Southwest Airlines: Hook up with Mexico flights on Volaris

If you’re ready to head to Mexico, Southwest will now help you fly there with its new partner, Volaris, a low-fare carrier in Mexico. Southwest customers can book international flights to five Mexican cities served by Volaris for travel starting Dec. 1.

The partnership has limited value for Californians who live near the Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland (OAK) or San Jose (SJC) airports, which are served directly by Volaris, although non-Spanish speakers may find Southwest’s international desk and web portal a bit easier to use for booking the Mexican airline.

The main value is for Southwest customers in about 20 other U.S. cities who can more easily book connecting service via the three California airports to the Mexican cities of Cancun, Guadalajara, Morelia, Toluca (near Mexico City) and Zacatecas.

Southwest describes this service as a connecting product rather than a regular code-share. Passengers will have two separate tickets and will need to check in with each carrier. On return to the U.S., they must claim their bags to go through customs and then recheck them for their Southwest leg. But their bags will be checked through to their final destination and transferred at all connection points by both airlines.

Volaris began operating as a low-fare carrier in Mexico in 2006. Its fleet includes Airbus A319s and Airbus A320s.

Info: Southwest’s International Desk: (888) 329-8776. (Although the recorded menu may be in Spanish only, the bilingual operators also speak English.)