Southwest Airlines Co., stylized as Southwest, was founded by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as&nbsp;&quot;Air Southwest&quot; on March 9, 1967, and commenced operating as &quot;Southwest Airlines&quot; on June 18, 1971. It used to operate intrastate flights within Texas until 1978, after which it also began interstate service.&nbsp;It manages a fleet of nearly 800 aircraft, comprising all Boeing 737 planes. It is one of the major airlines in the United States and the fourth-largest in North America in terms of passengers carried. The airline is headquartered at&nbsp;Love Field, Dallas, Texas, U.S.

Types of classes/cabins in Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines offers different fare types in order to cater to each customer according to their preferences, budget, and travel purpose. So, when making the&nbsp;Southwest Airlines reservations, make sure to choose the appropriate fare type for the best flight experience. The following are the distinct cabin classes the airline offers, each one of them mentioned with its services and facilities:

Basic:&nbsp;This fare type is the most affordable and restrictive, offering the least flexibility but the most pocket-friendly flights. Here are the amenities it provides:

<ul>
	<li>Customers&nbsp;can earn two&nbsp;Rapid Rewards points per dollar per qualifying flight.</li>
	<li>No changes, same-day changes/standby, or a refund are allowed for the basic fare.</li>
</ul>

Wanna Get Away+&nbsp;fare type is also non-refundable, but offers greater ticket flexibility compared to the Basic fare. The following are its benefits:&nbsp;&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Passengers can request flight changes, but must pay the difference in fare.</li>
	<li>They can earn six&nbsp;Rapid Rewards points per dollar per qualifying flight.</li>
	<li>The airline provides free same-day confirmed changes.</li>
</ul>

Anytime&nbsp;fare is one of the premium fare types of Southwest Airlines. Besides the Wanna Get Away+ fare benefits, you can also enjoy the following services:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>This fare type is refundable, and you can earn&nbsp;ten&nbsp;Rapid Rewards points per dollar per qualifying flight.</li>
	<li>The airline offers priority services, such as EarlyBird check-in and priority express lane access.</li>
</ul>

Business Select&nbsp;is Southwest Airlines&#39; most flexible and premium fare type.&nbsp;In addition to Anytime fare type facilities, you can also relish the following benefits:

<ul>
	<li>Customers can bring two free checked bags and receive free&nbsp;onboard Wi-Fi.</li>
	<li>On flights over 250 miles, you can relish a complimentary premium drink.</li>
	<li>Passengers can earn up to 14&nbsp;Rapid Rewards points per dollar per qualifying flight.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines manages most of its domestic and international flights through its thirteen operating bases. The following are the airline&#39;s different hubs:

<ul>
	<li>Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)</li>
	<li>Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)</li>
	<li>Dallas Love Field (DAL)</li>
	<li>Denver International Airport (DEN)</li>
	<li>Harry Reid International Airport (LAS)</li>
	<li>Hartsfield&ndash;Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)</li>
	<li>Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)</li>
	<li>Nashville International Airport (BNA)</li>
	<li>Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)</li>
	<li>Tampa International Airport (TPA)</li>
	<li>Oakland International Airport (OAK)</li>
	<li>Orlando International Airport (MCO)</li>
	<li>William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)</li>
</ul>

Top Southwest Airlines International Destinations

Southwest Airlines provides flight connectivity to over 100 destinations across the United States and other nations. The following are the airline&#39;s most prominent international destinations:

<ul>
	<li>Aruba (AUA)</li>
	<li>Belize (BZE)</li>
	<li>Canc&uacute;n (CUN)</li>
	<li>Liberia (LIR)</li>
	<li>Los Cabos/Cabo San Lucas (SJD)</li>
	<li>Montego Bay (MBJ)</li>
	<li>Puerto Vallarta (PVR)</li>
	<li>Punta Cana (PUJ)</li>
	<li>San Jose (SJC)</li>
	<li>San Juan (SJO)</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines ensures seamless travel, better connectivity across the globe, and allows customers to fly to destinations that are beyond their network through its codeshare partners. The following are its codeshare airlines:

<ul>
	<li>China Airlines</li>
	<li>Icelandair</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines ensures that customers do not face any trouble in finding and booking a suitable flight for their journey. This is why they offer a highly user-friendly, instantly responsive, and systematic online platform that allows travelers to make the appropriate&nbsp;Southwest Airlines flight booking. Please follow the steps below to learn how to book a Southwest flight online:

