You can now book Southwest Airlines flights on Expedia, Travelocity and 3 other sites
The changes keep coming at Southwest Airlines.
Starting Wednesday, flights covering the Dallas-based carrier's entire network of 117 destinations will become bookable through the online travel agency Expedia and other sites affiliated with the Expedia Group — such as Travelocity and Orbitz, among others.
Plus, travelers will soon be able to use the site to book Southwest connections onto Icelandair as part of the airlines' just-launched partnership.
Leaning into outside sites
While many airlines allow their flights to be listed on outside booking sites like Expedia, it's a big step for Southwest.
For decades, the carrier limited third-party sites from listing its inventory for third-party selling or comparison shopping.
But that started to change last year as Southwest kicked off a major business transformation — and travelers began to see its flights show up on sites like Google Flights and Kayak for comparison shopping.
Now, you can count booking giant Expedia among those sites. And, you'll also start seeing Southwest flights listed on additional Expedia Group third-party booking sites like Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz and CheapTickets, the carrier said Wednesday.
"We are pleased to broaden our distribution with this new cost-effective channel," Tony Roach, Southwest's executive vice president of customer and brand, said in a Wednesday statement announcing the Expedia tie-up.
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How Southwest's Expedia rollout will work
While we didn't immediately see Southwest flights available for booking on Expedia early Wednesday morning, the airline told TPG its inventory should start showing up on the platform over the course of the day — with many more flights available by Thursday.
What's more, Southwest loyalists will soon be able to use Expedia to tap into the carrier's new tie-up with Icelandair.
Earlier this month, Southwest and Icelandair officially launched an interline agreement that allows travelers to book seamless connections between the two carriers on flights to Iceland — and even on to Europe.
But the tie-up early on, is limited: You can only book those joint itineraries via Icelandair's website and certain third-party booking sites. Expedia will be among them "in the near future," a spokesperson confirmed.
By 2026, you should be able to book Southwest-Icelandair connections on Southwest's website, too, and earn and redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards points in the process.
Should you book Southwest flights on Expedia?
There are some benefits to booking Southwest flights (or other airlines' flights) on Expedia beyond the "early access" of sorts it offers to the airline's partnership with Icelandair.
Travelers who like to have all their trip reservations — air, hotel, car rental and the like — bundled neatly in one location can find the booking site useful. And, frequent users of Expedia who take advantage of its One Key loyalty program that also encompasses Hotels.com and Vrbo can reap some perks.
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However, here at TPG, we generally recommend travelers book directly with their airline or hotel; booking with a third-party site can often complicate itinerary changes when air travel problems pop up. Plus, when it comes to hotels, travelers often can't earn points or take advantage of loyalty benefits.
That said, Southwest notes customers who book through Expedia will be able to earn points and enjoy A-List elite status tier benefits as long as they enter their Rapid Rewards number during the booking process.
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