Bags Fly Free? Not Anymore!
Mar. 11th, 2025 08:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerFor a long time "Bags Fly Free!" has a slogan of Southwest Airlines. The airline differentiated itself from other US carriers with customer-friendly policies. They offered as easy ticket changes and refunds without harsh penalty fees years before other airlines adopted the same, and allowed all passengers two checked bags without fees for years after other airlines all moved to charging $50, $75, or more. As of today, that's no longer.
Southwest announced today that the "Bags Fly Free" era is over. They'll still give a free checked baggage allowance to elites and those flying on the most expensive ticket class. That's in line with other US carriers.
This is part of a broader effort to realign Southwest to be just like all the other US airlines. As I noted in December when Southwest announced a move to assigned seating it's nominally in the name of "competitiveness" but really it's removing key differentiators that helped Southwest compete with— and, for decades, be more profitable than— other carriers.
Oh, and along with this change, Southwest also announced a new, lower class of tickets. The old "Wanna Get Away" fare category is being replaced with "Basic". Similar to other carriers' Basic Economy tickets it comes with fewer conveniences than ever before. These tickets will not permit changes, standby, or transferable credits.
Southwest announced today that the "Bags Fly Free" era is over. They'll still give a free checked baggage allowance to elites and those flying on the most expensive ticket class. That's in line with other US carriers.
This is part of a broader effort to realign Southwest to be just like all the other US airlines. As I noted in December when Southwest announced a move to assigned seating it's nominally in the name of "competitiveness" but really it's removing key differentiators that helped Southwest compete with— and, for decades, be more profitable than— other carriers.
Oh, and along with this change, Southwest also announced a new, lower class of tickets. The old "Wanna Get Away" fare category is being replaced with "Basic". Similar to other carriers' Basic Economy tickets it comes with fewer conveniences than ever before. These tickets will not permit changes, standby, or transferable credits.