<ul>
	<li>To begin, go to the official website of Southwest Airlines -&nbsp;www.southwest.com.</li>
	<li>By default, a booking section will appear on the home page under the &#39;Flight&#39; tab.</li>
	<li>Fill out the provided section with the requested details and tap the &#39;Search&#39; button.</li>
	<li>Choose the desired flight from the provided options and customize&nbsp;your itinerary.</li>
	<li>Pay the applicable charges&nbsp;at the payment gateway to complete your bookings.</li>
	<li>The airline&nbsp;will send you a ticket confirmation email to your registered email ID shortly.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines Flight Change & Cancellation Policy

Southwest Airlines provides a flexible flight change and cancellation policy, ensuring customers face no trouble making the desired modifications to their bookings. Here&#39;s a summarized view of the airline&#39;s flight change and cancellation policy:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines allows&nbsp;passengers to request a flight change or cancellation, except for the Basic fare.</li>
	<li>Customers are required to cancel/change their ticket&nbsp;at least 10 minutes before the scheduled flight&nbsp;departure.</li>
	<li>If they fail to cancel their flight up to 10 minutes before departure, the ticket will be subject to the &#39;no-show policy.&#39;</li>
	<li>If you cancel your flight after 10 minutes, the airline will forfeit any points, taxes, and fees used for the booking.</li>
	<li>Passengers must&nbsp;pay the&nbsp;difference in fare if their new bookings have a higher fare than their previous ones.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines Flight Change & Cancellation Process

Besides effortless booking, you can make the desired changes to your&nbsp;Southwest Airlines flight. Here&#39;s what you need to do to request an online flight change or cancellation:

<ul>
	<li>Browse the official website of Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) to begin.</li>
	<li>Scroll down to view the &#39;Manage trip&#39; option and click on it to proceed further.</li>
	<li>Enter the passenger&#39;s &#39;Confirmation Number,&#39; &#39;First name,&#39; and &#39;Last name.&#39;</li>
	<li>Press the &#39;Lookup reservation&#39; button to view your existing flight bookings.</li>
	<li>Visit the &#39;Change/Cancel Flight&#39; section and follow the instructions on the screen.</li>
	<li>Pay the applicable charges (if any) once you finish the flight&nbsp;change/cancellation.</li>
	<li>Southwest Airlines will soon send you a confirmation&nbsp;email approving your changes.</li>
</ul>

Rapid Rewards is a tier-based and free-to-enroll loyalty program of Southwest Airlines that rewards its members when flying with them, their partners, or spending through Rapid Rewards Credit Cards. The program has three membership statuses that can be earned by earning miles to reach a specific qualifying point or completing particular flight segments. The following are the different membership tiers of Rapid Rewards:

<ul>
	<li>A-List (Fly 20 one-way qualifying flight segments or earn 35,000 tier qualifying points)</li>
	<li>A-List Preferred (Fly 40 one-way qualifying flight segments or earn 70,000 tier qualifying points)</li>
	<li>Companion Pass (Fly 100 one-way qualifying flight segments or earn 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points)</li>
</ul>

How Do I Join the Southwest Airlines Loyalty Program?

Follow the steps below to learn how to enroll in the Southwest Airlines Loyalty Program:

<ul>
	<li>To initiate the process, visit Southwest Airlines&#39; official website (www.southwest.com).</li>
	<li>Click the &#39;Rapid Rewards&#39; tab situated at&nbsp;the top-right corner of the home page.</li>
	<li>Select the &#39;Sign up&#39; option from the drop-down menu under the &#39;Program&#39; head.</li>
	<li>Fill out the loyalty program membership&nbsp;form with the requested details to proceed further.</li>
	<li>Once you&nbsp;complete the form, tap&nbsp;the &#39;Create account&#39; button to finish the enrollment process.</li>
	<li>The airline will shortly notify you via email, acknowledging your Rapid Rewards membership.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines Loyalty Program Benefits

Southwest Airlines offers its loyalty program members multiple benefits, making their flight journey more budget-friendly and convenient. Below are some advantages that you can enjoy as a Rapid Rewards member:

<ul>
	<li>Earn and Redeem Miles:&nbsp;Loyalty program members&nbsp;can earn and redeem miles when traveling with the airline, its partner airlines, dealing with its affiliate brands, and using the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards. The points do not have an expiry date and no blackout dates, meaning you have more choices for your travel.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Priority Services:&nbsp;The airlines offer varied priority services, such as priority boarding, and priority lane and express lane access, making flight travel more manageable for the loyalty program. Please remember that priority services vary based on your airline membership tier.</li>
	<li>Extra Allowance:&nbsp;Southwest Airlines allows Rapid Rewards program members to carry additional baggage depending on their membership tier. For example, the first checked bag is free for all loyalty program members, regardless of their membership status.</li>
	<li>Special Amenities:&nbsp;As a frequent flyer program member of Southwest Airlines, you can enjoy multiple advantages and allowances. The airline offers &quot; same-day standby&quot; changes, a dedicated A-List preferred member customer support team, premium drinks, and complimentary onboard Wi-Fi.</li>
</ul>

