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Southwest Airlines is preparing for a major shift away from its current open seating to assigned places beginning January 27th. With that change, the carrier is also updating one of its most well-known, generous, and longstanding accommodations: its Customer of Size policy.
The policy has supported passengers who need more than one seat to travel comfortably and safely for years. With the introduction of assigned seats, it will now revise its refund eligibility criteria and make other changes to preboarding as well as its seat purchase rules.
New Guidelines for Refund Eligibility
Starting with flights on or after January 27th, passengers who require an additional seat will only be eligible for a refund if the following conditions are met:
- The flight departs with at least one open seat or includes space-available travelers.
- Both seats are purchased in the same fare class (Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred, or Choice Extra).
- The refund request is submitted within 90 days of the flight date.
This update aims to streamline how Southwest manages seating while ensuring fairness as the airline transitions to its more structured boarding and seating process.
Key Policy Changes for Assigned Seating
With assigned seating replacing the traditional open seating system, passengers requiring extra space will no longer be permitted to preboard solely for seating needs. Instead, they must reserve and purchase the additional seat(s) in advance to guarantee availability.
If a passenger arrives at the airport without having booked the necessary space and is determined to need another seat, they must purchase it on the spot at the day-of-travel fare. If adjacent seats are unavailable or the flight is sold out, the traveler may need to be rebooked on a later flight with adequate space. Southwest encourages customers to plan ahead and secure extra seating early to avoid delays or disruptions.
Flexibility is Still Offered With a Shift Toward Planning
Southwest’s Customer of Size policy has long been praised for its flexibility and the dignity that it provides to passengers who cannot fit in one seat. Those who do not fit comfortably between the armrests are going to be asked to purchase an additional seat. Until January 26th, refunds for that extra seat will still be available post-travel, as long as the flight did not operate full (under the old policy).
Under the new policy, the emphasis will be on pre-planning and the guidelines are clear. Booking extra seats in advance not only guarantees the space needed, but also helps travelers avoid the stress of last-minute changes at the gate while ensuring a comfortable ride for those around them as well as themselves.
Anthony’s Take: Southwest has always been generous with passengers of size. This new policy is fair and quite generous, in my opinion.
(Featured Image Credit: ozgurcoskun via iStock.)
(H/T: ATXJetsetter.)
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9 comments
How will people who are in a wheelchair and need a seat in front be seated. I have been traveling with southwest for over 30 years for my ministry and now the I need a wheelchair I need to know how you will help me. I have been a very happy and grateful customer and so is my husband who always travel with me. I’m concern. I’m very unhappy with the no free luggage since I travel a lot and have to carry my material for my preaching and have to also change a lot for my different talks. Something I’m gone for weeks.
Book your seats up front when you buy them. It’s not that difficult.
It’s a gamble now. I’ll bet, more likely than not, you don’t get that second seat refunded. They will always claim there were no open seats when the plane departed in order to deny passengers refunds. I can purchase a second seat on most airlines, and many other airlines are cheaper on a per-seat basis than Southwest is now. It only makes financial sense to fly SWA if I KNOW I will be getting a refund on the second seat. Otherwise, it makes more sense to buy two cheaper seats on another airline.
In the past you couldn’t beat SW for domestic travel. They were efficient safe, reasonable in price, and my luggage was always where it was supposed to be. I worked for the Government and flew North often. Retired now and due to recent changes in price and safety will no longer fly SW.
