When will Southwest schedule flights for March and April 2024?

Keep reading to find out…

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Southwest has been frequently changing the release date for flights with this release of flights already rescheduled twice.

I believe this may largely be related to the pandemic, as well as the MAX 8 grounding.

What Time Will Southwest Release Flights?

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Credit Stewart Seeger Flickr

Southwest says they can’t tell you an “official” time that flights are released, but based on our study of many Southwest flight releases, they typically happen between 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. CT.

This depends on many factors and one never knows for sure if it will be super early or super late or right on time!

What to Know About Booking a Southwest Flight on Release Day

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To prepare for the Southwest flight release, here are some of my top tips.

Be sure to check for flights on a mobile browser, the Southwest app AND your desktop or vice versa, as sometimes they come online in one place before another.

Additionally, the flights seem to progressively “roll out,” so you may find some flights available before others.

This can be a somewhat frustrating — and tiring (especially if you get up at 5 a.m. Pacific to check for flights!) — process, but if you can score a cheap fare, it’s worth it in the end!

Join our Families Fly Free program so you’ll get an alert by phone AND email that flights are available for booking!

Top Spring Break Destinations on Southwest

Cheap Flights Southwest
Lyn’s family at Rum Point on Grand Cayman

Here are some great Spring Break recommendations from Families Fly FREE. Read our posts on these destinations below:

Cancel or Change With NO Penalty on Southwest!

Watch our video on how to change a Southwest flight or read below.

Remember, when you book a flight on Southwest, there is no fee if you need to change or cancel a flight.

It’s best to pay in Southwest points, because if you cancel or change because fares have dropped, the points go right back into your account. No questions asked!

If you don’t have a Southwest Rapid Rewards account, it’s easy to create one by visiting Southwest.com.

Plus, you’ll be able to start earning points when you pay for flights and that you can use to book FREE flights (always my goal :)).

If you pay in cash/credit and purchased a Wanna Get Away fare, you’ll instead get a “credit,” also called an Unused Southwest Travel Fund, good for one year (must be used by the same person) for the difference in fare price or as your “refund.”

[Read our complete guide to Southwest Travel Funds]

How to Find A Low Fare on a Southwest Flight

Southwest Reservations New Look Low Fare Calendar

To find the absolute LOWEST price for a flight, I always recommend starting your search at the Low Fare Calendar.

This fab Southwest tool lets you see the lowest fares across each month, and you can click forward or backward to check other months, as well.

Once you find a date with a low price, choose that date along with a return date. On the next screen, you’ll see all the flight options for that day where, again, you can select the lowest option (if that’s what you want).

Keep in mind that Southwest does not list fares on comparison sites like Google Flights or Expedia, so you’ll need to check directly on Southwest.com.

Book Your Southwest Flight to Hawaii!

Southwest Airlines Hawaii
Credit Southwest Airlines

Southwest now flies to Hawaii (hooray!).

They now fly direct to Maui, Oahu, the Big Island, and Kauai nonstop from Long Beach, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Diego airports in California.

Southwest Hawaii flights continue to be in high demand, so booking them as soon as they are released is a good plan.

Southwest prices always tend to go up over time and especially as planes fill!

Here’s everything you need to know about Southwest Hawaii flights.

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  • Flexible points transfer to Southwest at a 1:1 ratio instantly and are worth DOUBLE if you have a Southwest Companion Pass
  • 3X points on dining 
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  • 10% points bonus annually on spending
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Please note, this card’s points DO NOT qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass but CAN be used to book FREE flights on Southwest.

Read my full review of this card.

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Want More Points for Free Flights on Southwest?

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Check out the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa cards, which let you earn tens of thousands of points that you can use to book free flights on Southwest!

These points also qualify for the 135,000 you need to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, so one person can fly free with you for up to 2 years.

These include...

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Keep in mind you can only hold ONE personal Southwest card at a time, though you can hold two Southwest business cards.

To ensure you time these cards in the best way possible to easily ALWAYS have a Southwest Companion Pass, join hundreds of others inside our Families Fly Free membership, the simplest, most organized, most supportive system for flying your whole family for free.

Compare and contrast the varying Southwest credit card options HERE.

When Will Southwest Schedule Flights for March and April 2024?

The Southwest Flight Schedule is now open for booking through November 2, 2024.

So you can book March and April flights now. Yay!

Southwest has announced the next flight release date will be March 21, 2024, 2024 for booking flights through January 6, 2025.

Be sure to check back for any updates or changes.

To review or apply for any of the cards in this post, please use the links within this post or the CREDIT CARDS links in the main menu above (shown in the image below). This allows us to earn a commission—at no cost to you—to support our small business. Thanks so much for taking that step!

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