Reading the airline&#39;s guidelines is highly crucial before you request a refund, ensuring hassle-free processing of your request. The following pointers discuss the vital components of Southwest Airlines&#39; refund policy:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines provides&nbsp;a 24-hour risk-free&nbsp;refund policy to passengers with&nbsp;refundable&nbsp;tickets.</li>
	<li>They&nbsp;are entitled to receive a refund if they withdraw&nbsp;their tickets&nbsp;within 24 hours of booking.</li>
	<li>Customers&nbsp;can also hold the ticket value as a flight credit or a Transferable Flight Credit for future ticket purchases with the airline.</li>
	<li>The airline offers a flight credit to passengers with non-refundable fares who cancel their ticket&nbsp;at least 10 minutes before&nbsp;departure.</li>
	<li>Regardless of the selected fare type, the airline will credit the refund amount in the same payment mode as used for ticket payment.</li>
	<li>Southwest Airlines&nbsp;may take up to seven business days to credit&nbsp;the refund amount into the respective&nbsp;passenger&#39;s bank account.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines Seat Upgrade Procedure

The airline makes it simple for the passengers to modify their selected seat reservations if they chose the wrong ones. Here&#39;s how to request an online seat upgrade with Southwest Airlines:

<ul>
	<li>Browse the official website of Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com).</li>
	<li>Visit the &#39;Southwest Products&#39; section at the bottom of the home page.</li>
	<li>Select the &#39;Upgraded Boarding&#39; option from the menu to proceed further.</li>
	<li>Enter the passenger&#39;s &#39;Confirmation Number, &#39;First Name,&#39; and &#39;Last Name.&#39;</li>
	<li>Click the &#39;Continue&#39; button,&nbsp;and follow the prompts to select the desired seat.</li>
	<li>Tap the &#39;Submit&#39; button to finalize the changes and confirm your seat bookings.</li>
	<li>Southwest Airlines will send you a seat confirmation email based on availability.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines ensures customers can travel with their pet without hassle, which is why they offer a flexible pet travel policy. Below are the guidelines that you need to abide by when traveling with a pet:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines permits passengers to bring vaccinated domestic cats and dogs on domestic flights.</li>
	<li>The airline does not accept pets on flights to or from&nbsp;Hawaii or when flying to international destinations.</li>
	<li>The domestic cats or dogs must be at least eight weeks old; otherwise, they will be denied flight boarding.</li>
	<li>Unaccompanied minors are not permitted to travel with a pet. The airline only allows adult customers&nbsp;to fly with their pets.</li>
	<li>The pet must stay inside its carrier throughout the flight journey, and the airline&nbsp;allows one pet carrier per ticketed customer.</li>
	<li>The airline states that each carrier should contain no more than two small cats or dogs of the same species.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines Name and Date of Birth Change Policy

No need to worry if you made errors in filling in your name or date of birth during flight bookings. Make sure to comply with the guidelines below when requesting a name or date of birth change with Southwest Airlines:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines permits one minor name change per ticketed passenger with&nbsp;no changes to their gender or date of birth.</li>
	<li>You can request changes, such as adding or removing a prefix,&nbsp;suffix, or repetitive characters in the first or last name.</li>
	<li>The airline allows the correction of minor typos up to a maximum of three characters in the first name only.</li>
	<li>The airline may ask customers to submit supporting documents, such as a marriage certificate, for major legal name changes.</li>
</ul>

When traveling with ten or more members, you are required to request a group travel. Follow the steps below to learn how to ask for a group travel with Southwest Airlines:

<ul>
	<li>Visit the official website of Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) to commence.</li>
	<li>Scroll down to the &#39;Southwest Products&#39; section at the bottom of the home page.</li>
	<li>To proceed further, choose the &#39;Group Travel&#39; option from the drop-down menu.</li>
	<li>Fill out the group travel form with the requested details and tap the &#39;Submit&#39; button.</li>
	<li>Follow the prompts to request a group travel through the channel of your choice.</li>
	<li>Once you complete the booking process, the airline will follow up on your request soon.</li>
</ul>

Types of Discounts & Offers on Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines offers different types of discounts and deals throughout the year to make its customers&#39; flight travel budget-friendly. Here are some of its different discounts and offers:

<ul>
	<li>Military Discount:&nbsp;Southwest Airlines offers discounted fares to military personnel traveling with them. They also offer multiple advantages and allowances, such as priority boarding, free additional baggage, and complimentary services.</li>
	<li>Featured Offers:&nbsp;The airline provides special offers and discounts for particular seasons. Wanna Go Wednesdays and Summer Vacation Travel are some examples of such featured offers.</li>
</ul>

