If your dates can move by a day or two, the Southwest Low Fare Calendar is the fastest way to find the cheap ones. Instead of searching one day at a time, you see the lowest fare for every day of the month on one screen, then click the days you want.
It’s also surprisingly easy to lose. Southwest fans regularly ask whether it was removed. It wasn’t. We used it on southwest.com on October 17, 2026, searching Oakland to Las Vegas, and everything below comes from those screens and Southwest’s own help pages. Prices change all the time, so treat our example numbers as a snapshot, not a forecast.
Where to find the Low Fare Calendar
There are three ways in on southwest.com, and the first is the quickest.
1. Go straight to it
The calendar has its own page at southwest.com/air/low-fare-calendar. Bookmark it.
2. Tick the box on the homepage
Under the flight search box on southwest.com, below “Show fares in points”, there’s a checkbox called Search with low fare calendar. Tick it before you search and you land on the calendar instead of a single day.
3. Jump over from the flight results
Already looking at flights for one day? The results page shows a strip of five nearby dates at the top, with a Low Fare Calendar link beside it.
On your phone
Southwest’s app page lists “Find great deals with our low fare calendar” among the app’s features. You don’t need the app to use it, though: the same page works in your phone’s browser, with the Fare type and Shop in menus as drop-downs above the month.
The calendar only goes as far as Southwest’s booking window. When we checked, it said “Now accepting reservations through August 02, 2027.”
How to search it, step by step
Pick a trip type: Round-trip or One-way.
Enter where you’re flying from and to. Typing a city name works, and the list groups nearby airports, like the Los Angeles area ones.
Pick rough dates. The calendar opens on that month with those days selected, and you can change them on the next screen.
Set the number of passengers and add a promo code if you have one. Tick “Show fares in points” if you’re paying with Rapid Rewards points.
Click Search flights. You’ll see one calendar for a one-way trip, or two side by side (Depart and Return) for a round trip.
The calendar shows fares by month. Click the tabs across the top to move between months, all the way to the end of the booking window.
Click a day in each calendar. The total for the whole trip updates at the bottom. When you’re happy, click Continue to flight times to see every flight on those days.
What the prices include
The small print on the calendar is worth knowing, because it changes how you add things up.
Per person, each way
Every number is for one traveler, for one direction. A round trip is the depart day plus the return day.
Taxes in, rounded up
The flight results say “Government taxes & fees included”, and the calendar rounds every fare up to the nearest dollar. Our $296 and $295 days added up to a $589.80 trip total.
The cheapest flight that day
Southwest describes it as “the lowest fares currently available on each day”. One flight sets the number; others that day can cost a lot more.
Not locked in
“All fares and fare ranges are subject to change until purchased.” A price on the calendar isn’t held for you.
Use the Fare type menu
Above the calendar is a Fare type menu set to Lowest Fare. That view mixes fare types, so a cheap day is often a Basic fare. You can switch it to Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra. On our search, Saturday, October 24 showed $169 as Lowest Fare and $204 once we picked Choice. Southwest’s own help page reminds you that Basic “comes with more restrictions than our other fares”, and the big one is that Basic can’t be changed. That matters later in this guide.
Dollars, points or both
The Shop in buttons at the top right switch the whole calendar between three views. You can flip between them without searching again.
| View | What each day shows | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Dollars | Lowest fare in dollars, taxes included | Rounded up to the nearest dollar |
| Points | Lowest points price | You also pay the September 11th Security Fee, starting at $5.60 per one-way trip |
| $ + Points | Dollar prices | You choose the dollars and points split on the payment page |
Points prices swing just like cash fares. On our Oakland to Las Vegas search, the last two weeks of October ran from 20,500 points a day down to 9,000. A Sunday to Wednesday round trip came to 41,000 points plus $11.20 in fees.
Tactics for flexible dates
What a few days can be worth
A Choice round trip from Oakland to Las Vegas, leaving Sunday, October 18 and back Wednesday, October 21, came to $589.80. Leaving Saturday, October 24 and back Saturday, October 31 came to $366.80. Same route, same fare type, $223 less, just by moving the days.
