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Southwest Airlines has put a price on verification bags, a free coveted advantage which is about to disappear As part of substantial changes, the carrier brings to its service.
For flights reserved on May 28 and after, checking the first bag will cost $ 35 and $ 45 for the second baggage. If the ticket was bought before Wednesday, the customer will still receive two free registered bags, the company announced.
There are, however, some exceptions: members of the A-List level of its rapid loyalty program of rewards, holders of its brand credit card or those traveling on a commercial rate will be exempt from costs.
Southwest fees are aligned with the prices of other carriers. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines all charge between $ 35 and $ 40 for the first checked bag. Others, like JetBlue Airways and Frontier Airlines, invoice different costs according to Various factors, especially if purchased online or the departure date.
Southwest has always offered free checkered bags since the airline started about 60 years ago and maintained the policy in place when its competitors start to add and growing fees. In fact, the carrier filed its slogan “Fly Free” bags, which was a key element of its advertising.
The addition of these costs will probably instantly increase its net profit, because Southwest has two to three times more tile bags than other airlines.
Although it is not billed for the first two bags recorded, Southwest collected $ 83 million in baggage fees in 2024, according to the Ministry of Transport statistics. (Southwest invoices $ 150 for a third bag checked and up to $ 200 for overweight luggage among other costs).
However, it is a fraction of the luggage fees collected by other airlines, with American Collect of $ 1.5 billion in 2024, while United made $ 1.3 billion and Delta winning $ 1 billion.
Southwest has been under pressure to strengthen profitability since the activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a $ 1.9 billion in the carrier last year. He has already announced that he abandoned his open policy in 2026 and modernized his planes with seats that have an additional leg place for an additional charge.
Southwest said customers demanded these changes. When people go to a southwest competitor, the company said that the main reason why passengers cite are open seats. But the change will also help the company to bill some passengers more for their tickets.
The airline has also changed the way it sells tickets. Traditionally, he only sold them on the Southwest website, but recently started selling them to Expedia to attract more customers.
Also from Wednesday, Southwest will start to sell “basic economic” prices, which are low -cost tickets but with tons of restrictions. It is a type of tickets that replaces its famous “Wanna Get Away” rate and is becoming more and more common among the largest carriers to compete with the low prices offered by budget airlines.
