Southwest's up to 40% off base-fare sale ends July 10, covering travel Aug 4-Dec 16, 2026. What the fine print means, plus which card to pay with.
TL;DR: Southwest is running an up to 40% off base-fare sale, and it ends soon. Book by July 10 for travel on select flights between August 4 and December 16, 2026. The discount applies automatically at checkout, no promo code needed. The catch: "up to 40% off" applies to the pre-tax base fare, not your total, so your all-in savings will be smaller than the headline number.
Southwest's flight-deals page is advertising "up to 40% off base fares" and flagging the sale as ending soon. The fine print, verbatim: "Book by 7/10 for travel on select flights between 8/4/26-12/16/26. Discount automatically applied. Restr., excl., & blkouts apply. Seats/days/mkts lmtd. Disc. applied pre-govt. taxes/fees. Add'l fees may apply."
Translation: you have until Friday, July 10 to book, the travel window runs early August through mid-December, and the discount shows up on its own at checkout. Southwest also calls out that August and September travel is included, which matters because late-summer dates often get carved out of sales like this one.
The discount is applied before government taxes and fees. Say a flight has a $100 base fare and qualifies for the full 40% off: you save $40, and the base drops to $60. Taxes and fees then get added at full price, so the savings percentage on your total ticket will always land below the sticker number. And mind the "up to": not every route gets the full 40%.
Seats, days, and markets are limited, and Southwest says sale fares are unavailable on its busiest travel days. If you were hoping to fly Thanksgiving week at 40% off, temper expectations. Sale fares are combinable with other Southwest fares, with the most restrictive set of rules governing the combined trip.
The price you see is subject to change until you complete the booking, so don't sit on a fare you like. On the back end, Southwest's standard cancellation terms apply: cancel at least 10 minutes before scheduled departure, or your funds or points may be forfeited.
Southwest's deals page is geo-personalized, so the fares you see depend on your location and dates. For reference, here's what it showed from Austin when we checked on July 8, all one-way:
| Route | One-way fare |
|---|---|
| Austin to Dallas | $58 |
| Austin to Houston (Hobby) | $66 |
| Austin to New Orleans | $71 |
| Austin to Denver | $74 |
| Austin to Atlanta | $82 |
| Austin to Chicago (Midway) | $85 |
| Austin to Los Angeles | $86 |
| Austin to Las Vegas | $98 |
| Austin to Cancun | $210 |
Treat these as snapshots, not guarantees. Fares vary by date, seats and markets are limited, and your home airport will show its own list.
First, the obvious: no card is required for this sale. The discount applies no matter how you pay. But since you're paying either way, the card you use decides how many points you earn on top of the discount.
| Card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | Earn on Southwest purchases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus | $99 | 50,000 points after $1,000 spend in 3 months | n/a |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier | $149 | 60,000 points after $3,000 spend in 3 months | 3x |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority | $229 | 60,000 points after $2,000 spend in 3 months | 4x |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business | $149 | 60,000 points after $3,000 spend in 3 months | 3x |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business | $299 | 80,000 points after $5,000 spend in 3 months | 4x |
If you already hold one of these, the Priority and the Performance Business earn the most on the flight itself at 4x. Beyond Southwest purchases, the Premier earns 2x on dining and groceries (on the first $8,000 per year combined, then 1x) and 3x on Lyft through 2027. The Priority earns 2x on gas and restaurants plus the same 3x on Lyft. The Premier Business earns 2x with Rapid Rewards partners, and the Performance Business earns 3x with Rapid Rewards partners plus 2x on social advertising, internet, and phone services.
If you've been considering one of these cards, a cheap sale flight is an easy way to start working on a minimum spend. All five welcome offers require hitting a spend target within 3 months of opening, and a flight you were booking anyway is painless progress toward that.
Don't have a Southwest card? The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 4x on flights booked direct, and paying on southwest.com counts as booking direct. That's a solid way to earn on this booking without adding a co-brand card.
The same page lists Southwest Getaways packages at up to $250 off domestic and up to $500 off international, and Southwest notes that "two bags fly free" applies to Getaways customers.