What days are cheaper to fly southwest?

Watch for sales (They happen frequently) Southwest has an unofficial but predictable fare sale calendar that drops the prices on some routes nearly every Tuesday. While it's not a published policy, these generally run from Tuesday through Thursday and offer one-way prices on select routes as low as $39.



People Also Ask

Average domestic airfare price by day
  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to fly domestically.
  • Saturday and Monday flights can help you avoid the Sunday rush.
  • Wednesdays and Thursdays are the cheapest day to fly internationally.
  • Book one to three months in advance.
  • Set a price alert.


MORE DETAILS

40% OFF FARE SALE!! Southwest offers 2 real fare sales every year. One in June for the Mid August thru just before Christmas time period and a second one in August for the period listed above plus about 6 weeks in January and February. This is the June sale.

MORE DETAILS

Timing plays an important part. Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date.

MORE DETAILS

Timing plays an important part. Specifically, plane tickets usually don't get cheaper closer to the departure date. Instead, flights tend to be the most inexpensive when you book between four months and three weeks before your departure date.

MORE DETAILS

More specifically, Tuesday at about 15:00 eastern time. This is because many airlines release weekly sales early on Tuesday, which creates competition between airlines to match prices.

MORE DETAILS

Travelers will find there's a window of time up till Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern time when Southwest makes an effort to match competitor sale prices, with the majority of sales ending by Thursday night. You might just be pleasantly surprised with some of the last-minute deals you come across within this timeframe.

MORE DETAILS

In the early days of online flight booking, airlines used to manually post their updated prices at a certain time of day each week. This led to the rise of the myth that the cheapest time to book a flight was on Tuesday (and specifically at 3am, many claimed).

MORE DETAILS

At midnight, fewer people travel and there is low last-minute reservation so to fill them, they release multiple offers. With these discounts, you can set aside some amount.

MORE DETAILS

Those who buy on Sunday instead of Friday (the most expensive day to shop for plane tickets) will save on average 17% on domestic flights and 24% on international ones.

MORE DETAILS

The best time to book an airline flight is the prime booking window, which is 21 to 115 days in advance. Airfares generally average 5% of their lowest prices during this period.

MORE DETAILS

Round-trip tickets are usually cheaper than one-ways, sometimes significantly so. NerdWallet compared fares across multiple international routes and found that, typically, buying two one-way tickets costs 20% more than a single roundtrip.

MORE DETAILS

Re: Senior fare You may also make reservations by contacting a Southwest Airlines Customer Representative or your local travel agent. Senior Fares apply only to those in the traveling party who are age 65 or over.

MORE DETAILS

Southwest isn't a major international carrier. To go to Europe, Asia, South America, Africa or Oceania, you'll need to fly another airline: » Learn more: Which Southwest Airlines credit card should I get?

MORE DETAILS