by Holly Johnson
Last updated: 10:00 PM ET, Tue September 12, 2017
While most airlines let you book flights nearly one year ahead of departure, Southwest Airlines does things differently. Every few months, they open a new block of bookable dates that are available from 6-9 months ahead.
Recently, they opened their calendar once again, making Southwest flights bookable through June 1, 2018. This makes it possible to book all your spring and late spring travel plans, whether you're paying with cash or Southwest Rapid Rewards points.
On October 26, 2017, Southwest will open their calendar up once again making flights bookable through August 10, 2018.
The Benefits (and Gripes) of Flying Southwest Airlines
While we've talked about the benefits of flying Southwest before, let's quickly revisit. Coast to coast, many people rely on Southwest flights to get where they want to go, and for good reason.
First, Southwest offers frequent sales with certain destinations going for as low as $59 per leg. You can often fly from Indianapolis to Washington D.C. or Las Vegas to Albuquerque for as little as $60 each way or $120 round-trip.
In addition to cheap fares, Southwest offers two free checked bags per person for an average savings of $200 for a family of four.
Nonetheless, Southwest is far from the perfect airline.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Southwest is Travel Industry's Favorite Airline[/READMORE]
One of the big downsides (and one thing customers frequently complain about) is the airline's boarding process.
Instead of assigning seats ahead of time, travelers are given a boarding number and group based on the order they checked in for their flights. After you board, you can select any seat you want, which means the sooner you board the more likely you'll have good options.
To get the best boarding group, you can a) pay an extra $15 per leg for early bird check-in, or b) check in for your flight exactly 24 hours ahead of time. This is a detail to be aware of if don't want to get separated from family or stuck in a dreaded middle seat.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Still, the company's greatest value is probably its Rapid Rewards program. This lets people earn Southwest Rapid Rewards airline miles for flying, shopping through its website or using one of Southwest's co-branded credit cards.
Currently, Southwest offers a handful of personal business credit cards through Chase that come with signup bonuses up to 60,000 miles.
It's easy to rack up points with the co-branded credit card because you earn at least one Rapid Reward point for every dollar you spend along with 2x points on purchases made with Southwest Airlines.
The Southwest shopping portal makes it easy to earn more miles on regular purchases, hotels and rental cars booked with Southwest. In addition to its travel sector, the Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal lets you earn points at 800+ stores like Kohl's, Home Depot, Lowes and JC Penney.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Southwest Flies Plane Full of Pets Out of Texas[/READMORE]
You can also sign up for the Southwest Dining Club to earn more miles when you dine at participating restaurants and meet other criteria.
If you're a Southwest Airlines enthusiast or think you could be, flights are now bookable through June 2018. That's a long time to plan, and let's not forget that Southwest flies to most destinations in the U.S. along with popular Caribbean spots like Nassau, Aruba, Punta Cana and Montego Bay.
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