Yesterday, on July 29, 2025, Southwest Airlines began selling assigned seats for the first time. Curious to see how the carrier is approaching this radical shift in its business model, I headed over to Southwest.com to check out the booking experience. To say I was surprised by the pricing was an understatement.
Southwest’s Value Proposition Has Shifted
Over the past few months we’ve seen Southwest change many aspects of its business model. From eliminating free checked bags on most fares to changing its “Customers of Size” policy, almost everything passengers once knew about the carrier has been updated.
Southwest has been considered a low-cost carrier (LCC) since its inception, though that perception hasn’t actually translated to low cost fares in recent years. People have continued to book with the airline given their reputation and unique business model. However, all of that has now changed.
With the introduction of assigned seating, elimination of free checked bags, and a focus on its cobranded credit cards, Southwest today looks a lot more like American, Delta, and United when compared to the Southwest of old. Will passengers keep choosing the LUV airline over its big three domestic rivals?
Southwest is Pricing Its Product at a Premium
Southwest’s new assigned seating policy goes into effect on January 27, 2026 and I wanted to see how the carrier was pricing its flights after the change. I’m based in Austin (if you didn’t already know from the title of this blog) and fly to New Orleans multiple times a year. These short routes are when I typically find myself on Southwest given its network of nonstop flights from Austin and Delta also operates the route, giving me a great head to head comparison.
I picked a random date shortly after Southwest’s assigned seating policy goes into effect and compared prices on flights between Southwest and Delta. Immediately I noticed that all Basic fares had been zeroed out for all flights that day, including all connecting itineraries, which is something I’ve seen on multiple dates and routes.
Southwest was charging $275 for its Choice fare, which includes a Standard seat selection. These are standard Economy seats located at the rear of the plane.
On the other hand, Delta appeared to be charging $105 for its Main Cabin (Economy) fare. Upon further inspection, this price was for the Main Basic (Basic Economy) fare as the carrier has added confusing new fare buckets. The actual Main Cabin fare came to $135. Already Delta was pricing out $140 cheaper than Southwest.
When it came time to select seats, Southwest allowed me to pick a seat at the rear of the plane for free. If I wanted to pick a standard seat closer to the front, it would cost me between $25 and $28. Extra Legroom seats would set you back a further $42-51. Seat 15A, which I believe is the best seat on the plane, was available for $46 for this 1h 20m flight.
Delta sells its extra legroom seating, known as Comfort+, as a separate cabin onboard its planes. This provides earlier boarding, after First Class but before Sky Priority customers, along with free alcoholic beverages and an upgraded snack basket. I was able to select a seat here for an additional $15.
When it was all said and done My Delta flight, which arguably has a better inflight product, came out to $150. My Southwest flight on the other hand came out to a whopping $325. While Delta is seen as the most premium of the big three carriers, Southwest wanted to charge me $175 more for the privilege of flying with them.
For American Express Platinum Cardholders like myself, Delta is even more appealing on this particular route as Sky Clubs are located in Austin (AUS) and New Orleans (MSY). Though, this isn’t a factor on all routes where Southwest has competition.
Something Has to Change in Southwest’s Pricing Model
While the scenario outlined above is just an example, it’s clear that something has to change with the pricing model at Southwest. Other carriers smell blood in the water as the Dallas based airline has alienated longtime customers. Some have even run status promotions aimed directly at the carrier’s Rapid Rewards members.
Unfortunately for Southwest, the differentiators that made them unique are gone. Passengers with families and checked bags who used to blindly book via Southwest.com are looking elsewhere and travelers using Google Flights and other booking platforms will continue to see the carrier with higher fares and less value than before.
What are your thoughts on the current pricing for assigned and upgraded seats on Southwest flights?
Summary
Southwest Airlines is introducing assigned seating on all flights as of January 27, 2026. While this was one of the changes I was most looking forward to from the carrier, initial pricing seems much steeper than I would have expected on head-to-head routes.
I ran some numbers also – as a A List Preferred, it’s about the only bargain – can pick any seat no extra charge, no matter the SWA fare. Board group 1-2 so overhead is not an issue. Two free checked bags.
But, yeah, if you’re not a frequent flyer, not seeing much of a bargain flying Southwest compared to other airlines – worth checking around……
Even as an A-List Preferred, you’d come out over $100 ahead on Delta since Southwest blocked out the Basic fares for that day. I have to imagine they’ll have to do some adjustments to these fares.
