Save your factors: Southwest providing award reductions on choose early and late flights

There’s lots to love about Southwest’s Fast Rewards program. From versatile change and cancellation insurance policies to no blackout dates on award tickets and an array of rewarding bank cards, many vacationers worth the easy, versatile nature of this system — as do TPG staffers.

Now, the airline is providing an apparently new characteristic on choose flights that may make your Fast Rewards factors go even additional.

When you use your factors to e-book choose early morning flights (8 a.m. or earlier) or night flights (7 p.m. or later), you might save 20% off the usual award fee.

We first observed this when looking for an early 2025 flight from Orlando Worldwide Airport (MCO) to Louis Armstrong New Orleans Worldwide Airport (MSY).

Although each the three:20 and seven:20 p.m. departures have the identical money value ($176.98), you may save 2,499 factors by reserving the night flight by way of Fast Rewards. This boosts your redemption worth from 1.37 cents per level to 1.71 cents per level — nicely above TPG’s July 2024 valuations.

This award redemption financial savings was additionally accessible within the different course and throughout a number of dates — together with high-demand journey durations like Thanksgiving and on one-stop itineraries.

The low cost applies on each Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus fares, although not on higher-priced Anytime and Enterprise Choose tickets.

Sadly, these reductions appear to be accessible on a really restricted number of flights. We searched dozens of routes throughout the U.S. on varied dates, and we solely discovered them on a handful:

• MCO to MSY and MSY to MCO
• MCO to Baltimore/Washington Worldwide Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and BWI to MCO
• MCO to Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport (PIT) and PIT to MCO
• Nashville Worldwide Airport (BNA) to Destin-Fort Walton Seashore Airport (VPS) and VPS to BNA

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Nonetheless, a number of different routes out of MCO, together with flights to Chicago’s Halfway Worldwide Airport (MDW), Dallas Love Discipline (DAL), Denver Worldwide Aiport (DEN) and Kansas Metropolis Worldwide Airport (MCI) in Missouri, weren’t displaying the low cost in any respect.

It is unclear if the financial savings will develop into extra widespread over time, however for now, it is price checking to see if any can be found that match your journey plans.

And since Southwest makes it very easy to vary an award ticket when the worth drops, you might probably modify an current journey to an early (or late) flight to get pleasure from a partial refund of Fast Rewards factors.

We have reached out to Southwest for extra particulars on this providing, and we’ll remember to replace this story with any extra data we obtain.

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