For the longest time, Southwest Airlines (SWA) has kept to itself when it comes to searching for and booking a flight.
You couldn’t do it on KAYAK, Expedia, Google Flights, or anywhere other than Southwest’s site. That has now changed – or at least starting to. Southwest flights are now available on Google Flights, a move that makes cross-shopping for flights a lot easier, especially for frequent Southwest flyers.
“Booking directly on Southwest’s website has always been one of the airline’s many differentiators,” Going.com’s Katy Nastro told ConsumerAffairs.
“Free checked bags and change fees were always a huge plus, yet comparing their prices against other airlines was quite the opposite. Now, travelers finally have Southwest fares displayed amongst the other U.S. carriers, making flight shopping even easier.”
Will other platforms add SWA to their available flights?
ConsumerAffairs asked Nastro if SWA’s Google Flights move is an indication of the airline offering its booking functionality to other travel sites. The answer is “it’s anybody’s guess.”
“We know the airline hasn’t been doing the best financially, and even the CEO, Bob Jordan, alluded to significant changes soon for the company – appearing on Google Flights has now become one of them,” Nastro commented. So, if you’re a Southwest fan, but don’t like Google Flights, you might have to grin and bear it for the time being.