480

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/sout...e-changes.html

flyer4512

https://www.yahoo.com/news/southwest...040733152.html

Boraxo

Respectfully disagree. The reservation system can be used by anyone who has a computer. Yes there are T&Cs on permitted usage but nothing prevents someone from checking fares hundreds of times a day nor are you prohibited from doing so for another person. If WN wanted to disincentivize this behavior it could easily adopt the same change fee structure as other airlines. It chooses not to do so. The fact that I choose to outsource daily fare checking makes no difference. I outsource many activities (as does WN) - there is no law that prohibits "scraping" and one could argue that T&C adhesion contracts (and litigation threats) which attempt to do so are anticompetitive. Also there is no positive acknowledgement required for those simply checking fares (i.e. the "click here to accept these terms" box that you find on many sites). The trademark issue is currently the subject of other non-airline litigation - will be interesting to see how that turns out.

Unfortunately WN has a large litigation budget, so nobody is likely to contest its position except the most well heeled. But I'd love to see it happen.

bobunf

The ability to cancel or change fares on Southwest is very useful for many purposes other than refaring - like adjusting flights for a change in plans, which I've done many dozens of times, not infrequently upping the fare I'm paying. The ability to change without paying $150 is worth a whole lot more to me than saving a few bucks refaring. It seems to me that keeping the no charge for change policy requires no outsourcing of price comparisons. I really support Southwest on this.

ursine1

So, when a booked fare drops, you don't refare?