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A major shift to Southwest’s decades-long boarding policy is coming soon. Assigned seating options will be bookable starting on July 29th for flights departing on or after January 27th. The new policy gives passengers the ability to select their seats during the booking process, which is a first for the airline.
Seat selection options will be available through new fare bundles that allow travelers to choose from these seat types:
- Extra Legroom
- Preferred
- Standard
Perks for Loyalty Members and Credit Cardholders
Customers not initially choosing a bundled fare will still have the option to upgrade their seat later during the booking process or closer to their departure date. Southwest is extending seat selection perks to its most loyal travelers with the following benefits offered:
- A-List and A-List Preferred Members will be able to select seats during booking on all fares, including Basic.
- Rapid Rewards® Credit Cardmembers, depending on the card they hold, will be able to select seats at booking or within 48 hours of departure, even when flying on Basic fares.
A New Boarding Process
To support the shift to assigned seating, Southwest will also debut a new group-based boarding process on January 27th. The redesigned process is optimized for assigned seats and organizes passengers into groups based on their seat location.
Key features of the new boarding system include:
- Groups 1-2: Extra Legroom passengers, Choice Extra, A-List Preferred members, and A-List members who upgrade to an Extra Legroom seat
- Groups 3-5: Choice Preferred and A-List members seated in a Preferred or Standard seat
- Groups 6-8: Choice® and Basic® (last to board)
More details about the boarding changes are available at Southwest.com. To generate excitement around this monumental change, Southwest has launched a new advertising campaign titled “Are You Sitting Down?” It’s a nod to the humor and personality the airline is known for and highlights the convenience and flexibility of the new assigned seating option.
Tony Roach, Executive Vice President Customer & Brand at Southwest Airlines, said:
Our Customers want more choice and greater control over their travel experience. Assigned seating unlocks new opportunities for our Customers—including the ability to select Extra Legroom seats—and removes the uncertainty of not knowing where they will sit in the cabin. This is an important step in our evolution, and we’re excited to pair these enhancements with our legendary Customer Service.”
Anthony’s Take: Southwest is changing just about everything that the airline has been known for throughout its history. We’ll see if things like seat assignments and attempts at making the airline more premium will be enough to sway travelers to Southwest. Loyalists seem to have mixed feelings on the new assigned seats.
(Image Credits: Owen Lystrup via Unsplash.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
