Travel Deals

Southwest Sale Ends Today – I Saved 6,500 Points on an Existing Reservation

a group of airplanes on a runway
Written by Charlie

Time to check your existing reservations or make new ones – there is a Southwest sale in the air! In this sale, I saved over 6,000 points on a reservation, just by rebooking it!

There is a new Southwest sale that ends today and I rebooked a current reservation and saved almost 7,000 points! This is especially noteworthy because I have never been able to save more than 500 points on this reservation since I booked it! So, check your reservations for some savings!

Southwest Sale – Save on New and Existing Reservations

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Link: Southwest Sale

Southwest Sale Details:

  • 21-day advance purchase required.
  • Purchase from September 1 through September 3, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Central Time.
  • Continental U.S. travel valid September 22, 2020, through March 4, 2021.
    • Travel Continental U.S. to/from Hawaii valid November 1, 2020, through April 8, 2021.
    • Interisland Hawaii travel valid September 22, 2020, through April 8, 2021.
    • Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico valid September 22 through December 3, 2020, and January 11 through March 4, 2021.
    • International travel valid September 22 through December 9, 2020, and January 11 through March 4, 2021.
  • Continental U.S. & interisland Hawaii travel blacked out November 28-30, December 18-19, December 23, December 26-27, 2020, and January 2-3, 2021.
    • Interisland Hawaii travel also blacked out November 25, 2020.
    • Travel continental U.S. to Hawaii blacked out November 19-22, December 17-27, 2020; February 11-14, March 19-20, March 26-28, & April 1-3, 2021.
    • Travel continental U.S. from Hawaii blacked out November 27-30, December 26, 2020 to January 4, 2021, February 19-21, March 27-28, April 2-5, 2021

Last week, they had a fantastic sale starting at $39 one way. That sale appeared to be great for short-hauls. The route I booked then was a one hour flight to Baltimore for just $39. The route I saved on during this sale (and only saved 500 points on the last sale) was a longer haul – almost 4 hours. That one dropped over 1,000 points per person, best drop I have had yet! So, this sale definitely seems to be better for some of the longer haul routes than previous sales.

Why Booking With Southwest is Great Right Now

Southwest is already the only US airline that gives every passenger 2 bags for free. They are also the only airline that has freely given refunds (to travel credit when booked with cash) or points back if you decide not to take a trip.

But, they also let you exchange your travel credit into points (which won’t expire the way the travel credit will) up through December 15. They also are blocking all middle seats through October 31 (at least). And, it is far easier to get refunds from them than it is other US airlines (and definitely easier than with international airlines).

Check Your Already-Booked Reservations For Price Difference – I Saved Almost 7,000 Points!

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So, now is the time to search for your tickets within this sale and see if you have a better price available now than when you had booked it. If the price has dropped, you simply select to change the flight and look at the same dates and flights again. Once you go through and confirm, you will receive a refund of the difference in miles and the cash for the taxes will be transferred for the new ticket.

In 1 Minute, You Can Have Your Points Back!

The whole process takes less than 60 seconds and you could save a lot of money or points! If you had booked your ticket in the past using cash, you will receive a refund in the form of a credit that is usable for 1 year from the time you originally booked the ticket. If you booked it with points, you will receive the points back in your account for the difference.

Seriously, I pulled up my reservation, clicked to change it, selected the same date and flight and, bam, had a credit of 6,500 points! The points were back in my account in just a minute!

Definitely check your existing reservations – also check them in case you had a schedule change! They have been lessening some route frequencies so if your schedule was changed by that, you get to move to another flight – even if the flight costs a lot more than what you paid!

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.