Southwest and Booking Holdings reach distribution deal

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Southwest Airlines continues to broaden its retail network.
Southwest Airlines continues to broaden its retail network. Photo Credit: Priceline

Southwest Airlines tickets are now available on Priceline and other travel websites owned by Booking Holdings.

The airline's fares also are on Agoda, Booking.com, Cheapflights, Momondo, HotelsCombined and Rocketmiles. Southwest began partnering with Booking Holdings' primary metasearch brand, Kayak, last year. 

The move is the latest by Southwest to broaden its retail network, leaving behind its long history of eschewing the OTAs. Last February, the carrier began selling on Expedia Group OTAs: Expedia.com, Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz and CheapTickets. And last year, Southwest began displaying fares on Google Flights.

When Southwest reported Q1 earnings in April, it said early returns from the Expedia partnership were good. Two months after the initiative began, Southwest said 4% to 5% of the airline's bookings were on Expedia-owned websites, and that most of the customers were new to Southwest or "customers we haven't seen in a long time."

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