How to Use Southwest Airlines Travel Funds & Low Fare Calendar to Book Cheap Flights
A long-haul travel + design story from Miami-based interior designer and global creative, Christi Tasker.
If you’ve ever stared at flight prices the way a designer stares at fabric samples—knowing there has to be a better option—you’re my kind of traveler. I juggle client installs, sourcing trips, and content shoots between Miami, New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, and London. If I paid full price for every flight, there would be no budget left for great shoes or statement lighting.
Two of my favorite money-saving tools when flying Southwest are:
- Southwest Travel Funds – credits you earn when you change or cancel flights.
- Southwest Low Fare Calendar – a monthly view of the cheapest days to fly.
Used separately, they’re helpful. Used together, they’re like finding the clearance section of a luxury store and realizing you have a stack of gift cards in your wallet.
This guide walks you through both—step by step—with plenty of real-world tips, analogies, and a designer’s obsession with stretching every dollar. We’ll also blend in the practical advice originally shared via FaresMatch so you can see exactly how the Low Fare Calendar works in real life.
Category: Travel Deals
Table of Contents
- 1. What Are Southwest Travel Funds?
- 2. What Is the Southwest Low Fare Calendar (and Why I Love It)?
- 3. Key Benefits of Using the Low Fare Calendar
- 4. Step-by-Step: How to Use the Southwest Low Fare Calendar (with FaresMatch Flow)
- 5. How to Use Southwest Travel Funds to Pay for Your Flight
- 6. Power Move: Combining Travel Funds with the Low Fare Calendar
- 7. Pro Tips for Getting the Best Deals
- 8. Quick FAQs
- 9. Final Thoughts from the Runway
1. What Are Southwest Travel Funds?
Imagine you bought a gorgeous sofa for a client, then discovered the same piece went on sale the next day. In a perfect world, the store would credit you the difference so you could use that money on another item.
That’s essentially what Southwest Travel Funds are—credits you get when you cancel or change certain Southwest flights. They’re like store credit for future travel. You don’t get cash back, but you do get money you can put toward your next flight.
How Southwest Travel Funds Are Created
- You cancel a nonrefundable ticket (like most Wanna Get Away fares) before departure.
- You rebook a flight and the new fare is cheaper than the old one.
- You change your travel dates to something less expensive using the same confirmation number.
The leftover value becomes Travel Funds associated with the original passenger’s name and confirmation number.
Where Travel Funds Get Tricky
Like a custom order, there are rules:
- They’re usually valid for about a year from the original booking date, not the flight date.
- They’re tied to the same traveler’s name—no swapping friends in like musical chairs.
- If you forget about them, they really can expire (and that’s painful).
That’s why pairing Travel Funds with the Low Fare Calendar is so powerful: you can use credits on the cheapest days, making your funds stretch like a perfectly placed banquette in a small condo.
2. What Is the Southwest Low Fare Calendar (and Why I Love It)?
The Southwest Low Fare Calendar is a simple but brilliant tool: instead of checking one date at a time, you see the lowest fares for an entire month at a glance. It’s ideal for people like me who have some flexibility and are willing to move a trip by a day or two to save serious cash.
Third-party sites like FaresMatch walk you through accessing this calendar and even layer on extra suggestions about routes and fare drops. Think of it like having a personal shopper who already knows when your favorite designer goes on sale.
In short, the Low Fare Calendar + flexible dates = ridiculously cheap flights if you play it right.
3. Key Benefits of Using the Low Fare Calendar
3.1 See the Cheapest Days to Fly in One View
Instead of playing “click every date and pray,” the calendar shows a full month with the lowest price listed for each day. You immediately see that, for example, flying from Miami to Dallas on a Tuesday might be half the price of a Friday.
Sites like FaresMatch highlight these patterns and point out recent fare drops or promotions so you’re not guessing which days are secretly discounted.
3.2 Massive Time Saver
Checking prices day-by-day is like comparing paint samples one strip at a time—slow, boring, and unnecessary. With the Low Fare Calendar, you get a month-long price “mood board” instantly. When you access it through a helper site like FaresMatch, all the options are lined up for you in one place, ready to compare, tweak, and book.