I agree with most other customers… Southwest has been my airline of choice, and I’ve been a LOYAL customer for roughly two decades… And, because SWA doesn’t fly out of my current residence area, I’ve driven HUNDREDS of miles just for that SWA experience, the convenience, the perks, and the comfort… I’ve driven to: PCB, JAX, ATL, FLL, LAX, SAN, MIA… My question to management is: If you eliminate: “Two bags fly free,” and if you also eliminate: “Open seating,” what sets you apart from other “traditional” airlines? In other words, why should I continue driving out of my City/State to continue flying on SWA? Bottom line, I’m terribly disappointed with these changes: the cancellation of the “two-free bags” policy, as well as the cancellation of the “open seating” policy, which your customers have enjoyed for years… I’m sure that MOST of your SWA customers aren’t feeling the “LUV” from you right now… 💔💔💔
This update sounds totally fair to me. I’m absolutely feeling thebLyv!! While I believe everyone has a right to be treated with dignity, I also believe that people are entitled to what they pay for. If Im sitting next to a COS who only purchased one seat and they need part of my seat to fit, they’re not entitled to the seat that I paid for. I don’t see how they could make an argument that they are just because they’re overweight. Sure, no one wants to pay for 2 seats if they can avoid it but people who are a healthy weight are tired of being told that they’re insensitive for not making unreasonable accommodations for someone else’s choices. Overweight is not a protected class. If you don’t fit in one seat, buy two or gamble the risk of having to take another flight, totally fair.
If you’re a loyal WN passenger, you still get 1 free bag for everyone in your party if you are A or A+ RR, or if you use the SW Chase credit card. I believe A+ RR Members get 2 free bags for each member of their party. If you don’t use the SW CC or qualify for A or A+ RR, I wouldn’t call you a “loyal customer”. I use the SW CC, always qualify for either A or A+ RR, qualify annually for my Companion pass, and am a passenger of size. I’ve never not booked well in advance to make certain things go smoothly. I personally am excited about having pre assigned seats! I appreciate the generous refund of my extra seat, but I don’t have a problem paying for my additional seat if needed. I occasionally fly AA (if WN doesn’t serve that destination) and buy an extra seat for my comfort and for those around me. I don’t buy the baloney that loyal customers are going to be upset with assigned seating. Yes, getting cut back from two free bags to one free bag per passenger is an unhappy surprise. (So was the time when they started charging extra for bags over 50#, but I bought a luggage scale and pack accordingly) I do think you should get one free bag for using the SW Chase CC and another free bag for being A RR, and that hasn’t been explained yet, other than you get 1 free bag if you’re either. And, as mentioned, if you’re A+ RR, nothing changes with free bags…you still get 2 free bags. As a shareholder, I want loyal business travelers. I think all Business travelers should be happy with the new program and the new program will build loyalty with those passengers (I hate the cattlecar seating and that includes a number of handicapped pre-boarders in wheelchairs who suddenly are healed during the flight well enough to jog off the flight at the destination). If you’re just looking for the cheapest flight and don’t mind the Greyhound Experience, there’s still Spirit and Frontier who’ll be more than happy for your business. If they stopped their generous Companion Pass, loyalty free bags, RR points program and scrapped the Passenger of Size program, I would start looking for another Airline who valued my loyalty. But, I don’t see that happening. I’m pretty sure most complaining fly the cheapest with a big family once or twice a year. And they’re going with the Greyhound of the skies no matter what. Nothing wrong with that BTW, it’s just not what builds long-term loyalty, which equals steady profits and growth.
I agree, but some of us are large and relatively fit. You don’t have to be overweight to not fit between the armrests. But, SW has allowed passengers of size to purchase an extra seat in advance for ages. In the beginning, you’d call and see if the flight was sold out. If it wasn’t, they’d return the funds you paid for the extra seat back! If it was sold out, I’m pretty sure you just bought two seats. Either way, I planned ahead and was relatively comfortable and didn’t bother my neighbor (at least with taking part of their seat!). It’s been a great plan and hopefully it’ll continue. I still see rows of 3, 300lb. people squeezed in. No idea why one would not plan ahead with such a great offer?!?
We’d love to see an airline commit to all Business Class seating (one where a 6ft tall, jacket size 54 man could sit without being barely squeezed between armrests with no room to inhale), Starlink wifi, priced at perhaps around 2x WN fees. Throw in cigar smoking, SW, BI or PanAm (1970 era) Stewardesses, complete with Prime Rib carving cart and a dress code set above garage cleaning wear! I know the model won’t work, but one can dream, can’t they?