Southwest Airlines Shoppable Flights

Historically, consumers could only book Southwest flights through the Southwest app or Southwest.com — this unique business model allowed Southwest to save money and pass those savings on to their flyers. But, a new generation has entered the market that is more likely to compare and book the cheapest flight on travel search engines, without even considering searching on Southwest. A recent study summed it up: sixty-five percent of Gen Zers say TikTok is their preferred platform for travel inspiration, even over Google. But rather than ask Gen-Z to come to Southwest, we revamped the process to bring booking directly to them. We partnered with TikTok, turning content creators into travel agents by allowing customers to book Southwest flights directly through TikTok. These flights became the first non-physical items ever sold on the platform and they even had to develop new back-end features so these sales could occur. With Shoppable Flights, Gen Z can now turn search inspiration into travel booking without ever having to leave TikTok.