Here&#39;s what you need to do to avail yourself of a travel voucher or coupon when booking a flight online with Southwest Airlines:

<ul>
	<li>Browse the official website of Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) to begin.</li>
	<li>By default, a booking section will appear on the home page under the &#39;Flights&#39; tab.</li>
	<li>Enter the coupon code in the &#39;Promo code&#39; field and the rest of the&nbsp;other requested details.</li>
	<li>Press the &#39;Search flights&#39; button and choose the desired flight from the provided options.</li>
	<li>Select your itinerary and pay the discounted ticket price&nbsp;to complete your flight bookings.</li>
	<li>The airline will shortly notify you with a ticket confirmation email to your registered email ID.</li>
</ul>

Get Last Minute Deals on Southwest Airlines

When booking your flight at the last moment,&nbsp;Southwest Airlines flight deals&nbsp;can help you find inexpensive flights and make your travel affordable. Here are some tips that will help you find last-minute deals:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines Newsletter Subscription:&nbsp;Subscribe to the Southwest Newsletter to receive periodic and early updates about their last-minute deals, exclusive offers, special fares, and other crucial pieces of information that will help you make your flight journey affordable and more manageable. The newsletter subscription link is available on the airline&#39;s website.</li>
	<li>Join Southwest Airlines Loyalty Program:&nbsp;Enroll in the airline&#39;s Rapid Rewards (frequent flyer program) to enjoy multiple benefits, including reduced fares, easy access to deals and discounts, and complimentary services. These amenities make last-minute bookings inexpensive.</li>
	<li>Use Travel Vouchers or Coupons:&nbsp;Apply the coupon or voucher code in the &quot;Promo code&quot; field during the online flight booking process to save money and enjoy exclusive discounts and cashback.</li>
	<li>Be active on Southwest Social Media:&nbsp;The airline constantly updates its customers through its social media sites about its last-minute deals, latest offers, and discounts. So, make sure to stay active on their social media channels and turn on the &quot;Notifications&quot; feature so you never miss an update and get notified about their deals and offers.</li>
	<li>Access Southwest Airlines Low-Fare Calendar:&nbsp;In addition to the newsletter, Southwest Airlines offers a low-fare calendar that allows customers to view the flight fare trends in advance for their respective travel route, destination, and season. This helps you find the duration that best suits your budget, travel purpose, and preferences.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines International Travel Rules

The chances of facing trouble when flying with an airline across nations are relatively higher because each country has its own set of rules and regulations. Here are some tips that will make your international flight journey wth Southwest Airlines more manageable and hassle-free:

<ul>
	<li>Southwest Airlines&nbsp;suggests that every passenger must have the necessary documents for their international travel, such as a passport, a valid visa, and entry forms.</li>
	<li>You must reach the airport at least two to three hours before the scheduled departure of your international flight so you have sufficient time to complete the airport procedures.</li>
	<li>Instead of checking in at the airport, it is advised that you check in online so you do not have to wait in the long queues at the check-in counter, saving time and effort.</li>
	<li>Make sure to weigh your bags before you leave for the airport to verify whether they are within the mentioned weight and size limitations and to avoid hassle during check-in.</li>
	<li>Please do not skip reading the airline&#39;s guidelines regarding different aspects, such as pet travel, special assistance, ticket cancellation, flight change, and other general rules.</li>
</ul>

Cheapest Time & Date of Booking Southwest Airlines

Budget-conscious travelers always look for ways to find&nbsp;Southwest Airlines&#39; cheap flights&nbsp;so they can travel to their desired destination without worrying about their pocket. The following are the cheapest days to book a Southwest flight:

<ul>
	<li>Cheapest Time:&nbsp;The cheapest time to travel with Southwest Airlines is November because it is considered the off-season for most destinations. The ticket prices significantly reduce due to limited tourist traffic and demand.</li>
	<li>Cheapest Day:&nbsp;Tuesday is the best day for budget-conscious travelers to fly with Southwest Airlines because it offers cheaper flight fares compared to other days of the week. The passenger volume is minimal on&nbsp;the middle days of the week.</li>
</ul>

Southwest Airlines FAQ's

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Southwest Airlines FAQ's

1 Q1. Can I bring my own food on Southwest flights?

2 Q2. Can kids fly on Southwest Airlines flights?

3 Q3. Does Southwest Airlines provide special assistance?

4 Q4. Can I check in online with Southwest Airlines?

5 Q5. Is Wi-Fi available on Southwest Airlines flights?

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