Flight prices can really put a dent in your travel budget, aren’t we right? But what if we told you there is a way, a little trick, to help you save some serious cash while rebooking Southwest flights? Yes, you read that right – there is a way!
Southwest Airlines is among those airlines that let passengers rebook flights without extra fees if the price drops. Isn’t it awesome? It’s like getting discounts just to keep an eye out. No matter how you first booked the flight, the process to rebook another is very easy. Check out this blog post to know more about it.
Score A Better Deal With Southwest Airlines
Let’s be real – flight prices are a total rollercoaster. One minute, they are expensively high; the next, they’ve plummeted low. But don’t worry; Southwest’s rebooking policies have got you covered. Keep tracking the price of your booked flight every now and then. This way, the chances of witnessing a price drop are very high. Moreover, the probability increases if you book your flight a month prior to the travel dates.
So, how does this whole “rebooking ticket at a lower price” work? Let’s understand with the help of the following points:
- Fare-Watching 101
After you lock in your original reservation, make a habit of regularly checking the official website or mobile application to monitor prices for your route and dates. If needed, you can even set a reminder to be consistent.
- Rebook ASAP
As soon as you witness a drop in prices, it is time to rebook the flight and set everything in place. You can either call Southwest or go online and book that flight yourself through the official website. The airline will charge a little to no fee for this. You will be paying a small rebooking fee, much less than the amount you’re saving.
- Ditch The Old Booking
Now that you have secured the best deal go ahead and cancel the previous ticket, which was out of your budget. Depending on the type of fare you booked initially, Southwest will either issue you a travel credit or refund the difference in fare.
What Happens If You Cancel Your Original Flight?
When you have paid for the flight and booked the lowest fare – Wanna Get Away, the airline will issue a Travel Credit to your account. This will be equal to the fare difference between the previous and rebooked flights. Fortunately, Southwest no longer puts expiration on these funds. Passengers can redeem these funds anytime for their future flights.
However, keep in mind that you cannot transfer these credits to friends or family. Only you can redeem them for your next adventure. If you want to get the “transferable flight feature,” purchase the Wanna Get Away Plus fare in the first place.
For expensive tickets like Business Select and Anytime fares, the airline will refund you in cash upon cancellation. If you used points to purchase the flight, the difference between the Rapid Rewards will automatically be credited back to the account from where it was debited.
How To Rebook Southwest Flight For Lower Fare Prices?
No matter which means you used to purchase the ticket, the re-pricing process is straightforward. Once you are used to the process, it won’t take more than a couple of minutes. Start by visiting the airline’s official website and sign into your Rapid Rewards account. The next page will load the profile dashboard. From thereon, you can refer to the following points to rebook the Southwest flight online:
- Click the “My Account” option to check your recently booked flights. Just below will be the option to “Change flight.”
- Right after that, your travel date, flight arrival, and departure will automatically show up on the respective blank fields. Click on the “Explore Options.”
- The page will load the increased and decreased amounts for each flight in points or cash. Select the fare when the airline reduced your original flight’s price, denoted by a minus sign.
- After that, select the “Review changes.”
- The next page will display the amount of credit the airline will forward to your account. To continue, select “Review Passengers and Pricing.”
- The proceeding page will load up with your passenger’s information; you just have to confirm the changes.
- Within a few moments, you will receive a confirmation email indicating your recent flight changes. However, the confirmation number will remain the same as before.
- If you bought the previous ticket using points, you will receive the point difference in your Rapid Rewards account. If you used cash for the ticket (non-refundable), you will receive travel credit for future flights.
Flight Rebooking For Southwest Companion Pass
If your original flight price goes down and you hold a Southwest Companion Pass, rebooking will take a few more steps. As we already know, the Companion Pass lets you take a friend or family on a flight for free. Such services are available on flights booked with cash and award tickets.
So, when you change your flight to a cheaper alternative, you must cancel the Companion Pass reservation first. For the fees and taxes on the companion’s ticket, request a refund in your original form of payment.
After that, rebook the cheaper flight and add the companion reservation again. If you forget to do this, your companion will have no seat. And this will become a problem if all the seats sell out.
Rebooking Conditions For Passengers With EarlyBird Check-in
We’d like to inform passengers who have purchased the EarlyBird Check-in that this service will still be active when you rebook the flight. Just make sure the confirmation number is the same as before. If it is, then you are in the clear.
Be careful when you can cancel the original booking and rebook the cheaper flight. The real problem mostly comes in this part of the process. This is mainly an issue when you book the reservation again with a Companion Pass. Why? Because you canceled the original reservation, you will receive a new flight number, which makes your EarlyBird Check-In add-option disappear.
Now, the amount you paid for the add-on service is non-refundable, and you will have to purchase it again. So, we advise you to wait to buy the EarlyBird Check-in. Add it only when you’re confident the prices won’t go any lower. Otherwise, you can add the service after you rebook the cheaper flight.
Final Words
In conclusion, Southwest passengers can take advantage of this trick only when consistently checking up on upcoming flight prices. It changes frequently, and everyone deserves the best deals if they can. As mentioned on this page, Anyone can rebook a Southwest flight because it’s that easy. You will not require any assistance from the travel agents. If done right, it can actually save you some extra dollars.
FAQs – People Also Ask:
There is no specific data about it, but Southwest flights usually get expensive as they get closer to the departure date.
According to our research, Southwest comes out with frequent flight sales, and many passengers have witnessed it on Tuesdays.
Passengers have noticed a price drop in Southwest Flights during day time. Again, there is no official information about this. It is better to check the upcoming flight prices regularly.