Southwest Just Ended Its "Bags Fly Free" Perk

Why exactly would I fly Southwest in 2025, unless it was my only choice? The airline ended its first-come, first-serve seating a few months ago, and we’ll give them credit for that (as someone who was once shamed out of a seat by a late-boarding mother/child duo and a pushy flight attendant, this policy was chaos). But in an email yesterday to its Rapid Rewards members, Bob Jordan (Southwest’s president, CEO, vice chairman of the board and person with too many titles) announced the end to its “Bags Fly Free” policy.

Per Eye of the Flyer, here’s who gets free luggage on the airline, starting May 28:

Two free checked bags for Rapid Rewards® A-List Preferred Members and Customers traveling on Business Select fares
One free checked bag for A-List Members and other “select customers”
One free checked bag for Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card holders

Everyone else? You’re paying for bags, just like every other airline. Oh, and while Bob and his team were at it, they also devalued points and credits while introducing a cheaper but inflexible Basic Economy fare.

Besides turning Southwest into nothing special, the new bag policy will have some major consequences for passengers. As Chris Carley of Eye of the Flyer notes, “The boarding process will slow down now because so many more people will bring carry-ons instead of checking bags.” And this is 100% true. As someone who believes that pretty much every annoyance and delay in boarding is a result of the carry-on policy (a problem created and exacerbated by the airlines), having more luggage in the cabin will slow things down considerably.

Legroom or Liberty? Southwest Ends Its Open-Seating Policy.

The new policy is a major pivot from its decades-long do-it-yourself identity

Do I have a solution to better boarding procedures and luggage? Several and, admittedly, nothing good, but let me rant. I’d start with returning the two free bags policy. Next, I’d consider some combination of charging for a carry-on (or anything that doesn’t fit under a seat), enforcing carry-on sizes, enforcing boarding groups (kudos to American for that), policing gate lice and instituting a variation on the WILMA seating system United started last year. Do all that, and we might have slightly faster boarding (United’s window-middle-aisle seating policy saves a mere two minutes per flight, according to the airline). I’d also end all special boarding (thank you for your service but board with the rest of us, military folk). And all that, save for charging for carry-ons, would probably create different headaches and require more staff and money.

There’s also a strong argument that instead of packing people in and blaming customers for terrible behavior, the airlines could offer everyone more legroom and bigger seats, which would also mean fewer people on board and, therefore, less luggage. That would absolutely cost more. Would it be worth the savings in time and stress? Possibly! It couldn’t be worse than making seats smaller and bag policies more prohibitive.

In the end, Southwest just took away its one good, stress-reducing, time-saving (as far as boarding) perk. And this new policy is certainly not going to entice me to get a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card.