Southwest Airlines:  Using the Stand Alone Online Booking Engine (OBE)

The following is specialized guidance for reserving a trip with Southwest Airlines on the OBE.  This information is explicit to Southwest Airlines reservations only. 

The Northrop Grumman’s OBE GovTrip is powered by SABRE.  SABRE is the only Global Distribution System (GDS) that displays Southwest flights.  There may be instances where airfares change due to the manner in which Southwest manages their inventory in SABRE.  Southwest validates the availability of flights booked when the reservation record is confirmed.  If the capacity controlled (discounted) government fare (_CA) is not available, upon acceptance from Sato Travel, Southwest will rebook the reservation at the YCA government fare. 

Although the rate posted in SABRE/GetThere may not be available at the time of reservation, due to the potential cost savings using OBE vs. traditional agent fees, the Department has agreed to allow Southwest reservations to be booked online.  Southwest may only confirm a higher fare at the time of booking. We have negotiated that Southwest bookings completed online will be charged at the self-service fee.

Frequent Flyer Numbers for Air Tran, Southwest and jetBlue:

Frequent Flyer Numbers for Air Tran, Southwest Airlines and jetBlue cannot be stored in your profile and must be entered at the time the reservation is made. These three airlines do not have an agreement with any of the GDS tools and for that reason; you may need to provide the number at check-in to receive mileage credit.

Airlines that do not participate in the Global Distribution System:

There are several other airline carriers that do not participate in the Global Distribution System (GDS), and because of that fact, these reservations require manual agent intervention. Air Tran and jetBlue are two of these carriers that even though they may have the contract city-pair for a market, and can be booked online, they will incur a full service fee. GSA is trying to convince these airlines to automate their ticketing process so in the future we can achieve self-service fees with these carriers.

List of Airlines that will incur a Full Service Fee:

AFRICA AIR CHARTER

AIR NORTH

AIRTRAN AIRWAYS

ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY

ATA AIRLINES

BERING AIR INC.

BIG

CANADIAN NORTH/AIR NORTERRA INC.

CAPE AIR

ERA AVIATION

EXPRESS JET

FJORD FLYING SERVICE

FORTY MILE AIR

FRONTIER FLYING

FRONTIER FLYING SERVICE

FS AIR SERVICE / TRANS AIR BENIN

GREAT LAKES

HAGLAND AIRLINES

HOMER AIR

ISLAND AIR

JET BLUE

KENMORE AIR HARBOUR INC.

LAB FLYING SERVICE

LARRY’S FLYING SERVICE

MESA AIRLINES

OLYMPIC AIRLINES

PACIFIC COAST AIRLINES.

PAN AM CLIPPER CONNECT/BOSTON MAINE AIRWAYS

PENAIR (PENINSULA AIRWAYS)

PENAIR/PENISULA AIR

PROMECH

SPERNAK AIR

SPIRIT AIRLINES

WARBELOWS AIR VENTURES

WINGS OF ALASKA

WRIGHT AIR SERVICE

Should you have questions or require additional information, please contact your bureau lead.