Southwest Low Fare Calendar: How To Get The Cheapest Fares

If you’re trying to fly affordably in the United States (or to a handful of international destinations), no tool is more powerful than Southwest Airlines’ Low Fare Calendar. Unlike most airlines that hide their best prices behind rigid date searches, Southwest openly shows you an entire month of fares at once — often revealing one-way tickets as low as $39-$69 on routes that cost $200+ on legacy carriers.

As the travel industry gets ready for the holidays, one way you can save on airfare is to get familiar with the Southwest Low Fare Calendar. 

The Southwest Low Fare Calendar identifies some of the cheapest fares that you can find online.

This article is going to show you how to save money when booking airfare by using the Southwest Low Fare Calendar.

What Is The Low Care Calendar On Southwest?

Southwest Airlines is known for cheap fares, so it makes sense that they would have a low fare calendar on their website.

This tool shows you a month-by-month grid that identifies where the cheapest fares are. 

You can access it at southwest.com/air/low-fare-calendar/. Or from the homepage → Book → Low Fare Calendar (mobile users sometimes have to switch to desktop site to see the full calendar view).

To get the best results out of the low fare calendar, you can’t be set on a specific date. You’ll save more if you have flexible travel plans.

Here is a screenshot of the Southwest Low Care Calendar.

How To Use The Southwest Low Fare Calendar 

To use the Southwest Low Fare Calendar, go to the page and follow these 6 steps:

1. Fill in the Depart box
2. Fill in the Depart Month
3. Fill in the Arrive box
4. Fill in the Arrive Month
5. Fill in the number of passengers
6. Click Search

Once you fill in your dates, you will see all the dates of the month and their fares. 

For example, we put in Atlanta airfare to Los Angeles (LAX). This is what it showed:

From there, you just select the cheapest fare that works for your travel plans. Once your dates are selected, you have to choose between three class fares:

• Business Select
• Anytime
• Wanna Get Away

Once your class fare is selected, you have to select a time of the day.

Step-by-Step: How to Use It Like a Pro

1. Be Flexible With Dates (The #1 Rule)
   Shifting your trip by just 1-3 days can save $100+ per person each way. The calendar makes this painless because you see every price instantly.
2. Search One-Way Flights Separately
   Southwest always lets you book one-ways at half the round-trip price (no Saturday-night stay required). Always run two separate one-way Low Fare Calendar searches — sometimes flying out on a Tuesday and returning on a Thursday is dramatically cheaper than a symmetrical trip.
3. Use the “Flexible Dates” Checkbox
   On the Low Fare Calendar page, check the box that says “Search 1 month +/- 3 days.” This expands the grid to show you seven weeks instead of one strict month, catching ultra-low fares that fall just outside the calendar month.
4. Start With Major Southwest Hub Cities
   The absolute lowest fares almost always involve at least one leg to/from these airports:
   • Denver (DEN)Las Vegas (LAS)Chicago Midway (MDW)Baltimore/Washington (BWI)Houston Hobby (HOU)Dallas Love Field (DAL)Phoenix (PHX)Nashville (BNA)St. Louis (STL)Orlando (MCO) after it becomes a focus city in 2025
   Example real prices seen in November 2025 for January-March 2026 travel:
   • Denver → Las Vegas: $39–$59 one-way
   • Chicago Midway → Nashville: $49 one-way
   • Baltimore → Orlando: $59 one-way on many dates
5. Book Exactly 168–45 Days Out for Domestic, 180–90 Days for International/Hawaii
   Southwest releases most of its schedule in chunks (usually 8 months at a time). The cheapest fares appear the moment the schedule opens and slowly climb. Mark your calendar for release dates at southwest.com/schedule.

Restrictions

There are some restrictions with Southwest fares that you need to know about. Here are some of the major ones.

• Until purchased, all fares are subject to change.
• The fares don’t apply to multiple persons (there may be only one flight left at a particular price).
• “Unavailable” indicates the corresponding fare is unavailable for the selected dates.
• “Sold Out” indicates that Southwest has no more seats in the particular fare type.
• “Invalid w/ Depart or Return Dates” indicates that Southwest can’t return a valid itinerary option(s) with the search criteria submitted. 

Sign Up For Southwest Rapid Rewards

One way to save on a flight is to take advantage of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program.

With Rapid Rewards, you earn 2 points per $1 spent on Southwest and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.

To maximize your savings, you may opt to buy your fare with cash rather than use your Rapid Rewards points.

Real Example: Booking Denver to New Orleans for Mardi Gras Season (February 2026)

• Round-trip search on Google Flights: $278–$450 on legacy carriers
• Using Low Fare Calendar:
  Outbound Tuesday Feb 10 → $79 (Wanna Get Away)
  Return Wednesday Feb 18 → $69
  Total: $148 round-trip with two free checked bags

That’s the power of the Low Fare Calendar in action.

Are Southwest Fares Cheaper On Tuesdays?

Final Thoughts

Cheap fares can be found online, and Southwest is a great place to start.

The airline’s Low Fare Calendar is the type of basic tool that should be a starting point for a price-conscious traveler.