Disclaimer: The health of DansDeals readers is this website’s paramount concern. For your sake and the sake of those around you, the best way for society to make it through COVID-19 with the lowest mortality rate is by staying at home. That being said, some people still need to travel home, others need to travel for essential or emergency purposes, and people can try to book for after they think COVID-19 will no longer be a threat. Remember to travel responsibly and take precautions as suggested by your local authorities to avoid spreading the virus.
Update, 3/17/20: This is alive again for trips from March 17-April 30. You can change your travel dates and nearby airports for free within 2 months in either direction of your flight as described below!
Update, 2/17/20: Free changes for June-August trips are now dead.
Update, 2/12/20: This is alive again for trips from June 7-August 10. You can change your travel dates and nearby airports for free within 2 weeks in either direction of your flight as described below!
Update: 1/20/20: Free changes for April-June trips are now dead.
Update, 1/16/20: This is alive again from travel in April, May, and June, though the exact dates may vary based on the route. Dates from 4/14-6/6 should work on most routes for free changes. Free changes will be allowed within 2 weeks of your eligible flight.
For example I made a test booking from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia and was able to book an $83 flight and change for free onto a $505 flight.
For example if you want a $505 flight on 4/19:
You can just book an $83 flight on 4/22:
Click on change flights and you’ll get this message:
And the change will be free, with no difference in fare owed:
HT: DoC
For more information, see the original post from last March below:
Update: DEAD!
Originally posted on 3/15/19:
Southwest currently has an insanely generous systemwide change policy for all March flights.
You can change any flight booked for travel in March to another flight within 14 days for free. Southwest never charges change fees, but currently they will also waive the fare difference.
Best of all you can make the changes online and this policy applies to paid flights and award flights.
With a 24 hour cancellation policy, I figured I’d see how exactly this worked when buying a new ticket today.
Going to Spring Training has always been on my bucket list. What if I wanted to catch the Tribe in Goodyear, AZ? A one-way flight this Sunday would set me back a whopping $583:
Thanks to Southwest’s Low-Fare Calendar, I saw that I could buy a ticket for later this month for as low as $134:
I wasn’t sure exactly how far Southwest’s waiver policy extended, so I bought a ticket for 3/27 and then immediately clicked on change flight. I said I could change for free to any flight 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after the flight I booked:
And I had no problem switching to the $583 flight for this Sunday without paying any extra:
Once I made that change the 2 week window that I could change to became within 2 weeks of the new flight:
If you change a fight to 3/31 it opens up free changes from 3/17-4/14. Metro area changes are also allowed:
There is no limit to how many changes you can make.
One thing I learned is that while you can refund Southwest tickets within 24 hours online, once you make a change you’ll have to call for a refund.
Personally I won’t be taking advantage of this and refunded my ticket, but I found it to be incredibly generous of Southwest. Kudos to them for having this policy!
Have you made any changes with Southwest’s change policy for flights this month?
Leave a Reply
169 Comments On "It’s Back: Southwest Has The Most Generous Systemwide Free Change Policy For March-April That I’ve Ever Seen"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Don’t mean to shine a light, but for what reason?
#GemaraKup
Kudos to you. We should support airlines like this and not take advantage of their generosity. A lesson I learned many times – specifically a few bad apples ruin it for everyone.
WOW Airlines?
Y u surprised, Southwest is always looking to make it better for the passenger
If only it was available for Pesach flights in April to Orlando
Just got tickets to Florida for the week before Pesach for $50 instead of $400. This is insane Dan!
You were able to do this for April flights?
I’d imagine March 31+ 14 days= April 13th or 14th latest changes
Its because of the 737 Max issues…
The policy applies to the older 737 flights as well.
i know, but this is highly likely due to no enough aircraft to operate after 737 Max issue
Sure, but Southwest could have limited this to people booked on those flights. They deserve kudos for allowing changes to all flights.
Generally I buy into most of the “shtick”, this one is downright dishonest.
Personally I wouldn’t book a ticket and do this, but Southwest deserves kudos for having such a generous free change policy.
I’m normally a fan of urs but you wouldn’t “book a ticket and do this” (presumably b/c its wrong) but yet you post this online for ur followers… where did our moral compass go??? dan can you please just post good deals – not teach people how to scam???
The point of the post was to give kudos to Southwest for allowing changes like this for this month.
Well said, who would of thought you meant otherwise! 😉
If that was your only goal, why did you include a step-by-step (including screenshots!) guide on how to PROSPECTIVELY book a NEW flight (not one that had already been booked before) for less than advertised value?
Possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen or read today. Dan, this is the Webster’s Dictionary definition for “disingenuous”.
it is NOT dishonest they could have easily made this policy only for existing reservations only
Most airlines do have that restriction when they have waivers, though not all do.
which is exactly my point, they could have easily been like most other airlines yet chose not to, so it is not dishonest.
