ATTN: Southwest Monkey is no longer operational. The service was taken down.
Don’t you just hate it when you leave money on the table? OK, maybe hate is too strong of a word, but would you rather have money in your pocket or give the airlines more money than you need to? We all know that airline ticket prices fluctuate, and so do the airlines! They don’t make it easy for us to catch the price drops and then rebook our tickets at lower prices. That brings us to Southwest Airlines, which has built a community by being different from other airlines.
Southwest Airlines has never allowed other websites to show their fares. They’ve always chosen to be the only sales outlet for their own flights. This means they are able to track and create a uniqueness in the way they serve Southwest Airlines flyers. I’ve read that some industry experts feel that it’s because Southwest Airlines does not always deliver the lowest fares all the time that they prefer to stay out of the comparisons. Instead, they provide an “everyday low price” value proposition. This could likely be the case, though in many markets, Southwest Airlines prices can actually be higher than full service carriers.
Southwest Airlines also distinguishes itself in that if your ticket price drops, both for paid flights and flights booked with Southwest Airlines points, you’ll get back the difference in the fare price. The process isn’t complicated, but YOU have to do the fare price checking and then of course, rebook the flight.
I like the expression “time is money” because I often find it to be true, especially in the miles/points world. I apply my “time is money” thinking to booking my award tickets with Juicy Miles. I often feel like spending some money to save both time AND money is a double win. I’ve had my frustrations with Southwest Airlines rules and regulations that’s for sure. So anything I can do to save me from having to check for price drops on Southwest Airlines is a win for me.
Enter Southwest Monkey. It’s a relatively new alert service available only for Southwest Airlines. Their website is simple and easy to use. You set up alerts on all the Southwest Airlines tickets you’ve booked and if the price drops, you’ll receive an email alert. If the price drops by more than $10, you’ll be charged their $3 fee. You rebook the Southwest Airlines flight yourself. This takes the pain point out of the equation because you no longer need to fuss about getting the lowest fare possible, and secondly it’s no longer necessary to continually check your Southwest Airlines fares for savings.
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