Saving Money with the Southwest Airlines App on Your Mac and iPad

The honest truth is that Southwest does not offer a standalone Mac download in the App Store, so there are two routes we trust. On the iPad, it could not be simpler: open the App Store, search Southwest Airlines, tap Get, and sign in with your Rapid Rewards number. The iPad layout is roomy and easy to read, which we genuinely prefer over a phone for comparing dates.

On a Mac, you have two good options. If you own an Apple silicon Mac, the iPad version often appears right in the Mac App Store under the iPhone and iPad Apps tab, so you can install it natively. If it is not listed for your machine, just use Southwest.com in Safari or Chrome, because the website carries every feature the app has. In our testing, the browser and the iPad app stayed perfectly in sync, so a fare we saved on one showed up on the other within seconds.

Most of the savings come from a handful of tools that are easy to miss if you book in a hurry. These are the ones we lean on every trip.

• Low Fare Calendar: Instead of checking one date at a time, this shows a full month of prices at a glance so you can shift your trip a day or two and pay far less.
• Rapid Rewards points view: The app lets you toggle any fare between dollars and points, which makes it obvious when paying with points is the better deal.
• Fare alerts: Save a route and the app keeps an eye on it, then pings you when the price drops.
• Travel Funds tracker: If you ever cancel a flight, your credit lives here, and the app reminds you before it expires so you do not lose money you already spent.

We have rebooked a flight after a price drop more than once and pocketed the difference as travel funds, which is something a lot of airlines simply will not do.

A few habits make a real difference. First, turn on push notifications so fare alerts and check-in reminders actually reach you. Second, get familiar with Southwest's no change fee policy, because it means you can book early at a good price and rebook for free if the fare falls later. We treat that as a built-in price match.

On the iPad, use split view to keep the app open beside your calendar or a hotel page while you compare dates. We also recommend storing your payment details and passenger info in your account ahead of time, so when a low fare pops up you can book in under a minute before it sells out. For day-of travel, the boarding pass lives in the app and adds to Apple Wallet, so a Mac handles the planning while your phone handles the gate.

Southwest does not assign seats, so your boarding position depends on how early you check in. The window opens exactly 24 hours before departure, and good spots go fast. The free trick is to set a reminder and check in the moment it opens from whichever device is closest, whether that is the iPad on the couch or the website on your Mac.

This matters for your budget because it is a free alternative to paying for EarlyBird Check-In or an Upgraded Boarding spot. We have skipped those add-ons entirely just by being quick at the 24 hour mark, and it has saved real money over a year of flying. If you travel as a group, check everyone in from one account at the same time so you board together.

It is not perfect, and a couple of limits are worth knowing before you rely on it. The biggest one is that there is no purpose-built Mac app, so on an Intel Mac you are using the website rather than a polished desktop experience. That works well, but it is not the same as a native window.

Beyond that, the app only books Southwest flights, so for multi-airline trips you will still need a broader search tool to compare. We also noticed the app can feel sluggish during very busy travel weekends, and notifications occasionally arrive a little late, so we never trust a fare alert as our only safety net for a must-catch flight. None of these are dealbreakers, but they are good to keep in mind.

The Southwest app shines for Southwest fares, but it is not a one-stop travel tool. We keep a couple of others alongside it. If you fly budget carriers often, our notes on the Spirit Airlines app on Mac and iPad cover similar money-saving moves for a different airline. For getting around once you land, the Uber app on Mac and iPad is the one we reach for. To see how Southwest stacks up against the rest, browse our roundup of the best travel apps for Mac, or explore the full Travel category for more hands-on picks. Pairing the Southwest app with one good flight aggregator gives you the best of both worlds.