For years, Southwest Airlines was unique from other airlines because of their open seating policy. Customers were assigned boarding groups according to the order they checked in (or their willingness to pay extra for it), then boarded based on their assigned group/number, like A29 or B13. Once boarded, flyers could sit wherever they wanted to. The open seating policy was originally implemented for efficiency that allowed for quick turnaround times.
After 55 years, Southwest’s open seating policy officially ended on Monday. Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 27, the first round of passengers who bought assigned seats will board their planes. Southwest has also done an overhaul of their ticketing tiers, with a premium seating option that offers extra legroom, preferred seating for a seat in the front half of the plane, standard seating selections for the back half, and a basic level where you’re assigned a seat at check-in. Boarding will now be the same as it is for any other major airline.
“Southwest will broaden its consumer appeal and boost demand through an assigned seating model,” a press release at the time read. “Airline passengers now have a clear preference for seat assignments: 80 percent of Southwest Customers and 86 percent of passengers who choose other airlines want assigned seats.”
The announcement also noted that “Southwest flies farther than ever, and seat assignments are a higher priority on long-haul flights.”
The company began selling assigned seats in late 2025, but the first flights utilizing them are only taking off now.
Another change is that the airline will be offering Premium Seating, where passengers will have “extra legroom options with up to five additional inches of pitch for approximately a third of its seats.”
For years, passengers were able to board Southwest flights without an assigned seat ahead of time. Travelers would check in 24 hours ahead of the flight and be assigned a boarding position, which would determine when they would board and, as a result, choose their seat.
Travelers either loved or hated the policy, which left one aspect of flying up in the air.
Per Southwest’s website, the ability for passengers to be able to choose their seats will be “based on the fare you purchase, your Rapid Rewards tier status, and/or your Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmember status.”
The new tiers are: Choice Extra (where passengers can choose an Extra Legroom, Preferred, or Standard seat at booking if available), Choice Preferred (passengers can choose a Preferred or Standard seat at booking if available), Choice (passengers can choose their seat at booking), Basic (standard seat will be assigned at check-in), and Getaways by Southwest (passengers choose a standard seat after booking).
I’m not surprised that they made this change. I know most people hated not having the guarantee of sitting where they wanted to, and Southwest does not boast “affordable” prices that justify the risk. I never actually minded the open seating policy, especially if I was flying alone. The stress of making sure you checked in exactly 24 hours beforehand was annoying, though, and I will not miss that. I remember when it was even more of a complete free-for-all, before you got assigned numbers within the alphabetized boarding groups. That was always such a clusterf-ck.
Southwest is the only major airline to consistently fly in and out of the airport near my parents’ house, so I’ve flown them many times over the years. I have noticed a decrease in quality and experience over the last decade, which has led us to avoid them as much as possible. Ticket prices start high and never fluctuate. It’s barely affordable for one person to fly round-trip anymore, let alone a family of four. They don’t do cabin service on shorter flights, up until October, even Rapid Rewards members had to pay for wifi, and last year, they started charging for checked luggage. Honestly, I was much more upset about that than I am about the other stuff. “Bags Fly Free” was the best and pretty much only reason for my family to fly with them.
Photos credit: Jeffry Surianto on Pexels and via Instagram
The airline industry is in freefall from lack of demand, and that’s even before Trump took a hacksaw to air traffic control and Boeing decided that profits were far more important than security; for them, injured and dead people are a cost of doing business especially as they’ve never had to pay for their failures. And after the pandemic airlines have been conspicuously absent from any government subsidies, unlike Big Oil. Trump is not a friend of aviation…
The only way airlines are making money these days is from charging for premium seating, the rest is loss-making. Southwest, Ryanair, all low-cost airlines who built their business model on volume are suffering greatly. Only around 10% of the world’s population flies in a given year, only around 5% internationally and those customers will pay for the premium seating. So more and more you’re going to see changes like Southwest is adopting, which is to head toward the middle/upper middle customer
My husband used to travel for work every week, he used to fly out to a client and fly back every week, if the flight was under 6 hours and if it was more, he would stay away two weeks but we were issued tickets to go and meet him wherever he was. We rarely used the family tickets as my son was small and the flights were obviously long. The upshot is, we were members of British Airways’ “Gold” membership programme for a while, then “Silver,” and then “Bronze.” And so we had access to lounges, buffets, wine, mood lighting, showers, comfortable couches, business class as a default when flying even for trips unrelated to work, cocktails, newspapers brought on the plane for when you lose wifi, etc….. because once you become a “frequent flyer” they cannot do enough to keep you on side. We didn’t pay for any of it. Since lockdown, Covid, and getting a dog, we don’t fly really much at all. I don’t miss it. The only way I would do it again is under the same conditions. Otherwise — it’s a much less salubrious version of the bus.
The open seating never bothered me but I also travel alone usually and would pay the extra to get A group when that was introduced. That being said, agree that once their fares stopped being a “deal” it lost some of its charm.
The new policy will hopefully also stop the people who “need a wheelchair to board” to get on early but miraculously were saved once in the air. That infuriated the community that does use wheelchairs and doesn’t get a mid flight miracle.
But their new booking site is just a mess. I went to book a flight to DC and there are so many choices, pushing upgrades, pop ups and general lack of clarity on benefits, or not, at each level. I’m about to give up and just take Amtrak!
Just a point to make here. I’ve heard people refer to these ‘jetway miracles’ & as a person with a disability that didn’t make itself known until midway through my life, I can tell you that you may not realize it, but those jetways have an incline/decline to them that make it increasingly difficult for me to manage while also pulling along my carry-on & using my cane. It doesn’t help matters much that the hand railings at the side do NOT go the entire length of the jetway, they stop approximately five meters or so before the plane. I’ve taken to requesting a wheelchair for this ramp, but I don’t need it on level ground (not yet anyway) which is the plane itself or most of the rest of the airport (depends on the airport).
We almost exclusively flew Southwest when I was a kid. Back they they only did short haul flights, so you’d change two or three times to get across the country, all without assigned seating. But over the years their cheaper flights, improved service, and pleasant flight crew made them my favorite. These new changes though feel so intertwined with the rise of fascism. Everything just feels more difficult, unpleasant. I don’t want to fly at all.
Back in the good old days…and yeah, definitely was the good old days now!…flying was part of the fun of your trip. But for most of my adulthood, it’s just been a hassle. Planes are flying busses that get more expensive and more uncomfortable to travel on every year. If Amtrak had more express trains that went from major city to major city, I’d be on the train in heartbeat.
Years ago they were actually a budget airline and the prices were wildly cheaper. I remember flying round trip to Chicago for $29. But nowadays it’s the same price as any other airline and the seating was a shitshow. An assigned seat might make it more likely that I would actually look at this airline as an option again.
We used to fly SW from NY to Orlando for like $150 round trip when my kids loved Disney. Bags were free and we always managed to sit at least one adult with each kid. Now they are way too expensive and the planes are crappy. I flew them in Dec and there weren’t even chargers in the seats on the way home. I prefer Delta when I can get a good flight.
I liked the silliness of the flight crew. You get that sometimes now but a lot of times they seem too frazzled for that. The airlines have taken the joy out of flying for everyone except those that can afford the luxury options. The rest of us probably prop up those perks with our overpriced tickets.
I loved the open seating and ease of Southwest. They were by far my favorite airline. I flew them almost exclusively to the point when I had to fly another airline I was shocked and confused. I get why they’re choosing to do this but I’m not thrilled. Oh well.
I loved open seating and never found it a burden to just put an alarm on my phone for check-in. It was like a game. Plus the flight crew were the best and the free checked bags slapped. Now they’re just another annoying airline charging too much and giving too little.
The open seating never really bothered me. What does bother me is that they now charge for bags and they’re just as expensive as everyone else now. Plus they never have direct flights to anywhere I want to go. Why would I pay for this hassle when I can book a direct flight with American for the same price?
You could have been the first to board in open seating and still have some huge manspreading guy sit next to you taking up half your seat. When flying alone on SW, I used to LIKE getting in the C boarding group, then I could choose to sit by petite women. Now that’s over and SW has forfeited its sole advantage. That and the free bag check, but I’m a carry on person.
They are expensive now and have lost everything that made them unique. They also just ended their policy that didn’t require larger folks to purchase two seats (most airlines do).
My husband works with a sales guy who is a big fella and travels a lot, and he always flew southwest when he could because they weren’t rude to him about his size. I’m the exact average size of a woman in the US (height and weight) and airplane seats are barely wide enough for me. It’s infuriating.
We usually travel quite a bit, but we are staying close to home because of our wretched governments utter instability. Can we get home?? Can we go somewhere without issue? Chump had screwed up SO MUCH in this world. 🤬🤬 Airlines can blame him~he has made people terrified to travel.
The pandemic took away the joy of traveling for me and now I just do it out of necessity to see family. I stopped going on vacation to exotic destinations and everytime I have to jump on a plane I seriously have to put my mind into it since it became one of the most uncomfortable experiences except if you are a Golden member or any of those greedy programs.
I’ve never flown this airline. I’ve gotten quite used to choosing my own seat & really prefer that. As a kid (boomer here) from a working class family there was never any question that we would fly somewhere for vacation, it was always a long car trip in the family station wagon (which meant we could take our dog, too). Not flying anywhere for a while due to the maniac squatting in the Oval Office.