Southwest Broke Hearts With Its New Changes

It felt a little like Fredo Corleone emailed Southwest Airlines customers with some massive news on Tuesday. The carrier that prides itself as the Airline of Love and features hearts as part of its branding — broke a few hearts.

We learned a few months ago that Southwest would introduce assigned seating (the airline currently has an open seating policy and boarding position is determined by fare class and first-come, first-served during check-in windows). The airline would also start offering seats with extra legroom.

But they really leveled the boom yesterday.

No More Free Bags

Bob Jordan, Southwest’s President, CEO, & Vice Chairman of the Board, announced several changes to Rapid Rewards members in an email. The most jarring is the Southwest dropping its famous “Bags Fly Free” feature. Right now, all passengers can check up to two pieces of luggage at no cost. That’s a fantastic benefit — especially for families, youth-amateur sports teams, tour groups, school or church groups, and companies who don’t want to reimburse employees for checked luggage.

For flights booked on or after May 28:

• Two free checked bags to Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred Members and Customers traveling on Business Select fares
• One free checked bag to A-List Members and other select Customers. (I’m curious who these “other select Customers” are.)
• One free checked bag for Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card holders

Everyone else must pay for checked luggage, starting with the first bag.

Southwest did not announce how much each of the first two bags will cost. (Did Bob have clearance to make this announcement? Or did he just do it?)

I don’t know if the free first checked bag for Rapid Rewards credit card holders is valid only for the primary card member or up to a certain number of passengers on the same confirmation number. (Most co-branded airline cards offer up to eight others on the same itinerary/reservation to check their first bags for free.) I emailed a rep and will update this post when we hear back.

But the boarding process will slow down now because so many more people will bring carry-ons instead of checking bags.

To be fair: I maybe checked two bags for myself once or twice when I flew Southwest. It was probably when I met my wife somewhere and brought her luggage. Or I flew home from a destination while she stayed behind and I brought some laundry back. I wonder how many people actually need to check two bags per passenger. For extended vacations, sure. But really — how vital are two checked bags?

Nonetheless, it’s a customer-unfriendly move.

Fare Changes

“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,” Mr. Jordan says.

It’s lipstick on a pig.

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.

So, Southwest is making it clear they want a bigger chunk of the business traveler market. We peasants who flew Southwest can pound sand.

And the Basic fare? Gross. Non-refundable, non-changeable, and no same-day changes or standby.

The Rapid Rewards program, which once was very good and straightforward, continues to slide into another greedy “loyalty” scheme like the other major carriers.

Unused Credits

Southwest flight credits used to expire within a year of when they were issued. Within the past couple of years, they made the outstanding, customer-friendly announcement that credits would never expire.

Now? Psych! J/K!

All unused credits will expire in 12 months. Except for Basic fares, of course. Those expire within six months.

Bait and Switch?

Here’s something that seems like a nasty trick.

A month ago, Southwest and Chase announced a great promotion for its three personal/consumer cobranded credit cards:  Earn a Companion Pass® good through February 28, 2026, plus 30,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership. (The offers expire on March 23.)

The Southwest Companion Pass lets the primary pass holder bring along a companion on any fare — cash or award — for just the price of taxes and fees. In other words, you can use points to fly you and a partner roundtrip in the USA for about $23 a trip. That’s an outstanding deal.

But here’s what bugs me. It seems deceiving that Southwest launched these limited-time offers and then announced major changes a month later. Gotcha!

I’ve always wanted to try the Southwest Companion Pass, so I applied for the card. I kind of feel played and doubt I’m the only one. (The critics and full-time haters will laugh themselves stupider with their “Hah hah! Gamers got gamed!” line.)

For what it’s worth, the cards’ terms and conditions still say the first two bags fly free. But there’s also verbiage saying Southwest can change the rules however and whenever it wants.

Southwest still hasn’t addressed how credit card members will be affected when assigned seating kicks in. Those of us with the Priority Card can be reimbursed for four A1-A15 boardings per year while that’s still in effect.

It seems like Southwest is just throwing stuff together as it goes.

Quirks and All, People Were Loyal

I’ve flown Southwest for the past 20 years. Sometimes, I’ve taken a one or two flights each year. Other years, it’s been a couple of dozen. If you’re cool with Southwest’s quirks (open seating, staff walking around in golf shirts and shorts, flight attendants who sprinkle jokes and snark into cabin announcements, inflight employee fashion shows — yes, I saw one once), then Southwest is great. If you snag a low fare, especially for a short hop, it’s downright fun taking Southwest.

For real: some of my most memorable (in a good way) flights have been Southwest trips. (The Los Angeles area, Las Vegas, and assorted Texas cities all played various parts in most of those flights…)

And a lot of Southwest customers are very loyal. They love (well, for now) the two free bags. Trying to snag an A boarding group spot — or no worse than B30 — is a thrilling game for them. (Don’t expect them to share their tricks.) There’s a certain thrill in saving a seat for your loser friend who checked in late. Planes board quickly. You’re not disappointed when you don’t receive a premium product because you’re not expecting it.

I’m sure Southwest ran all of these changes past focus groups (and board members). But it still stinks to see Southwest go from a niche to just another airline.

What next? Southwest Lounges? (That would be interesting.)

Will I Still Fly Southwest?

Of course, when the schedule and price work. The big kicker will be how many bags my Southwest Priority Credit Card gets for each passenger.

My family loves flying out of cozy, quaint Hollywood-Burbank Airport (BUR). We usually take Southwest to the San Francisco area to see family or Las Vegas for fun or starting other trips. One of my clients sends me out of BUR on Southwest.

Plus, I have my Companion Pass for the next 11 months. We’ll find ways to make that work, even with the baggage restrictions.

After that, though, remains to be seen.

In the words of Whitney Houston (and One Direction): “Where do broken hearts go?”

What do you think of the changes? Please share your thoughts in the below Comments section!