3.3 Flexibility with Fare Options
The calendar tends to highlight Southwest’s budget-friendly Wanna Get Away fares, which are almost always the cheapest. But you’ll also see options for other fare classes like Anytime or Business Select. This is perfect if you’re deciding whether you want “basic but cheap” or “bougie but still reasonable.”
3.4 Real-Time Price Changes
One of the more interesting parts: prices update in real time. As seats sell and demand shifts, fares change while you’re browsing. Tools like FaresMatch keep track of these fluctuations and help you pounce when the numbers drop in your favor.
4. Step-by-Step: How to Use the Southwest Low Fare Calendar
Here’s the expanded version of the original process, with a little Christi-style commentary to keep it human.
Step 1 – Start with FaresMatch for Easier Navigation (Optional, but Helpful)
You can go directly to Southwest, or you can begin on a helper site like FaresMatch that links you to the Southwest Low Fare Calendar and offers extra context. From there, you’re redirected back to Southwest’s official booking flow, which keeps things safe and legit.
Step 2 – Enter Your Trip Details
On the Low Fare Calendar screen, pick:
- Departure city and destination
- Month you’d like to travel
- One-way or round trip
If your schedule is flexible, choose a whole month instead of specific days. This gives you the broadest “x-ray view” of pricing and makes the cheapest days pop like a neon sign on the Vegas strip.
Step 3 – Select Your Travel Class
Southwest doesn’t do traditional “cabin classes,” but it does have fare types:
- Wanna Get Away – usually the lowest price, great for budget-minded travelers.
- Anytime – more flexible, easier to change or cancel.
- Business Select – maximum perks, priority everything.
If you’re trying to squeeze every drop of value from your Travel Funds or cash, the Wanna Get Away column is your best friend. FaresMatch often highlights these specifically for travelers on a tighter budget.
Step 4 – View the Monthly Fare Grid
The calendar then displays a grid of dates with the lowest fare for each day. Think of it as a pricing blueprint: you can instantly spot which combinations of outbound and return dates give you the best overall total.
Some tools also layer in alerts or reminders about current promotions or route-specific deals, which can be handy when you’re booking regularly between hubs like New York, Las Vegas, and Miami.
Step 5 – Choose Your Travel Dates
Once you’ve identified your cheapest days, click on those dates to reveal actual flight options and departure times. At this stage, you’ll see details about:
- Nonstop vs. connecting flights
- Exact departure/arrival times
- Fare differences between flights on the same day
Tools like FaresMatch sometimes break down potential savings based on alternative days or routes, which is a great reality check before you commit.
Step 6 – Complete Your Booking
When you’ve chosen your flights, proceed to checkout. You can:
- Book directly on Southwest’s site (recommended so your Rapid Rewards and Travel Funds sync perfectly), or
- Get assistance via FaresMatch if you prefer more handholding on the booking process.
You can pay with cash, points, or—my personal favorite—Travel Funds, which we’ll cover next.
5. How to Use Southwest Travel Funds to Pay for Your Flight
Once you’ve picked your dates using the Low Fare Calendar, it’s time to cash in those credits.
Finding Your Travel Funds
Head to Southwest’s “Check Travel Funds” tool and enter:
- Passenger’s first and last name
- Original confirmation number
If you travel as much as I do, keep a simple spreadsheet or note on your phone with all confirmation numbers and expiration dates. It’s the flight version of a finish schedule—unsexy but absolutely essential.
Applying Travel Funds at Checkout
- Choose your flights via the Low Fare Calendar.
- On the payment screen, look for “Apply Travel Funds, LUV Vouchers or Gift Cards.”
- Enter the confirmation number tied to your Travel Funds.
- Apply the credit and pay any remaining balance with a card or points.
Southwest allows up to a limited number of forms of payment, so if you have several smaller Travel Funds, you may need to prioritize which ones you use first based on expiration.
