End of an Era: Southwest Will Start CHARGING For Bags for Most Customers

Wow, part of the very essence of who Southwest is has come to an end as they just announced they will start charging for bags for most customers. If you are a Southwest member, you probably received an e-mail about that this morning.

Southwest Charging For Bags

Here is what the Southwest announcement said:

Today we announced updates to some of our policies and benefits within our fare bundles. Sharing them with you is important to us, as we’re working to offer you more choices to create travel experiences that fit your needs.

Updates to Checked Baggage Policy

We will offer two free checked bags to Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred Members and Customers traveling on Business Select fares. We will also offer one free checked bag to A-List Members and other select Customers. In addition, Southwest will credit one checked bag for Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers. All remaining Customers will pay to check their first and second bags, and we will continue to charge for the third and fourth checked bags. Changes will apply to flights booked on or after May 28.

This is a horrible move for an airline that said that they would always be the airline of the free checked bags. And instead of moving to a system where all customers would still get at least one bag, they are making anyone that is not on the most expensive fares, an elite member, or a credit card holder pay for their first bag.

They have now joined every other major airline – but with prices that are often much higher than other airlines. My family and I just recently flew with them and the reason we chose them over the other option was the free bags. Had we flown the other airline, the bag cost would have matched half the ticket price. In the future, we will go with the airline that has the best schedule and price since Southwest has failed to maintain a competitive edge in this space.

This is on top of just recently slashing earning rates – even for tickets already purchased – for the cheapest fare classes. There are more announcements coming today as well with their new fare bundles.

Updates to Our Fare Bundles We’re updating the benefits of our fares bundles in phases. Whether you’re looking for a lower price with fewer perks, or more benefits for added flexibility, you’ll have the choice to pick what works best for your trip. Phase 1: Beginning this month, we increased our Rapid Rewards earn ratio on our Business Select fares and lowered the earn ratio on our Wanna Get Away® and Wanna Get Away Plus™ fares. We will also begin to vary our redemption rates across our fare products on some high- and low-demand travel periods. Phase 2: Beginning May 28, we will introduce a new Basic fare. This new Basic fare will be our lowest price point and will have less flexibility than other fares. Additionally, we will be adding expiration dates to our Flight Credits, which will vary based on which fare you choose to purchase. The chart below gives you a full picture of the revised fare products as of May 28, 2025, ranging from most flexible to value-first.

Hey, but at least Southwest recognizes that this “may” be a disappointment to “some” – but I think they that most passengers will end up making Southwest be the one disappointed with this move.