Why southwest not on expedia

Southwest happens to be the largest U. The reason? Southwest prohibits "any automatic device, program, or algorithm" from monitoring its fares.

Lucky for us, Airfarewatchdog uses real people, not a program, to evaluate and list low fares from Southwest. Aside from being one of the largest airlines in the U. Once you factor in its generous baggage allowance of two free bags plus consumer-friendly policies around ticket changes, Southwest offers the best value. This could well have been because of a commission spat, but Travelocity did not offer an explanation as to why it happened. It is quite possible that Virgin America's fares will be popping up on more sites in the future as the new carrier gains traction.

Kayak has been playing a cat and mouse game with Southwest over the last few months. Southwest's flights, but not its fares, will pop up briefly and then disappear in a flash when doing a search from, say, Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale, a route that Southwest flies. You'll see an "info" icon but no prices or other information. Southwest explicitly prohibits other sites using its Web site to mechanically "scrape" or monitor fare or other information.

Here is a partial list of airlines that are excluded from the fare listings of various online airfare booking sites:. In addition to this list, it's important to note that many international, and some U. Or almost free. Not only did Expedia save me money by suggesting I combine airlines in this case, American plus Delta, a strategy that Jetblue. The hotel buying power of Expedia and its ilk offers advantages that most airline sites cannot match, plus they allow passengers to combine airlines in one booking to get a lower airfare.

And those are perhaps good reasons, along with avoiding referral fees, why airlines would rather that you book direct with their websites. George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog. Airfarewatchdog features the best airfares on thousands of routes verified by a team of expert fare analysts. Facebook Twitter Email.

Why airlines shun third-party travel sites — and you shouldn't.