Southwest Hawaii flights (and other Southwest flights) have, for the first time, become available for booking via an online travel agency, the Chase travel portal. We learned about it recently and tried using it tonight. The results were totally not what we were expecting, as you’ll see below.
It was just a few months ago we first wrote about Why You’ll Buy Hawaii Vacations From Banks or Amazon Next. So we didn’t have to wait long before actually giving it a try today.
Southwest Airlines has long shunned all OTA relationships, including Google Flights, Expedia, etc. The airline has been clear that it wants guests coming to the southwest.com website as the only place to book. That is until now.
First, Chase Southwest offerings included only two fare types: Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus. It also isn’t clear whether the entire Southwest flight inventory has been loaded to Chase Travel or not. Read on for how our experience using the Chase portal compared with booking directly on Southwest.
The Chase travel portal is a relatively new feature for those having many Chase credit cards. Not unlike OTA’s, such as Expedia, the Chase travel portal lets you book flights, hotels, and more. You can also redeem their points to either pay in full or reduce the cost of a trip. There are no blackout dates.
Not all of Chase’s credit cards participate, so check yours. For example, Chase United Airlines credit cards earn United Mileage Plus miles instead of Chase points.
Benefits of booking travel in the portal.
Chase members earn rewards, including points per dollar or points spent on travel through the portal, among other rewards. That appears to be the compelling reason people choose to book through Chase Travel.
Big concerns about booking Southwest via Chase.
You might be far better off booking Hawaii travel directly with Southwest Airlines. If for no other reason, it’s always best to deal directly with the travel provider, especially in the event of any changes.
Getting to the Chase Travel portal.
When you log into your Chase account, the travel portal is found in the right sidebar.
To make any reservation through the Chase travel portal, you will be at the mercy of Chase’s own policies when it comes to changing or canceling tickets rather than the airline’s. So we’d suggest reading all the fine print first.
For example, you will have to contact Chase instead of Southwest to change your Hawaii travel plans. In our experience, that can be challenging compared to dealing directly with the airline. Southwest tends to be very easy to work with under such circumstances.
What’s with the extra 45% cost we just found booking Southwest Hawaii via Chase?
After a quick shopping comparison with Southwest and Chase, we found that Chase was significantly more money for the exact same Hawaii flights and dates. We suggest you price-compare, too, if you’re even inclined to book via Chase. For this comparison, we picked random dates flying between Los Angeles and Maui, and here’s what we found.
Southwest Airlines airfare via Chase Travel.
The cost to purchase the exact same ticket via the Chase Travel portal is 45% more than when booking on southwest.com. Chase offered a higher fare basis than Southwest on the return flight. Wow!
The same Southwest Airlines airfare via Southwest.com.
Southwest offered its lowest Wanna Get Away fares on both outbound and return, and the fare difference was astounding.
Have you ever booked travel using the Chase Travel portal, or would you consider it?
Just remember, Third Party Companies are always the worst option. If you do chooose a 3rd party company for any business arena, due your reserach and check with the direct route first. I guess google flights pretty good but I still just like to deal with main companies. theres too much chance for error anymore since people are distracted at their office desks.
Both fares seem reasonable. Also, were both fare inquiries made at the same time? Did the fare coming directly from SWA come before the Chase fare?
Fares jump all over the place.
Hi Rod.
Chase came maybe one minute before Southwest.
Aloha.
BOH, doesn’t make much sense, especially since the later one (1 minute) was lower.
Aloha
PS I opened Google flights – hope to have time later.
If you take nothing else from this article, please make it the fact that you have to contact Chase if you have any travel related changes or questions about your fares. That’s a red flag. I worked for a major airline for 30 years, and a third-party confuses everyone.
Thanks for doing this comparison. It confirms my experience. I took on the Sapphire card from Chase to get the huge lump of points offered, but when I tried to book travel and/or hotels on the site, for both foreign or domestic travel, it became crystal clear that the price difference between chase and other travel sites nearly offset the value of the points. It is definitely a flawed system. I wrote a letter to Consumer Reports to protest. I’m going to drop the card at the next opportunity.
Hi David.
Thanks for confirming that as well.
Aloha.
I’ve had the same negative experience with the Chase Sapphire card, using points for air travel. They say you get a 25% discount compared to the airline’s points/miles – not true. You also can’t access all available flights. And cancellation policy can be more costly than dealing directly with the airline. My kids have used their Chase Sapphire cards for hotels with no issues, so I’m going to use up my remaining points on hotel stays, and then not renew the card. Not worth it.
Yep; we booked flights on British Airways to London this fall in Premium Economy using our Chase Sapphire Reserve points we’ve been accumulating for several years. we did see the “price” we paid via the Chase booking was higher than if we paid cash through British Airways directly, but since these were relatively expensive airline tickets (about $3500 for each of us), we definitely used the points.
Hi Laura.
Yes thanks for sharing that good use of your Chase points.
Aloha.
I have known for a long time that using Chase Travel to Hawaii is significantly higher than using airlines’ websites direct or expedia which is why I do not use them. The benefits, if any, are not worth severly inflated prices. This is true not just for airline reservations but for the hotel or vacation rental packages Chase offers.
This is great information as I have been considering the Sapphire card for some time. sapphires primary competition is the Capitol One Venture cards. Has anyone compared their airfares to the airline web sites?