Why I Might Never Fly Southwest Airlines Again

Earlier this week, I got an email from Southwest Airlines. I haven’t flown with them much in the last few years since I live in Spain now. I also rarely open emails from brands. (Yes, this is why I have 22,461 unread emails in my inbox, a fact that drives Matt crazy.) But something about its subject line — “Catherine, Southwest policy changes you need to know” — caught my eye. So I opened it.

The email, which announced the ending of Southwest’s two-free-checked-bag policy among other undesirable changes, felt something like a death knell for an airline that I used to love. In fact, I used have an article here called “Top 3 Reasons I’ll Always Fly Southwest Airlines,” originally published as one of my first blogs in 2017, which I’ve now archived. Unfortunately, after all that’s changed — the things that used to make Southwest stand out to me — almost none of it applies anymore.

My Former Loyalty to Southwest Airlines

In case you’re newer here, you might not know that I used to work as a traveling technology consultant in an actual corporate job, from 2015 until 2018. I was on the road — or in the air — most weeks from Monday to Friday, and I flew Southwest about 95% of the time. Over those three years, I took more than 200 Southwest flights for work. (Thanks to Flighty for helping me quickly find these statistics!) We were allowed to fly with any airline we wanted, but I always chose Southwest when I could.

After moving to Spain in 2018 and losing my A-List Preferred status, I still had thousands of points I was able to spend on trips around the U.S. We’d also use Southwest points for free flights to places like Chicago or Ft. Lauderdale/Miami before transferring to another flight booked on another airline for long trips to Europe or South America.

It didn’t take me long to notice that, even after multiple 10,000 mile round-trip flights I’ve taken with other airlines, I still never seemed to have enough points/miles to get anything for free. But Southwest made it easy — not just with making it easy to earn points, especially when you had status, but also with making reward flights actually achievable. I even opened the Southwest Credit Card in 2022 to take advantage of the opening bonus to buy me a few more free flights around the U.S. And Southwest had one of the most flexible policies when it came to canceling flights, even last minute, and re-booking using the flight credit.

I also really liked the open seating plan and boarding process, especially when I had status. But even after losing A-List Preferred, it was still fine. It was no surprise that Southwest had the most efficient boarding process of all airlines. No zones, no crowding at the gate, no people sitting in the “wrong” seat and messing up the whole plane. (Which has happened to me more than a few times on other airlines.)

Besides that, the fact that Southwest offered two free checked bags made it easy on me when I was new to constantly traveling, often bringing a large suitcase with me on my work trips — especially when I would stay somewhere for a full month without coming back to Kansas City. Other airlines would typically charge $35 or more for your first checked bag, and even more for your second.

Southwest Airlines’ Big Changes

In July 2024, Southwest made a major announcement — the open seating policy would soon be ending. Though they didn’t share a specific date for when the big change would go into effect, this was the first sign that Southwest’s value proposition as a low-cost, low-hassle airline could perhaps be in danger.

When we were in the U.S. this past fall, we took a quick Southwest trip from KC to Denver/Colorado Springs for a friend’s wedding. There was still open seating, so I honestly kind of forgot that these changes were on the horizon. Apparently, the assigned seats will be the norm starting in 2026.

Then, of course, there was the email from this week. The end of Southwest’s two free checked bag policy honestly isn’t a big deal for me personally (you all know by now that we are pack everything in a carry-on kinda people) but I can imagine how big of a difference this is going to make for families with kids. Or, for people who need to travel for work with large amounts of equipment in checked bags. The two-free-bags thing was a major selling point, which I’m sure contributed to Southwest being a preferred airline for so many people. But without that, what sets them apart?

In the past, Southwest was known for having lower prices than most of the other “big” airlines in the U.S., excluding the absolute budget airlines like Spirit and Frontier. Though in the last several years, Southwest’s prices have crept up to be pretty much on par with everyone else. However, that didn’t feel too bad when you knew you were getting two free checked bags included.

Southwest had three fare classes for most of the time I was flying with them regularly:Wanna Get Away, Anytime, and Business Select. There weren’t a ton of differences between the three, since it’s not like Southwest has actual business/first class seats on the plane. Mostly, it had to do with your boarding position, how many points you earned for your flight, and what the cancellation policy entailed —  whether you got flight credit or a full refund. In 2022, they introduced a fare called Wanna Get Away Plus, which was in between WGA and Anytime. (I think they basically took the previous WGA and changed it to WGA+ so they could make the new base WGA worse.)

This weeks’ email introduced a new fare called Basic, which will be replacing Wanna Get Away. The Basic fare will be the most restrictive, least flexible fare we’ve ever seen from Southwest. And speaking of fare classes, here are the changes that are coming related to how many Southwest points customers will earn:

• Basic: WGA previously earned 6 points per dollar, now down to 2 points per dollar
• Wanna Get Away Plus: Previously earned 8 points per dollar, now down to 6 points per dollar
• Anytime: 10 points per dollar, no change
• Business Select: 14 points per dollar, up from 12 points per dollar

So, as you can see, the rich get richer. 🙃

On top of making it way harder for regular people to earn points, there’s one other major change that I think might be getting overlooked: “We will also begin to vary our redemption rates across our fare products on some high- and low-demand travel periods.”

Basically, this means that while customers are earning points at a fixed rate (points per dollar spent), Southwest can just decide to flex the amounts of points needed by using dynamic pricing. In other words, points are worth a set amount when earning, but not when spending.

Why Southwest’s Changes Are So Upsetting To Me

I’m trying to figure out why I care so much about this. I don’t even live in the U.S. anymore. I barely have any Southwest points left. I do have the Southwest credit card, which technically makes me eligible for a free checked bag (well a credit for a checked bag) on every flight. And I fly with other airlines all the time that have way worse restrictions, less flexibility, and way more disdain for their economy class passengers.

But I realized it’s because Southwest is a brand that I really loved and felt loyal to.

Southwest has always assumed an identity associated with love. Their logo is a heart. Their stock ticker symbol is “LUV.” They’ve always positioned themselves as an airline that does things differently, that cares about their employees and customers, and that is committed to doing things the right way — not the easy way.

Now, it’s clear they’ve abandoned this philosophy. That would be sad enough on its own, but I can’t take the toxic positivity and the gaslighting, telling us this is to “create travel experiences that fit your needs” and “better serve its most loyal customers.”

Clearly, the only customers they care about retaining are the Business Select ones, the people who are getting their flights paid for by their companies, with no thought toward the everyday people who are also working hard, struggling with the U.S. economy getting worse every day, and just want to take a well-deserved vacation with their families.

The reason I’ve never felt this resentment toward American Airlines, Delta, RyanAir, etc. is because they’ve never pretended to be anything else. You know you’re going to get nickel-and-dimed, but they don’t come in pretending they actually care about you. They’re there to do their job, get you from Point A to Point B, and that’s it. Southwest at least pretended to be different.

Until now, when it finally surrendered to the gods of capitalism.

 

Matt and I are going to cancel our Southwest credit cards and figure out a way to use our remaining points. Will you be doing the same, or do you think I’m being melodramatic? What do you think of all Southwest’s changes? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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