Dude thanks so much for this tip! You rule Dan! Just rebooked a PR flight for way less points…
Did southwest stop direct flight from Newark or lga to fll ?
EWR ends after 4/7: https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/airline-news/southwest-killing-service-2-major-east-coast-airports-fort-lauderdale/
They still fly Sunday from LGA-FLL and daily from PHL and ISP to FLL.
Uh oh. I was hoping bloggers wouldn’t notice this potential for abuse.
So, when are legacies going to consider being generous towards the customer? All I remember are the nickel and diming
Considering that Southwest still generously gives 2 free bags and everyone else is busy creating basic economy fares, probably never.
I guess in that case we, customers, should look for opportunities to fly SWA, within reason. I mean, sometimes, we just can’t deal with the additional time resulting from connecting flight (which SWA had many). Maybe, legacies will eventually see the light ?
They will only see the light if it hurts their bottom line due to Southwest gaining market share.
it works even though that fair class wasnt available on your first search because there is only anytime class on the one i want to book
Right, it will rebook it as “Wanna Get Away” even if there’s only Anytime on the flight you want to change to.
will the change period ever move past 4/14?
I didn’t try changing a flight past 3/31, so I’m not sure. If you try then let us know.
nope 🙁
Thanks tonz for the tip just changed a flight
Amazing! Saved $100
Worked for me!!! Thanks dan
can i switch a connecting flight to a direct flight ?
Try and report back.
Dan knows as much as you, if he never tried he wouldn’t know!(or maybe he would?!)
Thanks dan! Paid through the nose for tickets home after purim. Just rebooked for a later flight and saved 25k points!
You we’re always able to change flights for free and get a refund if the flight was cheaper. The thing is now you can change to a more expensive flight and and not have to pay the difference, so saving your points by switching to a later date is nothing new
Um no, travel for next Sunday was very expensive. I change to a flight later in the day thereby spending more time on vacation. And saved a ton of miles by switching from a weekday flight
You obviously aren’t familiar with swa
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.southwest.com/html/generated/help/faqs/no_change_fee_faq.html&ved=2ahUKEwjvq6zA6oThAhVDq1kKHcVGD7UQFjABegQIDxAE&usg=AOvVaw32t2PUMvry-F9qFyVMcaX7&cshid=1552676478186
Freecounty, I’m not sure what you are showing Yechiel. Unless I’m mistaken, the link you pasted says the following “At Southwest, you may pay a difference in air fare, but never a change fee.”
He said he paid through the nose for tickets and now he changed and saved points you could always do that
Not if the day he wanted to fly was $500 and then he moved it out two weeks and then pulled it back two weeks to the original day just to lower the fare of the ticket.(swap the $500 for x amount of points)
you did this change for ticket booked using points?
anyone get past the 4/14 date?
It’s not going to happen. If one originally had the financial means to get to FL for Pesach, then just enjoy your yomtov.
Does it work with flights reserved with miles? In other words, can I book a 5,000 point flight on one date and then change it to a flight on the same route within 2 weeks which would cost 10,000 points?
Read the post again.
Can you imagine if this occurred around late the “holiday season”. There would be anarchy to change to flights around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, being that the weeks surrounding outside of those holidays are among the cheapest of the year.
Can I use a companion pass as well
Sure why would you think not.
does it make a difference if i am trying to change 2 people on the same reservation
Why would one pax be allowed and two pax not? Dont see any difference whether the reservation had 10 people or one person.
March 31 is after Spring Training…just fyi..
Read the post again…
Are you sure there are no limits? When I did it once and tried to do it again I got an error message at the end, though it had still said I could change it. When I called in I was told it was one time only – though they did change it again for me.
I changed my test ticket several times online.
help me here pls .. does this policy applies to points ticket as well? Dan … I read the post multiple times but couldn’t figure that out …
Why dont you PUTPAC?
April 3, 1973
Motorola was the first company to produce a handheld mobile phone. On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive, made the first mobile telephone call from handheld subscriber equipment, placing a call to Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, his rival.
While Italian innovator Antonio Meucci is credited with inventing the first basic phone in 1849, and Frenchman Charles Bourseul devised a phone in 1854, Alexander Graham Bell won the first U.S. patent for the device in 1876.
I love Southwest. They are my go to domestic airline.
It doesn’t include if your 1st flight was on the 31st it’s only until the 30th
Does this work during the month of April?
Thanks for the tip. Worked for me. Booked a trip for 6000 points then moved dates.
FYI – Southwest pulled the waiver early. Not able to change my flight for free anymore online and calling in an agent said the waiver has been pulled due to overuse.
I just tried to book another flight using the trick and the notice about it being free is indeed gone and now it shows price differences.Glad i got in while the gettin was good. I had a trip already planned tomorrow that was 22k points that i got reduced to 8k and then bought a trip back to the same place in 2 weeks for 6k. cha ching!
Did anyone get noticed from SW about their flight being canceled? I got a text but the flight is still showing up as clearly not canceled so very confused.
When did this die?
No post on Wow! Air going belly up?
There was. Search for Wow.
Works again for June flights.
What caused them to do it again in June?
I don’t know, probably related to the MAX issues with schedule. It’s dead again now though.
just tried it. doesn’t work anymore even though it literally worked last weekend!
Hi Dan,
I have flights booked for October. I was just able to change my flight to other dates in October with no fare difference. This is something you might want to look into and share with your other readers…..
Can one book a 1 stop and then change it to non stop for free?
Any changes will be free within the time period for your route.
Might be a dumb quiestion but does the destination have to be the same for the chanhe flight as the original one?
No such thing as a dumb question.
As you can see int he screenshot, it’s valid for nearby airports as well. In the case of Fort Lauderdale, it says I could also depart from West Palm Beach.
But that’s about it.
Is this only on cash bookings and not points?
Should work for both.
so if i book for april 18 and then on april 10 i decide i need to fly out right away on april 11… that would be free to change to april 11 even right before the flight?
This policy can end at any time. I would not expect it to last long.
this will most likely end on 1/19 @11:59 CST and seems to have been due to IROPS
how long did it last last time? so it doesn’t matter if i book now… I don’t lock in this change policy?
Just tried to book this MDW–>MCO and there was an upcharge for the more expensive flights. Is there a way to know which flights are included in this free change before booking?
What date did you book?
Realized that it had to be after April 14 and now I am all set. Thanks!
How can you figure out which dates apply to which routes? It didn’t work for the test booking I made in June.
Try making a test booking between 4/14-6/6.
I have a flight confined on Mar 23 how do i change for free for April 6
does it have a reservation max 880?
how do i find out which flights are on the max aircraft’s?
Not saying this is dead, but just as a data point, LGA-MDW on 6/10 is not eligible.
Try making a test booking between 4/14-6/6.
If I booked a round trip flight for April 15th – April 22nd can I change both flights to April 7th – to April 19th? Thanks Dan!
WOW! it’s back…. and I have to do a quick Iceland search
Looks like the date is June 8.
I just changed a flight with stops I already booked with points to a non-stop flight. Interestingly enough, I was only able to change the outgoing flight and not the returning flight. Also, the points used seem to have been refunded back into my account. Maybe I just got a free flight!?
Thanks Dan!!!
Just helped me get tickets to Orlando for Chol hamoed and the 2nd days from PHL-MCO!!!
Thanks @dantheman
Would this work on flights booked with points?
Does it need to be the same exact flight just for a different date, or can other modifications be made?
I just did a test flight from DAL to LAX, but the available dates are only 4/22/2020 to 5/20/2020 (i.e., not good for Pesach, even just the return). Oh well. Thanks anyway.
Try booking a test flight closer to Pesach.
Does this deal still work?
This didn’t work for me on ISP-FLL for Pesach. It wants to charge me the full fare difference to switch, so i am going to have to cancel my reservation.
Just re-did this and it worked. Amazing. Got my family of 5 round trip NY-FLL for $1,100 total instead of $2,500 on other airlines.
You’re correct June 6 is the last date. Thank you so much! Saved me 16K points on my son’s flight to his summer program.
Does this work for tickets booked with points as well.
yes
Dead!
Not working anymore for me
Thank you Dan once again time after time… $1225 worth of Pesach flights booked for $534, and courtesy of Amex to top it off 😉
What dates you use for pesah?????
Dan do you know the exact time range that this would work for flights from DAL to LGA? I just tried booking a $66 flight on 4/11 and switching to 4/19 and it didn’t work. Thanks for the post
Beginning of the post says the first flight has to be booked 4/14 or later. 4/11 won’t work.
Just booked for 6,125 points direct flight from MCO to PHL on 4/19 Sunday after Pesach. Regular price was 22k points. I originally booked it for 4/21 for the lower points and immediately switched to the Sunday flight and was successful. I did this for multiple tickets all at once. Thank you Dan!!!
It seems to only be working on the mobile site not the desktop site. Anyone else experienced this? Also anyone know if the amount paid is just being transferred over to the new flight or if it’s issued back as a credit and reused for the new flight, in which case if you cancel you’re stuck with a credit instead of a CC refund?
Just booked 4/15 flight PHX to PDX and was able to change to 4/5 flight saving about $200
Works for before Pesach if original ticket is after 14th. Works for Shavuos as well.
Important: Double check that your change went through! I put a change through and it didn’t reflect on my account. I called Southwest and they put it through for me.
Tried both LGA to DAL and DAL to LAX on dates such as 4/14, 4/16, 4/17, 4/20 and no matter what it still incurs the change fee. It appears to be dead can anyone confirm?
Apparently you’re right.
how do i do this if I need to be in Florida from NYC on 6/14, but we can fly in on the 6th. Anyway to get both?
Should work 14th is within 2 weeks of the 6th. Book cheapest roundtrip on or before the 6th. Then change to your flight of choice on the 6th and 14th.
Wow. I booked a while ago my way back from Orlando for Pesach, TPA-LGA on 4/19 st $300 a piece for 14 people. If I cancel it, will I be able to use the flight credit immediately afterwards to book a flight for 2 days later for $99 and then do the free change back to my Sunday 4/19 flight? Basically if there is a lag when the credit for a cancelled flight hits, I won’t change. Any advice I’ll take here. I don’t want to lose my seats on the 4/19 flight though.
IME travel credit is available immediately
Thank you for the post! Was able to save 45% on my spring break return flights.
Hi, new to the site (thanks Dan!). Trying to dig through the comments, but is there any speculation on when this free change opportunity may expire? For instance, last year did this last through March 31? If so would it be safe to assume this would last through 6/6/20?
Till when can this be done? Will this option always be available till May?
I suggest you do this change ASAP. I did this when I saw the deal was posted. No snooze, you lose.
This flight deal definitely works if you comprehend the instructions!!! Thank you SW for being so gracious and DansDeals for providing the info!!
For some reason it’s not working on my flight DEN to Orange county April 17th– is the deal over or does it matter the type of airline?
This works! Needed tickets from FLL to NYC ir islip. Booked 4 tickets for april 22 for $111 and switch to sunday April 19th to $380 flights! Amazing! And Thank you!
I just tried to book DEN to Orange county April 17th, however this trick isn’t working…is the deal over?
Can I still book and make online changes if I use a travel funds voucher?
Can i book a stopover flight and switch it to a nonstop?
If you try canceling in the 24 hour window (after you make a change) Southwest will give you a credit not a refund to the credit card. Spoke to several reps and they adamantly refused saying making the change voids the 24 hour change policy. You can try HUCA but it seems the system won’t allow the refund. I was eventually able to get one (still pending) because I had another flight booked and the rep said the “double booking” can be cancelled and refunded.
appears to be dead. any info?
Email I received from SW said that the period to change flights ended at 11:59pm (CST) on January 19. So yes, at least for my flights the period to change is over. Not sure if that applies to all.
Agree that it is dead, at least for this time frame. Does anyone have summer flights (after 6/6? Perhaps they will move this change period for flights from 6/7-august/sept if they are doing it in phases?
Does this still work?
Is this still active?
??
Back for 7/15-8/12.
Any chance they will go back to April?
Thanks.
Just booked flights to Hawaii with companion pass. Thx!
Can I buy a flight from NYC to Boston and then change to LA?
Sry for the dumb question. But the post says until 8/10. If I want to book a flight for mid of Aug should I book a flight on Aug 10th and then change it Aug 16th??
Thank you! I was having trouble choosing an exact date and time, and knowing that I can change the flight for free even once the fares go up is a great help!
No advantage FLL-BWI. they made all flights for those summer dates the same minimum price.. fares will probably drop after this promo ends
so if changes are unlimited you can keep changing till you get the lowest price of the year?
Sunday July 5th is a very expensive travel date. Just bought the cheapest fare within the time frame and switched to July 5th. Saved over $300 per ticket, or about 22K points per ticket.
it seems like southwest is relatively expensive as coast to coast flights from coast to coast in summer WITH a stop are approx $400 where as delta has for $277 NONSTOP!
thanks so very much for the BIG tip my daughter is making a bar mitzvah in june father’s day weekend in chicago. tickets were pricey especially coming home on sunday. we followed your instructions and got point tickets for 5,700 and cash tickets for $94 that is a GREAT PRICE for that weekend. thanks a million once again
Is this still active if I want to book a flight for this March?
Dead again
Didn’t work for me on 2 sample bookings in July. Anyone else get it to work today?
He’s dead, Jim.
It’s dead now. I tried on two separate bookings in between June 7 and August 8th. From MCI to LGA and MCI to DCA. No dice.
Something similar seems to be alive now.
Had an itinerary booked for 3/18 for 9k miles and the same itinerary booked for 4/06 for 6k miles. All the flights are showing free changes without paying the difference, so I moved the 4/06 reservation to 3/18 for no extra cost, and then canceled the original 3/18
Yes! You can now book a flight on random dates for $50 RT, and change it for Pesach dates for about $60 RT. Awesome!
Find the cheapest flight between today and 4/30. It can then be changed to any flight between today and 6/29. You might have to make more than one change.
I think the Southwest website has gone down – login no longing working (on the app as well).
Is this offer still valid on southwest? I can’t see anything on their website
This is dead for me again.