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Southwest Airlines starts charging many flyers to check bags this week

Travel NewsMay 26, 202510Views

Passengers check in for Southwest Airlines flights at Chicago Midway International Airport on Feb. 18, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Set your alarm. Southwest Airlines customers have only one day to go before the company starts charging to check bags for the first time in more than half…

Travel News

Southwest Airlines Becomes the First U.S. Carrier to Ban a…

If Southwest Airlines had a theme song for 2025, it would have to be Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'." Not only has the carrier ditched its much-beloved/much-maligned grab-a-seat-wherever policy, adopting instead three classes of service as on any other airline, but Southwest has also added the always-loathed checked baggage fee, no longer allowing…

May 21, 202512Views

Travel News

What Each of Southwest Airlines’ New Fare Classes Buys You

Southwest Airlines has been going through some things—operational meltdowns, backtracking on customer perks, scorching mockery on Saturday Night Live—but it wants you to believe everything is rosy and that you love it this way. "We're taking off to the land of MORE choice," a new Southwest promotional video gushes. The clip goes on to claim…

April 29, 202519Views

Travel News

Southwest Airlines (LUV) earnings Q1 2025

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 airplane departs from Harry Reid International Airport as another airplane taxis in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 15, 2025. Kevin Carter | Getty Images News | Getty Images Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that it will reduce its capacity in the second half of the year, as more…

April 29, 202516Views

Travel News

Frontier Airlines offers free checked bags promo in swipe at Southwest

Frontier Airlines took a swipe at Southwest Airlines ' plan to start charging for seat assignments and checked luggage by doing the opposite. Budget carrier Frontier said customers can receive a bundle that includes a seat assignment and a carry-on bag without an upcharge if they book Tuesday through March 24…

March 18, 202525Views

Travel News

Goodbye to ‘bags fly free’ on Southwest Airlines, the last freebie in America

Passengers check in for Southwest Airlines flights at Chicago Midway International Airport on Feb. 18, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Almost nothing is guaranteed in life. Certainly not weather, electricity, health, tariffs or eggs. But for more than 50 years, American consumers could count on Southwest Airlines letting…

March 15, 202525Views

Travel News

Spirit Airlines CEO says carrier can take on the new Southwest

Spirit Airlines is out of bankruptcy, hitting its target to emerge in the first quarter, after a crippling few years. CEO Ted Christie says the carrier is leaner and ready to take on competitors, including rival Southwest Airlines . Earlier this week, Southwest shocked customers by announcing it will start charging for checked…

March 13, 202515Views

Travel News

Southwest Is Changing Its Bag Policy. You Won’t Like It.

Southwest Airlines is doing away with the one policy that made the carrier stand out from the competition. Starting May 28, the airline will no longer allow every passenger two free checked bags. Southwest is dropping that longstanding—and obviously very popular—policy as it applies to most customers. Instead, only Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred Members and…

March 12, 202515Views

Travel News

What Southwest Airlines is changing, from bag fees to basic economy

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX is pushed back from the gate at San Diego International Airport in San Diego, Aug. 24, 2024. Kevin Carter | Getty Images Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday what was once unthinkable: it will start charging customers to check their luggage. It's a $300 million gamble. Last year,…

March 11, 202518Views

Travel News

Southwest Airlines will charge for checked bags for first time

Ground operations employees load baggage onto a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft on the tarmac at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California. Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images It's happening: Southwest Airlines will start charging passengers to check bags for the first time. It's a stunning reversal that shows…

March 11, 202525Views