Cheap Airline Tickets on Southwest Airlines

Most people flying for leisure want cheap airline tickets, especially for domestic flights. Given the blitz of advertising for travel mega-sites like Orbitz, Expedia, and the gnome-touted Travelocity, budget travelers think they're getting a complete list of options when they use these engines. After all, the sites search through banks of flight and fare data to return results sorted by price. But even though low-cost carriers like AirTran and Frontier make their flights available through these travel portals, there's a major brand of cheap airline tickets missing from the list: Southwest Airlines. If you're not familiar with Southwest's unique approach to flying and their take on cheap airline tickets, read on - because you may be missing a deal.

Southwest Airlines keeps costs low by keeping things simple. They only fly one kind of aircraft - the Boeing 737 - which all of their flight and maintenance crews can handle efficiently. They do not offer any special first-class or business sections. For now, there's no assigned seating, although this may change in the next few years. Snack packs are provided in place of meals. In-flight intertainment is limited to the amusing antics of their quirky flight attendants, who often play games with passengers. Even the frequent-flyer program remains streamlined so that Southwest Airlines can offer cheap airline tickets to the masses. Although the term "no-frills" is regularly used to describe the experience, the company has developed a great service reputation and a lotal following.

So, if you're sold on this model for cheap airline tickets and want to give Southwest a try, here's what you need to know:

1. Southwest Airlines often flies out of secondary airports in regions with more than one airport. For example, they use Love Field in Dallas as opposed to the larger DFW. In Chicago, they are based at Midway Airport instead of the mega-hub O'Hare. For the smaller airports in these big markets, Southwest often accounts for nearly half of the flights. Often these secondary locations are just as convenient (or more so) for passengers, yet the operating costs are lower and air traffic delays tend to be less frequent. This all helps Southwest sell cheap airline tickets, but it may mean using a less familiar airport or making a longer ground commute.

2. Southwest offers several kinds of fares. The "refundable anytime" fares are obviously the most expensive. Then come the various special fares, restricted fares, fun fares, etc. While this may seem confusing at first, it's actually very well-explained on the Southwest Airlines website. Fares are color-coded and link directly to a concise explanation so that you know what the different fares mean and whether they are available for the flights you're considering. You may also want to take advantage of their DING! service, a download that will notify you of special, cheap airline tickets that meet your specifications (trust me - it's worth doing).

3. As mentioned above, you do have to buy your tickets directly from Southwest. The easiest way to do this is clearly online at www.southwest.com, though you can always call them at 1-800-IFLYSWA if you have questions. You won't find these cheap airline tickets on Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, CheapTickets, etc.

4. Southwest Airlines has a code-sharing agreement with ATA, an airline they rescued from the verge of financial collapse. This means that Southwest's cheap airline tickets have expanded beyond original markets, but the ATA-operated Southwest flights (while available for booking on www.southwest.com) are also available through other channels. This aspect of Southwest can still be a little tricky, especially as it related to frequent flyer rewards. However, the stellar staff are very helpful should the code-sharing agreement between ATA and Southwest cause confusion.

Happy flying with Southwest Airlines....and don't forgot to download DING! so you can get in on the cheapest of the cheap airline tickets!