Pick each direction on its own
The calendar prices each way separately, and in our searches the round-trip total was simply the two days added together. So find the cheapest day to go and the cheapest day to come back, rather than looking for one cheap “trip”.
Compare the fare you’ll actually buy
If you plan to buy Choice, set the Fare type menu to Choice. A Lowest Fare view can make a day look cheaper than it will be for you.
Check the flight times before you fall for a price
The day’s number is its cheapest flight. On October 24, the $204 Choice fare was on the 5:15 AM, 5:25 PM and 7:20 PM nonstops. The 8:45 AM nonstop was $269, and some connecting flights were $352. Click Continue to flight times to see what the price really buys.
Flip through the months
One month can hold a wide spread. One-way Oakland to Las Vegas ranged from $69 to $190 across November. If your trip could happen in more than one month, check each tab.
Try the airport next door
The calendar searches one airport pair at a time. If you live near more than one airport, or your destination has several (the Los Angeles area list includes Burbank, Long Beach, LAX, Ontario and Orange County), run a calendar for each.
Don’t sit on a good price
Southwest says its “fares can change at any time, even while you are shopping”, and the flight list often shows “1 left” next to a price. Its advice is to shop early, shop often, and book a low fare as early as you can. Its help page also suggests signing up for Southwest emails to hear about sales.
What the calendar doesn’t show
Flight times. You only see them after you click Continue to flight times.
How many seats are left at that price. That also appears only on the flight list.
Bag fees and extras. The calendar shows the fare with taxes, nothing more.
Other airlines. It only covers Southwest.
Where prices are heading. It shows today’s fares, not a prediction.
Anything after you buy. Once you book, the calendar stops working for you. It won’t tell you when the fare you paid gets cheaper.
After you book: the fare can still fall
The calendar shows you the cheapest day today. It can’t tell you that the same flight will cost less next week, and Southwest fares move all the time. The good news is that Southwest is the best airline to be on when that happens. There are no change or cancel fees on any fare, and on most fares you can grab the lower price without giving up your booking.
| Your fare | How to get the lower price | What you get back |
|---|---|---|
| Choice Preferred or Choice Extra | Change to the lower fare in Manage Reservations; your booking stays | The difference back to your card, or a Transferable Flight Credit |
| Choice | Change to the lower fare in Manage Reservations; your booking stays | A Transferable Flight Credit, good for 12 months from when you booked |
| Basic | Can’t be changed. Cancel for a credit, then book the lower fare | A credit that expires 6 months from your original booking |
| Points | Change to the lower points price | The points difference back in your account |
The first 24 hours
If you booked at least 7 days before departure, you can cancel any fare, Basic included, within 24 hours for a refund to your card. If the price drops that first day, book the lower fare and cancel the original.
The catch with Basic
Cancel and rebook works, but the new flight keeps the old credit’s 6-month expiry, and on a round trip with a Basic leg you have to cancel both directions. This is why the calendar’s Fare type menu is worth using: the few dollars between Basic and Choice buy you an easy claim if the price falls.
Step-by-step claim instructions for every fare are in our Southwest price drop guide, and the full policy, with examples, is in Southwest’s price drop policy explained.
Let Plot watch it for you
Nobody wants to re-run the calendar every week to see if their own flight got cheaper. Forward your Southwest confirmation to plans@plot.travel and Plot watches the fare you paid. When it drops, you get a message with how much you can get back and the exact steps for your fare, whether that’s a quick change in Manage Reservations or a cancel and rebook on Basic.
The bottom line
The Low Fare Calendar is still the best way to shop Southwest with flexible dates. Open it from the homepage checkbox or its own page, set the fare type you’ll really buy, pick each direction’s cheapest day, and check the flight times before you book.
Then don’t stop watching. A Southwest fare that falls after you book is money you can get back, as long as someone notices.