Cheap Airline Tickets on Southwest Airlines

Don't Forget to Check Directly with Southwest Before Buying Tickets

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: