Southwest Airlines will start charging for checked bags on tickets purchased on or after 5/28/25

[CalGalTraveler]

Lots of questions.

If I have 2 Southwest cards do I get 2 free bags?

What about a companion?

 

[WorldT]

Strongly disagree. I will never fly Spirit.

Kurt

I have flown Spirit, Frontier, United, American, Sun Country, and SWA in the past two years both locally and internationally.
I couldn't tell the difference other than I got a cup of water, soda, or a tiny bag of $1 over salted pretzels on UA, AA, and SWA. I normally carry my water bottle so I didn't miss anything.

Given that the cost of spirit and frontier can be significantly less than UA and SWA even when the cost of a checked in bag is factored into the equation (1 check in bag for 4 seats), and their planes are generally newer (Spirit), I have been known to fly them if they have non-stop flights from any of the two airports in Houston.

 

[WorldT]

Lots of questions.

If I have 2 Southwest cards do I get 2 free bags?

What about a companion?

Only if you use the two cards to pay for your one ticket.
Your companion can accompany your two bags in the baggage hold.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have two credit cards for SW and had the companion pass a few different times. We have been driving a lot and were planning to drive next month to San Antonio, but maybe we will fly instead and use some of our credits. We enjoy our long drives a lot but at least Rick will be home to his yard sooner. He worries about his yard, when we go in spring, summer and fall. We have people who will mow the lawn.

 

[GrayFal]

So disappointing

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have flown Spirit, Frontier, United, American, Sun Country, and SWA in the past two years both locally and internationally.
I couldn't tell the difference other than I got a cup of water, soda, or a tiny bag of $1 over salted pretzels on UA, AA, and SWA. I normally carry my water bottle so I didn't miss anything.

Given that the cost of spirit and frontier can be significantly less than UA and SWA even when the cost of a checked in bag is factored into the equation (1 check in bag for 4 seats), and their planes are generally newer (Spirit), I have been known to fly them if they have non-stop flights from any of the two airports in Houston.

Leg room is important to people over 6 feet tall. SW has always had more space between seats than other airlines. An inch or two can make a difference.

 

[TheHappyWanderer]

If you use RR points to pay for a ticket, although you will still get the points back (presumably without an expiration date) if you cancel a flight, I'm not sure about getting the taxes back for basic and WGA+ fares based on this email. And any flight credits received for those tax refunds may now have an expiration date, which is mostly an annoyance except if you were to cancel a trip to Mexico in which case the taxes would be substantial.

I am also not sure about the continuing ability to use RR points to book flights for other people based on today's email. Hopefully that will not change.

And it looks like they may start monkeying with RR point redemption values during high demand periods.

 

[WorldT]

Leg room is important to people over 6 feet tall. SW has always had more space between seats than other airlines. An inch or two can make a difference.

True. I am less than 6 feet.
At the rate SWA is going, they might soon rip those seats out and compress the space. They have done a 180 on everything else.

 

[rickandcindy23]

True. I am less than 6 feet.
At the rate SWA is going, they might soon rip those seats out and compress the space. They have done a 180 on everything else.

I am not that tall, but I have a lot of relatives who are, including Rick and one of our sons.

 

[JohnnyO]

They are shooting themselves in the foot ... They are becoming just like every other airline instead of being the one that was different. All because of one activist shareholder. It's foolish. The bean counters set them back with their winter storm fiasco and now they are doubling down. Now they've started red eye flights as well ... oh just love those/s

 

[Passepartout]

About 6-8 years ago, we were pretty loyal to SW, but when every ride went to someplace we didn't care about enroute to the destination, and after doing a four-stopper when signing up for non-stop and nearly missing a cruise after sleeping on an airport floor, that was enough. We let their card expire and went to Alaska with it's companion fares and free bags. That was enough of SW for us.

 

[TolmiePeak]

They are shooting themselves in the foot ... They are becoming just like every other airline instead of being the one that was different. All because of one activist shareholder. It's foolish. The bean counters set them back with their winter storm fiasco and now they are doubling down. Now they've started red eye flights as well ... oh just love those/s

How else can you fly to Hawaii if you don't do red eye flights? You have planes just sitting around all day long. They used them by flying around the islands but that has cost them. They lost $1B in Hawaii last year due to not flying red eye flights. They thought they were going to put Hawaiian out of business but Alaska bought them out and can crush Southwest there.

 

[wmgjr]

Why on earth do they want to make Southwest just another airline?? They are removing everything that made it special and built brand loyalty!!

simple answer

 

[mountainboy]

True. I am less than 6 feet.
At the rate SWA is going, they might soon rip those seats out and compress the space. They have done a 180 on everything else.

They (SWA/WN) have shared examples of their new cabin; looked just like Frontier (although F9 is soon adding Up Front Plus= First class seats, like Spirit)...

 

[PigsDad]

Ok, I admit that was an extreme example. How about American non-stop versus Delta connecting in Atlanta if the price was the same?

Agreed. My fear is that Southwest will not only become "just another airline", but will sink to the depths of some of the worst LCCs. What I really like about Southwest today is, as a tall person (6'4"), they have the best leg room in standard coach of any domestic airline at 31-32" seat pitch -- better than the majors even. But now that they are going to different classes of seats by adding extra legroom options, I fear the standard seat will go as low as those on Spirit and Frontier; down to 28" or even less. That may not sound like a lot of difference, but it makes a huge difference for someone tall like me.

The other reason I liked Southwest was with Denver as our local airport, they had tons of direct flights. But so does United, so I might be forced to switch to United as my first choice. We will see how extreme the changes will be.

Kurt

 

[rickandcindy23]

Agreed. My fear is that Southwest will not only become "just another airline", but will sink to the depths of some of the worst LCCs. What I really like about Southwest today is, as a tall person (6'4"), they have the best leg room in standard coach of any domestic airline at 31-32" seat pitch -- better than the majors even. But now that they are going to different classes of seats by adding extra legroom options, I fear the standard seat will go as low as those on Spirit and Frontier; down to 28" or even less. That may not sound like a lot of difference, but it makes a huge difference for someone tall like me.

The other reason I liked Southwest was with Denver as our local airport, they had tons of direct flights. But so does United, so I might be forced to switch to United as my first choice. We will see how extreme the changes will be.

Kurt

I thought of you as well, when I talked about tall people. Rick and our son are very tall, my stepdad is tall, and my real dad is also tall, even in their 90's they are over 6'2".

 

[PigsDad]

I have flown Spirit, Frontier, United, American, Sun Country, and SWA in the past two years both locally and internationally.
I couldn't tell the difference other than I got a cup of water, soda, or a tiny bag of $1 over salted pretzels on UA, AA, and SWA. I normally carry my water bottle so I didn't miss anything.

Given that the cost of spirit and frontier can be significantly less than UA and SWA even when the cost of a checked in bag is factored into the equation (1 check in bag for 4 seats), and their planes are generally newer (Spirit), I have been known to fly them if they have non-stop flights from any of the two airports in Houston.

As someone else has mentioned, legroom is the biggest difference (I'm 6'4"). I once had to take a Spirit flight from Florida to Denver, and I literally could not fit my legs behind the seat in front of me. The flight was sold out and no extra legroom seats were available (holiday flight). I had an aisle, and one knee was in the aisle, and the other was wedged in the crack between the two seats in front of me. It was 4 hours of pure torture. It was also the first and last time I ever flew Spirit.

I book extra legroom seats on the majors, and I can at least fit in the worst seat on those planes, even though it is tight. If I were to fly Spirit or Frontier (just as bad), I take the chance that there are cancellations or equipment changes and the only seat they have for me is a standard economy seat -- I simply won't take that risk again, so that is why I will never fly Spirit again. It's just not worth it.

Kurt