Starting May 28, not all customers will qualify for two free checked bags.
MINNEAPOLIS — News spread quickly inside Terminal 2 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday morning. Southwest Airlines changed a long-standing policy, that for many was the reason they chose to fly with them – and travelers were not happy.
“There’s no point in doing Southwest now,” Akia Jacox, on her way home to Chicago, said. “I might as well just start looking into Delta again.”
Those changes will have customers paying to check bags, unless they meet specific qualifications, which include being A-List Preferred Members of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards card, or flying Business Select.
Those passengers would qualify for two free checked bags. Just having the card will get you credit for one free checked bag, as will being an A-List Member and “other select Customers.”
All others would have to pay for their first and second checked bag, though it’s unclear how much that will cost. United, American and Delta charge around $35.
“We’re announcing changes to our business that will help us return to the levels of profitability that we all expect, and to support our collective long-term success,” Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said in a recorded video statement.
Just last year, Southwest announced they’d make changes to their open seating policy.
“I completely understand no open seating, cool, but charging for baggage? Why? Please, take it back,” Jacox said.
Jacox’s bags were overweight Tuesday, and would have cost her more than $100 had she not rearranged and divided her belongings. Had the bag changes gone into effect, which the airlines said will be on May 28, she could have paid even more.
“That’s like someone’s bill, for like, maybe a car note,” she said, shaking her head. “A car note? I wanna have a car note bill when I’m traveling?”
Jacox wasn’t alone in those frustrations. Matt Bottelberghe says the reason he flies Southwest is because of the checked bag policy.
“We have seven kids, and then we usually travel with friends and family. So that sets it apart for us to be able to go and not have to pay $100 per individual,” he said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t go on a family trip, honestly.”
Those covering the airline industry say it’s difficult to understand the changes to the checked bag policy.
“I can’t believe they actually did it,” Kyle Potter, executive editor of the Thrifty Traveler, said. “It’s kind of incredible that it came to this point.”
Potter points to the Rapid Rewards card as a reason for the change, saying credit cards are huge money makers for airlines.
“By stripping this away from, you know, most travelers, but giving it to somebody who has one of those Southwest Chase cards, they’re hoping and trusting, and I’m sure they’re right, that more people are going to get those credit cards, more people are going to spend on them,” Potter said.
“There’s a running joke that airlines are just credit card companies that own planes, and I’m not sure it’s a joke anymore,” he continued. “I think it’s true.”
Potter also says investors have likely contributed to this, pushing for more change.
“The reality is that there is an activist investor at Southwest who has been pushing them to do this and threatening, you know, members of the board, threatening the CEO’s job security, in order to make this happen, and they finally got their way,” he said.
Along with the checked bag changes, Southwest also announced a new “basic” fare option. Basic fares would not have a transferable flight credit, would be non-refundable, not have same-day change/standby, cost for priority boarding, and flight credits would expire after 6 months.
According to Southwest, these changes will apply to flights booked on or after May 28, 2025. To read the full press release from Southwest, click here.
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