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Book Spring Travel: Southwest and AirTran Schedule Open Through April 6, 2015

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    You can now book paid and award flights on Southwest and AirTran up to April 6, 2015 (instead of March 6, 2015).  If you have plans for Spring Break, you can book your travel now.

    Southwest now flies to international destinations like Mexico, Aruba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas!

    Southwest Now Flies to the Caribbean and Mexico!

    Other airlines open their schedule ~11 to 12 months in advance, but Southwest only opens their schedule ~6 to 8 months in advance.

    You Can Now Book Southwest Flights Through April 6, 2015

    Southwest Companion Pass

    If you have a Southwest Companion Pass, your companion will fly almost free with you, on BOTH paid flights and points bookings.

    You can book a seat for yourself, and add your companion later if you don’t currently have a Companion Pass.

    Read this post for all you need to know about the Southwest Companion Pass!  You get the Companion Pass after earning 110,000 Companion Pass qualifying points in a calendar year.

    Note:   The easiest way to earn points for the Companion Pass is to wait until the Southwest 50,000 points credit cards come back!  These cards come around every few months, so if you missed them last time you should be able to get them again soon.

    Ways to Earn Southwest Points

    1.   Paid Flights on Southwest

    You’ll earn points when you fly Southwest on paid (NOT award) tickets.  Southwest calculates points on the base fare and excise taxes, but not the government taxes and fees.

    Earn 6 to 12 Points per $1 You Spend on Southwest Tickets

    2.   Southwest Credit Cards

    Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

    Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

    Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

    Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Business Credit Card

     

    I’ve written about the Chase Southwest credit cards and how you can use them to earn LOTS of Southwest points.

    The Southwest Premier (Personal) card gets you 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the 1st 3 months.

    The other 3 versions of the Southwest card are currently offering 25,000 Southwest points after meeting the minimum spending.  This isn’t the best offer for these cards, because Chase increases the sign-up bonus to 50,000 points several times a year.  So if you can wait a few months, you’ll get a better deal with the 50,000 point offer.

    You can earn 1 point per $1 you spend on regular purchases, and 2 points per $1 you spend on Southwest, AirTran, and certain hotel and car rental partners.

    50,000 Southwest points are worth ~$710 in Southwest flights or $500 in gift cards.  And 25,000 Southwest points are worth ~$355 in Southwest flights or $250 in gift cards.  There are no blackout dates when you redeem points on Southwest, so you can book as many seats as Southwest is selling!

    3.   Transfer Points From Chase Ultimate Rewards

    You can instantly transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred, (no longer offered) Chase Ink Bold, or Chase Ink Plus to Southwest Airlines at a 1:1 ratio.

    You Can Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Southwest
    Note:  Transferring points directly from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Southwest does NOT count towards the Companion Pass.

    I prefer earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points and then transferring the points to Southwest when I need them.  That’s because I can earn 2X points on all travel and dining with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and 5X points on wireless, telecom, and office supply stores with the Ink Bold or Ink Plus.

    4.   Earn Bonus Points

    There are lots of other ways to earn extra Southwest points.  You don’t need to have a Southwest credit card to earn bonus points from shopping, dining, participating in partner promotions, or by transferring hotel points.

    For example, I earned 1,750 extra Southwest points on Valentine’s Day just by ordering flowers through 1-800-flowers.com.

    Buying Flowers Can Earn You Lots of Southwest Points

    These are also great ways to earn the extra points for the Southwest Companion Pass!

    AirTran Schedule Also Open Through April 6, 2015

    You can now book flights on AirTran up to April 6, 2015.

    AirTran Has Also Extended Its Schedule to April 6, 2015
    Southwest and AirTran have connected their networks, so you can usually book AirTran flights (within the US and NOT to international destinations) on the Southwest website.  But flights after November 2, 2014, must be booked on the Southwest website.

    If you book AirTran flights from the Southwest website, you won’t pay for 2 checked bags and you won’t pay a fee for cancellations!

    It’s Best to Book AirTran Flights on Southwest’s Website to Avoid Cancellation Fees and Get 2 Free Checked Bags!

    You should book on the AirTran website if you want to pay for the privilege of getting an assigned seat, but you’ll also have to pay for your checked bags.  I’d personally prefer saving money on checked bags than getting an assigned seat.

    AirTran charges for cancellations while Southwest doesn’t:

    You will be issued a credit for the remaining balance valid for up to 1 year after the booking was made.  If you don’t call at least 1 hour prior to departure you’ll lose your airfare.

    Bottom Line

    Southwest and AirTran schedules are open through April 6, 2015.

    It doesn’t hurt to book your spring travel now, even if you’re not 100% sure of your plans.  That’s because if you cancel a paid Southwest flight, they will issue you a credit for the amount, good for 1 year.  Or if you book Southwest flights with points, you’ll get your points refunded.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)