Southwest Airlines is currently undergoing a radical transformation plan and, as part of that transformation, the carrier will begin operating flights with assigned seats as of January 27, 2026. Because of that change, Southwest has made a change to its Customers of Size Policy for flights on or after that date.
Southwest Updates Customer of Size Policy due to Assigned Seating
Currently, Southwest Airlines requires that customers proactively purchase the number of seats necessary to not encroach on a neighboring passenger prior to travel. After the trip is complete, Southwest will refund the extra seat purchased upon request, with some exceptions.
For flights departing on or after January 27, 2026, there are a few key changes in place as the carrier moves to its new seating model. While customers of size are still required to purchase the number of seats necessary to ensure they do not encroach on their neighbors, with assigned seating, they need to ensure the adjacent seat(s) are available at booking. This may require paying to assign seats.
If customers arrive at the airport and haven’t reserved the necessary seats, Southwest will require that they purchase an additional seat and pay any applicable fees at the airport and will charge the applicable fare for that day. If the flight is sold out or adjacent seats are not available, customers will be rebooked onto another flight.
The biggest change to the policy comes with regards to refunds. For flights on or after January 27, 2026, Southwest will only refund additional seats if the following conditions are met:
- The flight(s) must depart with at least one open seat (or with Passengers traveling on space available passes).
- Both seats should be purchased in the same fare class (i.e., Choice, Choice Preferred, Choice Extra, or Basic).
- The refund request must be made within 90 days of your date of travel.
Also, with a shift to group boarding and assigned seats, Southwest will no longer allow customers of size to preboard. Instead they will board with their assigned group based on their status, fare type, or Rapid Rewards credit card.
While these changes may seem minor, it’s important for passengers who travel under the policy to be aware of the changes as flights with assigned seating go on sale. It’s also important to note that customers may not purchase more than one seat for the sole purpose of keeping the seat next to them empty.
Summary
Southwest Airlines has made changes to its Customers of Size Policy for flights on or after January 27, 2026. The Dallas based carrier will move to assigned seating at this time which is the main driver behind this change.
Hat tip to Blake for flagging this.
In other words, they will never refund the second seat. They will always claim the flight was full and use that to deny the refund. The problem is, when you book, you won’t know for sure whether or not you will be stuck paying the full fare for the second seat. