Related: The Chase Southwest Performance Business Credit Card now has a signup bonus of 80K Southwest points for spending $5,000 in 3 months! The card offers some amazing benefits for Southwest loyalists including 4 annual A1-A15 boarding upgrade certificates, 9K Southwest points upon every card anniversary, 365 free Wi-Fi passes annually, 3 points per dollar spent on Southwest, Global Entry/Pre-Check, and the ability to earn tier points towards A-List status.
Update: This is alive again on select routes only for trips booked from 6/6/21-11/5/21. You can change your travel dates and nearby airports for free within 30 days in either direction of your flight as described below, so a flight booked for 6/12 can be moved to 5/13-7/13 for free, without paying any difference in fare!
- You can also switch between select airports for free, such as:
- LaGuardia/Islip
- Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach
- Los Angel7s/Burbank/Ontario/Long Beach/Orange County/Santa Barbara
- San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose
- Cleveland/Columbus/Cincinnati
- Chicago Midway/O’Hare
You can use Southwest’s Low-Fare Calendar to find the cheapest dates to fly.
Originally posted on 3/15/19:
Southwest has one of the most incredible free change policies I’ve ever seen.
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:
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?
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622 Comments On "[Now Alive From 5/13-11/5!] Southwest Has The Most Generous Systemwide Free Change Policy That I’ve Ever Seen!"
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Don’t mean to shine a light, but for what reason?
#GemaraKup
+1
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.
+1. But Chayeka Kodem.
WOW Airlines?
Y u surprised, Southwest is always looking to make it better for the passenger
Mhm. Its all about the $$$
If only it was available for Pesach flights in April to Orlando
Who said it wont be?
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.
Sooo forget the nay saying. Southwest said I’d pay a difference… r u sure this works?
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
Do you have to give Masser on the $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…
Dan,
I’ve tried this a bunch of times with no success. does it only work to some airports?
I tried bdl to lax with no luck
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.
Does this work for June flights also?
You can more a July flight into June or an August flight into September.
Does not work for me for LA PIT in mid August. It was working on Sunday but not anymore. Works for LA -> Oakland on July 31st though
Are you trying to change to a date within 30 days?
Yes date change from original flight is within 14 days. Might be YMMV for this flight change option cause I did see it last weekend but it disappeared this past week
Doesn’t work at all for BWI to CHS, don’t get the message that it can be changed etc, and when I try changing, they want the extra $$$$
What date are you booked and what date are you trying to change to?
Booked August 11 – 12, and tried various different weekends in August. But before I even gave it new dates, I didn’t get the message re the change policy.
Interesting, I tried CLE-MDW in July and August and was able to change dates for free.
Did you only check nonstops? The flight that allows a change for me on 7/31 from LA Bay Area is a nonstop but the mid August I want to change LA/Bay Area PIT has a layover
Just to follow up, I changed my mid-August PIT -> LAX flight to the same priced flight in late July, then I was able to change to any desired flight. Free mid-August changes still did not appear
This doesn’t appear to be working for SEA to PHX (original flight in aug 2020, moving to july 2020). Any idea why not?
will this work if the initial fight i book is a wanna get away?
update it worked
booked LGA – LAX
Worked from LIH->SJC on Aug 24, but did not work from SJC-HNL on Aug 13. I chatted with southwest employee and they stated that this would not work for the Aug 13th flight since there were not any documented waivers or changes for that flight.
You write that ut works for flights in july or August that means the flight you switching to must be in july or August or the flight you switching FROM
Worked for me from July/Aug, but based on comments seems to be YMMV based on route.
Not working for me phl to den aug 12 to earler in aug
Update: phl den route works only if you start in july not aug
Great move.. you can also do this for flights in AUgust to September
Worked for me for ATL-FLL and FLL-ATL buying for July 26 then changing from July 26 to tomorrow (June 26).
Im trying to use this for bdl to lax early July. Am I doing something wrong?
Did not work for me MDW-HOU changing from 8/4 to 7/26
how do you do before booking whether it will work for your flight route?
You can always cancel for a refund within 24 hours.
Did this just end today? It’s not allowing me to make changes any longer.
did this policy just end?
dead
I switched earlier today a flight SJC-KOA in Aug. But LGA-MDW in July didn’t work now
I see that I booked tickets with this policy on 7/3 but now we can’t get back. Any suggestions? Anyone trying calling Southwest for this ever? This does affect quarantine. It’s DAL-MDW>
the entire November is working if your original trip starts in October
Right, you can switch within 30 days of your original trip.
Worked like a charm for 10/31 to 11/29, BOS-LAX. It means I need to stop in MDW, but for 10k, worth it. Compared to 30k B6. Thanks, Dan.
I was fortunate to get great Thanksgiving tickets earlier today through changing October tickets. Just noticed that all Anytime fares are gone for the last weeks of October, most likely to prevent Thanksgiving gauging.
Dead doesn’t work
dead again.
Hi, Did anyone try this recently??
didn’t work for us
booked ticket with chase ultimate rewards and they told me that the new policy is that they have to do the chances on the ticket – can’t change through swa
Think this will start up again? I need to change a ticket from 8/16 to 8/9 and the prices are only going up unfortunately.
Would like to know when this is alive again
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/site-announcements/enroll-sms-telegram-twitter-browser-push-notifications-dont-miss-another-deal/
Seems alive again. I just did it successfully.
Just tried. Didnt work for scheduled flight on 8/25
Thank you Dan! I just booked tickets this morning with a different airline. cheapest tickets for my date was $400. Just cancelled and booked on southwest with this and saved $250!!!
Used and it worked great. They set the rules, we only play by them and I have no moral problem with that
Just booked. It truly works! Saved a ton.
Is this dead?
just tried this. seems dead.
Workedup until last night – seems dead on a few of my bookings.
Missed it this time. Will wait for next time.
Is this deal still active ?
I literally just did it again right now and it worked for me no problem. Flight would have been $423.96. I booked a different flight for $157.96 and switched it a minute later to the flight I wanted.
It seems that it depends on destination. I had no problem doing it round-trip from BWI to STL but when I tried BWI to CLE it was not offered.
It’s working for me again today!
Maybe, add a disclaimer that changing a ticket booked for the companion pass deal and changing dates might disqualify for the promotion.
dead
This appears to be dead again
Just tried and not working. 🙁
Alive again
I just booked an $89 dollar flight from FLL to LAX on November 10th. Switched it to a $550 flight on November 30th for free!
i have flight for 10/8 and it is charging to switch it
Read the post update?
Got it.
I read it quickly, and saw “10/5-2/3”
I was a able to first switch to a flight 11/4-1/4 that is cheaper (got $5 in travel funds), then switch again.
Nice!
Thank you Dan. This has come in handy for me multiple times. Please keep these Southwest “best deal ever” posts coming! I find that they sometimes last for a few days, sometimes for only a few hours. Gotta be quick.
I think this may be dead… its not allowing me free changes, maybe I am doing it wrong.
Dead for me
Appears dead for me on cash flights. Still working on points booked flights. Can anyone else confirm?
I booked a flight with points for 11/6, and cannot change for free to any dates before or after.
Just tried with points not working.
Looks like it’s dead
Back again today, per Doctor of Credit. Booked a few flights today. I can confirm it’s working.
will this work for a new booking made now?
Yes.
Thanks for putting in the work to narrow the dates down!!!
My pleasure.
Tried to use this method to book a cheap flight for thanksgiving weekend but got an error message when clicking “Change Flight”:…
Did you try again?
Thanks Dan, enabled me to switch from a 7am PDX to DEN to a12:55 PM and save 98$.
you can only change it until the Oct. 18th
Hey Dan and JJ, How come sometimes when I leave comments they are not posted?
like yesterday I left a comment saying that I got an error when I tried to use this method to book a flight for thanksgiving and today I came back to give an update (That I got it to work and how I got it to work,) but I dont see my comment from Yesterday. This is not the first time my comments werent posted either. Please explain
Not only was your comment approved yesterday, someone even responded to help you.
Literally 3 comments up.
Searching for comments left by your name/email I see 23 comments posted, all of which were posted, so I’m sure what you are referring to. Would you like a list of all of them?
Is this still live?
Is this still working?
Just tried and it didn’t work today. Worked last week however
not working
dead
Dead. Worked last night.
I was able to change a flight today to a more expensive flight for 0 points and I was trying to figure out why and came across your article. Is there any chance this is still happening now?
It’s working again for me too
Is this still live?
It’s alive now!!!!
Deal’s back. After seeing a post on Reddit I made a booking and was able to change it for no charge.
Does this work on wanna get away tickets? For example. In the post it didn’t clarify if the $83 ticket was a wanna get away or not. Did you try it?
It works on all fares.
Is this still live by any chance?
Dead.
Is this coming back tomorrow?
This deal is live again. I just moved two flights to more ideal times in November. Thank you!
That’s why we LUV southwest!
If only they flew to more places from CLE
FYI. This was never dead! I legitimately had to reschedule two flights in the past couple months and never had to pay the difference. (And yes, one of the times was right after Dan declared it dead!)
How come this shows up for one of my flights but not the other two? Booked a flight from BUR to AUS for 11/22 and I’m given the option to change for free but for my other two trips (AUS to LAX 11/28 and LAX to AUS on 12/9) the free change isn’t available? Sorry if this question has been asked before!
This is alive again for trips booked from 1/4/21-2/6/21
Anyone know if there are any direct flights from LGA to MCO? (I can’t seem to find non stop, Wondering if they scratched that?)
Is there a mileage/distance limit in changing airports? can i book PHL -MCO, then change to BWI – MCO (as its much cheaper)?
When I changed a BWI flight, the other airport options were DCA and IAD. I don’t think PHL is included in the cluster.
I am getting an error message when I try to change a Feb. 2 flight to Feb. 15. Everything works as expected until the final screen. I have already changed this flight booked with points 5 times, from Dec. to Jan. to Feb. Does the system limit how many times you can change to a reservation?
Try calling?
Thanks! That worked. She didn’t explain what the error message meant, but she did switch the flight without charging the increase in points.
I think it’s dead again
dead again
Dead
Dead again
It looks like it’s 15 days in either direction for a TOTAL of 30 days. The message doesn’t seem to allow for 30 in either direction as the post says.
didn’t work for me with either 15 or 30 days. called in, agent made the change no problem.
Dead, will try calling in.
Did calling work for you?
Has anyone had luck doing this now and calling in to change? Just tried and they said this free change was never a thing but I know thats not true. Just wondering if i got the wrong person to hook me up
Does this happen often? i missed it 🙁
any hopes of this coming back?
and done. thanks!
Do we think that the deal will never come back because the FAA reinstated the Boeing 737 Max? Isn’t the Boeing fiasco what created this deal in the first place?
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/09/944669109/return-of-the-max-boeing-737-takes-off-on-first-commercial-flight-in-20-months
It came back today. Not sure the dates but you can change for free for February flights
darn. Was hoping for better, sooner dates. Thanks anyways.
dead?
What date is your trip?
tried to book pesach dates. no route change as per instructed
Again, what date did you book?
Please be specific if you want help.
tried a OW just to test it out. I want to travel on 3/25, so I booked 2/28 which was the cheapest option for that route. when I went to change to 3/25 it was charging me the additional points.
Read the post update again.
shame on me. how often do you just sit there and just sigh…lol
Thx for your time. A Freilichen Chanukah
Is this still Alive? I’m trying.
What date is your trip?
Booked a flight end of April then tried changing to beginning of May but system wanted more points for it, might not be alive anymore.
You wrote can potentially change to flights from 2/9/21-5/11/21
You need to read the post update, not just the headline.
I did that’s where you wrote potentially change to flights from 2/9/21-5/11/21 which i tried
Read it again.
Had a flight booked from PHX to ORD on 3/15 for 6k points. Just changed it to 3/4 for 2.7k points. But now can’t change it back to 3/15 for no more points. What am I missing here?
Nvm. Just figured it out
Phew. Fixed that mess and got tons of points back. Thanks for the update, Dan!
Worked last night, but it appears to be closed this morning.
I was just able to take advantage of this today for a flight originaly scheduled for tomorrow. I was able to change it to a Monday flight that was 3k points higher and they didn’t charge me anything.
This doesn’t work anymore
Is this something they would honor if I booked tickets and then called them? Or is it some kind of shtick that if it works it works if not not?
Have a flight on 1/24 and system doesn’t give free flight change on that day, why?
Read the update again.
The flights they allow you to change at no cost is from 2/11-3/5
If you leave from (fll) Fort Lauderdale is (mco) considered a nearby airport?
Man, what I want is opportunity to convert flight credits from after mid-Sept. Anybody think that will happen again?
I tried to do it and was unsuccessful any advice. I called Southwest but they had no idea what I was talking about
Rule #1: never call the company
Worked for me. Thanks Dan
Didn’t seem to work for me, to change flights 02/17-02/18 to 01/23-25
Seems to be dead
not working for me either. @dan?
thanks
is this still alive?
Seems dead. Can anyone confirm?
Same is this dead?
I just tried it and it didn’t work! I think it’s dead!
Btw southwest has LGA-MCO non-stop $49 one way whole month of March.
And with this deal you can have $100 round trip. Including 2 free bags
what’s the best way to book 2 or 3 seats for the same person? would they cancel the second reservation?
Hi,
Anyone getting this error when trying to change the flight?
Sorry, we found some errors…
We are unable to price the flight you selected. Please select a different flight or contact a Southwest Representative at 1-800-I-FLY-SWA (1-800-435-9792) for assistance.
Hi,
I think I found the work around to the error, if you change both ways of the roundtrip flight then you don’t get the error. The error shows up when you only try to change one way. I don’t know what happens if it’s a one way flight only.
Not working – dead
For which dates and route?
My bad – I was trying to make a change > 30 days out. I got it to work as advertised.
Thanks for the post..
Hi Dan,
Any recommendation or tips who to call to get the refund once a reservation was changed and it’s still within 24 hours of booking.
Thanks
Well, I don’t think calling Delta will get you very far…
Lol, so update I was able to reach someone with customer relations and she was able to give me a full refund for the reservation.
🙂
Saved $35 on one of my flights this time around. This recurring thing has probably saved me close to $300 over the past six months. Thanks so much for keeping us updated and informed!
Is this dead?
Yes
Thanks Dan. Was able to save $60 x 9 tickets for Pesach travel.
too bad no more nonstop options from nyc or phil to miami or FLL
your example teased me but I saw the dates were from 2019!
apparently only working on old reservations.. not new ones…
Incorrect.
What route and date did you try?
you’re right.. i used the wrong dates.. thanks!
Had a nonstop from ORD to PHX schedules in early March, but they just added a stop in Dallas to the flight. Was able to call up and get it switched to a MDW to PHX flight for no extra points. Was excited to be flying Southwest out of ORD. Oh well. Not a great start to SWA out of ORD
Just booked a seat on the phone for a one year old, as that is the only way to book a paid ticket for under 2s. Any idea if i have to call again to change flights?
thanks
Could have just made up a birthday.
I will take that as a no…..
thanks for the quick reply
I figured honesty about the babies age would allow us to avoid a masking fiasco
It’s a no idea, why don’t you try and see?
Fair point about the mask!
is there anyway to tell before booking if deal is still alive ? southwest offers cash refund within 24 hours ?
just locked in crazy airfare to Orlando $97 RT direct with this loop hole. got a $900 ticket for $97
Seems like it’s dead.
I think so too
Looks like its not working anymore
I think this is ti s to when they do schedule changes and therefore might be love again. I had my 4/15 and 4/19 flights changed yesterday
Your 4/19 $505 flight (anytime) is a different for fare class than your 4/22 $83 one(wanna get away)?? On the cheapest fare class and then switch to an upgraded Fair class for free that’s wild!!
Its not workin!!!!!!!!!
What date and route are you booked for?
PHLtoMCO
DEPART
03/24
WEDNESDAY
PHL
8:00 AM
MCO
10:35 AM
This is my original trip. A day before and after costs more for me to change.
I booked with points.
“This is alive again for trips booked from 4/12/21-5/8/21.”
I’m trying to book from Mco to Bwi on April 13 and I keep getting an error message when I try to book?
Anyone having trouble booking tickets in this timeframe? It’s not working for me now. I have done this many times. It keeps saying error on the ticket price
Try another browser?
Also in the app… I will go try another browser now. Thank you.
I’m having the same issue, mobile app and multiple browsers.
I tried chrome on pc and Firefox and ad block browser running on android and it didn’t help. appears to be dead or ineligible for Orlando.
https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_20211241614217407780.html
Thank you for letting us know! At least I was able to get our whole family on the same flight for the same price without a farther airport even if it didn’t save me money!
oops!
Flight booked on 5/9 can be moved for free ?
“This is alive again for trips booked from 4/12/21-5/8/21”
Site is up and running again
Thanks for the great info. I was able to use my expiring travel credit.
Dead again.
(or maybe just not allowing a second free change)
Just decided to stay for my bday on my trip instead of leaving a few days earlier on the cheapest fare I had originally booked. WOOT WOOT. Southwest is always great for using points changes.
I’m not able to get the “No additional cost” message to appear for any of the flights I booked in the allowed range. If I call SW they have no idea about the policy. Does anyone know what the agent might be able to look up in their system to find it? Any other ideas that have worked for anyone? Thanks!
What route and date did you book?
Just wanted to confirm this is still working. I booked a reservation, and changed it to different days with zero problems and zero additional charges. Took about 30 seconds total.
Pesach tickets fixed. 7500 points each way for 3 tix on Easter Monday. They were $260 each before. amazing.
Nice!
are there any airports that are considered “nearby” to PHL for free changes?
Nothing to lose by testing.
Let us know!
NOT WOKRING FOR ME:(
What route and date did you book?
Not working
I am trying to move my flight on March 25 from LGA to Islip. The flight is to fll. Should it switch for Free?
No.
“Update, 2/24/21: This is alive again for trips booked from 4/12/21-5/8/21.”
Still working, booked over 50 tickets the last few days for multiple families pesach trips! Still worked as of a few minutes ago. Guys, you gotta follow the date guidelines in the post, works like a charm.
Still working beautifully after 1AM eastern on 3/2/2021
Is it still working? I have a flight from MCI to CLE on 04/05. If it’s still working planning to cancel that flight get refund, book a flight for between 04/12 to 05/08 and modify it to 04/05 (original date). Thanks in advance
Dead now.
now dead
As I predicted.
When do you think it will be back again?
Is it risky to buy one in May now? Will it be back by then?
If you buy a ticket right now while this link is dead… will this trick still work on that ticket when the link is alive again so long as the ticket was within the offer’s date range?
Yes
appears that it works again for the same date range
Thanks!
sorry dan im a bit confused. if i book a flight now for 4/10 i can change it to 3/30 (pesach) for free
The dates that can be changed for free are 4/12/21-5/8/21.
So 4/12 or later would work.
Thanks for this helpful info! Didn’t they used to allow for changes only within 2 weeks of the booked flight ? Do they now allow for changes within 30 days?
and theyre sale finshed last night ! pain !
can you change from nearby airports, i.e lga to isp or needs to be same one ?
what about connecting to nonstop ?
Just booked amazing prices! MDW-MCO round trip for pesach cost 5k points per ticket. Thank you Dan
still alive?
Was not able to change airports, only the dates.
dead?
never mind
Dead?
Dan, dead again as predicted on ur post
When do you think it will be back Dan?
No
would love to know the same
It’s back
I’m not finding valid dates.
Is this back again?
I’m not finding valid dates.
Ok Dan. Thank you!
it’s not the same dates range; before, booking around mid apr was able to change, now, its not
any rate, booked a r/t on 5/7 & able to change to 5/28 & 5/31
Route/dates?
I tried 4/25, 5/7, and 5/18 and was a nogo.
It’s still live for me for flight in mid-April.
Route/dates?
I tried 4/25, 5/7, and 5/18 and was a nogo.
Dead
I’m supposed to leave towards the end of April. Any chance this will be back for me to attempt to use before then?
Nobody knows but I’d feel pretty good about it coming back before then.
Awesome. Thank you!
Live again. Cant say for sure on all routes but i just successfully did it.
It did not work for me. I just tried LGA-MDW 05/05/21.
Looks live again, Dan.
Which Route and what dates?
I was just able to shift a May 10 flight. And it also shows up on a May 14 flight (MDW-MIA), but is not working for a May 26 flight.
Deal is back with newly available dates. Changed my flight that was originally scheduled for 5/26. Wasn’t able to change this one the last time around.
It would be helpful to leave a link to the Low Fare Calendar with the updates on top. Thanks for letting us know!
Are you sure it is 4/9 and not 4/23
Where can I see the rules of this waiver?
In this post. It’s not official policy and it comes and goes.
When I tried to change my tickets it didn’t say that it needs to be in a certain time frame, only that it has to be in the surrounding airports.
Now try and see what happens if you change it more than 30 days…
I would have to pay the fare difference.
I called them up and told them I don’t see anywhere saying it has to be within 30 days, the rep transferred me to supervisor but they wouldn’t let me change without paying fare difference.
No kidding…
Only allowing me to make one change. Any trick to allow a second free change?
Call Southwest. Or cancel and then rebook.
Thanks for your response, Dan.
I’ll try giving them a call.
I don’t think canceling and rebooking will help; because I want to switch to earlier than April 9th. So, I booked for May 9th and switched to April 9th (the earliest possible). Now, I want to switch to another week earlier – but it’s charging me the fare difference (same if I switch to any date, even within the original 30 Days).
You can’t go earlier than April 9th. If you could, I’d have said that 🙂
😉 🙁
Thanks again Dan!!
Wishing you a wonderful Pesach!!
I just wanted to thank you for posting this every time it comes up. I am often booking eight round-trip tickets at a time for my family and this has saved us a bundle!
Booked a flight in January for march 31, had to change for legit reasons to 3/30. waited on hold 2:58:30 (booking with baby, don’t want masking issue with fake birthday).
I calculated about 180 fare difference; so went out and bought $150 SW gift card with 5X freedom unlimited at grocery (leaving space to finish the booking with CSR).
Lo and Behold…… agent tells me she has overridden something and no additional charge whasoever :):):).
from this post I assumed I missed the free change.
just throwing a piece of data out there for the oilam’s edification
Soooo Dan I booked a ticket and then changed it. I ended up needing to cancel within 24 hours of booking but it was only allowing a refund to my travel funds. I finally got thru to An agent and they said since I changed the ticket, even tho it’s within the original 24 hours I lose my ability for a refund to my CC. I guess that’s buried somewhere in the waiver T&Cs…
Not true, HUCA or DM them on Twitter.
Hold time is over an hour. Now it’s more than 24 hours but I canceled for a voucher within the 24 hours hoping that they can see that. Do you think that should work?
No idea, Twitter DM is always the place to start.
Hi Dan. Sorry to bump an old comment but besides me checking this page that I just recently stumbled on, do you know when Southwest might do the next round of free changes? I have been booking random days and looking for that red notice above by reservation that signals free changes into higher priced fares.
My 2 cents regarding the original comment, my experience is once I change a ticket, Southwest doesn’t allow refund to credit card even if the original booking was made within 24 hrs. Haven’t tried DM’ing CS though about this policy to find out if they make exceptions.
appears dead
Not working for a 5/15 booking.
Only allowed one change without charge of fare diff.
I had to call 4 a “1 time exception”
We’re you able to change to before April 9th?
About to use trip delay insurance on a changed flight that had to be diverted and delayed due to a storm. Hoping for the best!
This deal is dead as of 3/25/2021
still able to chg 2nd & 3rd wk of May
that’s when I was trying and it wouldn’t let me, weird
Looks like this might still be working in some form – on 3/27 I changed a May 25th flight to June 24th, should have seen a $50 per ticket increase but was not charged extra. When I tried for June 25, it showed a $50 fare difference required.
Is this working for anyone anymore? Booked middle of May and I can’t change it for free.
it says expired at the top of this page
Dear Dan – It might be best to strike out the 3/23/21 post so there’s no confusion.
Here’s hoping it reappears soon.
When will this be available again?!
Patiently waiting…
I would like to know in case I can book a ticket this week and it will be cheaper
Is there a way to get an email notification when this page updates or any new comment is made to this page? (I can get notified of new replies to this very comment, but not sure if it’s possible to get notified of any new comments)
Alive again!
not working booked may 11 fll lga
You sure- from the website-
Change your reservation as far in advance as possible. There’s no fee to change your flight, but a difference in fares may apply.
Not working tried ISP to ALB on May 20 and to change to end of April, does not work.
For what it’s worth, it seems not all routes are available to change for free within those dates. For example, one could change BWI to HOU but not DCA to HOU.
Not working
ymmv, depend on route / dest
It’s not working a flight I just booked for 5/10-5/13
Same 🙁
Not working on a 5/24 flight from BOI-BOS. Trying to move it to 6/9, but any date is incurring a fare increase.
Done. Shavuos for family of 3 Baltimore to Dallas, $100 round trip each ticket. Saved me $250 each ticket!!!
Which airport would be considered close to Las Vegas? Is there a way to know that now
Not working for me HOU-LAX within those dates
not working, have ticket 5/9 want to change to 5/30 but wants more points , also have for 5/21 cannot change or free to 5/30 , any ideas?
Only works on some routes. 🙁