6. Power Move: Combining Travel Funds with the Low Fare Calendar
This is where the fun really starts. Using both tools together lets you:
- Use the Low Fare Calendar to identify the cheapest days in a month.
- Apply your Travel Funds on top of those already-low fares.
It’s like walking into a designer showroom during a sale and discovering you also have a credit from a previous return. Double win.
Here’s a real-world example from my travel life:
I needed to fly from Miami to Las Vegas for an event, but my dates were flexible as long as I arrived by Thursday night. Using the Low Fare Calendar, I noticed that flying in on Wednesday was almost $120 cheaper than Thursday. I already had about $80 in Travel Funds from a changed flight on a Dallas trip. By shifting my flight by one day and stacking the Travel Funds, my “Vegas flight” came out cheaper than a fancy brunch.
7. Pro Tips for Getting the Best Deals
7.1 Be Flexible with Dates
The more you can wiggle your schedule, the more the calendar can work for you. As the original FaresMatch guidance points out, widening your date range is one of the fastest ways to uncover truly cheap flights.
7.2 Aim for Off-Peak Seasons
Flights around holidays, major events, and school breaks climb quickly. Using the calendar to look at “shoulder seasons” often reveals fares that are dramatically lower. This is especially useful when you’re planning trips to high-demand cities like New York or London.
7.3 Watch for Southwest Sales
Southwest frequently runs sales on specific routes. FaresMatch and similar tools help you spot those promotions and pair them with the Low Fare Calendar so you can lock in the best combination of price, dates, and routes.
7.4 Think in Points as Well as Dollars
If you’re a member of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program, the Low Fare Calendar can help you decide whether it’s smarter to book in points or dollars. Seeing the month at a glance makes it easier to choose the date where your points stretch the farthest.
7.5 Take Advantage of No Change Fees
One of Southwest’s best features is its lack of change fees. If you’ve already booked and then spot a lower fare on the calendar:
- Rebook at the lower price.
- The difference turns into Travel Funds.
FaresMatch echoes this advice: don’t be afraid to check again after you book. If the fare drops, you can capture that savings without penalty.
8. Quick FAQs
- Can I view Low Fare Calendar prices in points instead of dollars?
Yes. Southwest allows Rapid Rewards members to toggle between dollars and points on many calendar views, so you can see how far your points will go on different days. - How often do prices on the Low Fare Calendar change?
Frequently. Fares update based on availability and demand, so if you see a great price that fits your schedule, treat it like the perfect vintage find—grab it before someone else does. - Does the calendar work for one-way flights?
Yes. It’s especially useful for one-way bookings because you can combine different outbound and return strategies using multiple months or airports. - Can I use the Low Fare Calendar for round trips?
Absolutely. Many travelers use it to pair the cheapest departure date with the cheapest return date, creating a custom “bundle” that isn’t obvious in traditional search views. - Can tools like FaresMatch help me find additional Southwest discounts?
Yes. They often list special promotions, limited-time deals, and route-specific offers. Comparing that info with the Low Fare Calendar can reveal extra savings you might otherwise miss.
9. Final Thoughts from the Runway
For me, travel is part of the design process. Inspiration hits in the tiled passageways of London underground stations, in neon-soaked corners of Las Vegas, and while people-watching over coffee in New York. But none of that magic happens if your budget gets eaten by flights.
By combining:
- The Southwest Low Fare Calendar for spotting cheap days, and
- Southwest Travel Funds for using every dollar of credit you’ve earned,
you give yourself more room in the budget for the fun stuff—boutique hotels, better meals, a few extra days on the ground, and maybe that splurge-y museum ticket.
If you love smart, beautiful experiences on a realistic budget, you’ll probably enjoy my other design and travel stories on ChristiTasker.com. If you’re a brand or destination looking to amplify your story visually and digitally, you can see my agency work at Tasker Agency and my social and digital strategy insights at PuTTinOuT.
Until the next boarding call—may your flights be cheap, your seats be comfy, and your Travel Funds never expire.