Southwest has been basterized into Southworst Airlines.
DAL, imo,, isn’t going to let SWA win this pricing “game”. When you’re #1 of the Top 3 it’s a net new takeaway market gain. Loyalty follows after experiencing the Delta difference.
I’m certainly willing to pay a little more to fly Delta, especially with access to a Sky Club in AUS. Southwest needs to be cheaper or better timed than the legacies for me to pick them. Instead they are pricing out higher on many routes.
The new ownership group/investors pushed out most of the legacy leadership that made the company what it was. What follows is enshittification to a degree we likely haven’t seen at an airline before. It’s sad. I really liked Southwest and have had a companion pass for the past 6 years. I don’t know if I’ll get the cards any more or fly another southwest flight once we burn through all our remaining miles. I really hope the new ownership group loses their shirt, but I’m sure they’ll drain the company of all its value before bankrupting it. In the end, they’ll have made out like bandits while all other stakeholders lose.
I just got my promotional Companion Pass today and I’m not sure if I’m even going to use it.
The real loser may be the City of Chicago’s efforts to revitalize Midway Airport, where Southwest has over 90 percent of the commercial flights. The demographics of nearby suburbs and city neighborhoods cannot support the fares Southwest is proposing to offer plus the elimination of the bags fly free policy. Under the old Southwest pricing scheme, passengers living closer to O’Hare would gladly drive the extra mileage for the cost savings that came from flying Southwest. Why would they take the extra time to drive to Midway when United American, and Delta fares out of O’Hare could actually be offering fares lower than Southwest. The City of Chicago Department of Aviation must provide incentives for new and existing airlines to serve Midway.
Same thing happened to PIT in the early 2000s when US Airways moved its hub or was acquired (or both) shortly after the county spent a ton on expanding and modernizing the airport. The local governments bend over backwards for these corporations and unfortunately don’t seem to insist on the proper contractual guarantees or protections to ensure their investments aren’t in vain.
Always flew SWA, had no major objections and the price was right. Not any more, I’m shopping for better option, pricing not right anymore!
Always flew SWA, had no major objections and the price was right. Not any more, I’m shopping for better option, pricing not right anymore!
I have flown SW for years….but last few years…it’s far from the same. Have status with several airlines but southwest i quit flying them. They just aren’t worth it.. You can find first class on Delta and even American only a few dollars more than flying on the cattle car airline. They aren’t worth it
This is what happens when the bean counts are in charge. From its beginnings SW had CEOs with operation backgrounds. That changed when they put a beam counter in charge.
IMHO SW is headed for a crash landing.
Why would ‘leadership’ change the very things that differentiated this airline from its competitors to begin with? Here’s a novel idea… why not analyze flight routes and match supply with demand? Hint: you don’t need 10 flights a day to San Diego from Las Vegas. How about lowering last minute flights when the plane is half full, instead of price gouging people when they have an emergency or just want to be spontaneous? To the SW Board……wake up and use your brain. No one wants a warm beer when they order champagne especially when they had to pay to sit in the back of the plane. Who has too much baggage now? RIP Southwest!
It’s no longer the same leadership. When they went public they lost the ability to tightly control everything. Over time, activist investors made their way onto the board. There’s a good video on youtube by Wendover Productions on the recent changes and why this is going to be terrible but all for the ownership group: https://youtu.be/BD-rLIz9XUo?si=ywzVXwTniEVTuz5N I’m in no way affiliated with this channel…I just stumbled across this one day and thought it nicely laid out what I had been experiencing first hand recently with Southwest.
Based upon the title of this blog, the owner should be in Kazakhstan.
I wouldn’t trust someone who doesn’t know their own airport code to run a travel blog.
Tell me you’ve never been to Austin without telling me. Nobody refers to the city as AUS. Most of us refer to the airport as ABIA.
Also, took a trip to Kazakhstan earlier this year, it was great!
I’m ca
Canceling my SW card because they are going up to $299 a year for what?? This used to be a good airline, not anymore. Canceling my card and flying United or American from now on!!
I
Canceling my SW card because they are going up to $299 a year for what?? This used to be a good airline, not anymore. Canceling my card and flying United or American from now on!!