Southwest’s Schedule Extended
Booking advanced reservations on Southwest can be difficult since the schedule is normally only available on average about 6 months out. Southwest has now extended their schedule through July 10, 2023. That means we have a little over 8 months of booking availability including the entire Summer.
Updated 10/27/22
Early Summer
With this new extension, you can finally book those late spring / early summer flights that work into the kid’s school schedule. Remember Southwest will refund you the difference if the price drops, so it is generally good to get in early for flights during peak times.
Conclusion
Hopefully checking the schedule early will result in some discounted flight bookings. It is probably wise to book early and don’t forget to check regularly to see if the price drops so you can get a refund.
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Doublejade is right. Schedule Opening is no longer relevant to WN bookings. Better to wait until the sale window opens which is generally 2-4 months before ETD
So I noticed later in the day that they extended it again to July 10th. It was originally on the the 8th. So weird.
Prices are very high at release now. There is really no point of trying to get ahead of game to book early on southwest. Those old days are long gone.
I’ve held a companion pass since 2015 with my current pass expiring end of 2023. Unless SW returns to their roots in this will be my last. SW is no longer a low-cost airline with good-great service. I now rate them mid-range cost with slightly below average service (I’m being generous). I find I now use AA as a go to which still blows my mind.
Gone are the days of Southwest being a low cost carrier. I priced out a trip for October on Southwest, and it was $400 round trip or 28K points. Compared to a comparable cash price with AA but a web special of 13K points round trip.
Your dates in this article are all off. Need to proof read it and re-issue
I am new to the world of maximizing points, etc., and it seems that most of the bloggers and websites focus on international travel. While that is something I will try to do, I fly Southwest almost exclusively due to my proximity to Hobby in Houston, as well as their frequent flyer program. That being said, I found you by searching for Southwest Airlines. Do you do much blogging about SWA? If so, I will try to follow your posts, as Rapid Rewards is the system that I really need to master. Thank you in advance for any help that you provide in the future! Erik
Need to change the year to 2016 for your June and August dates
Thanks Joe.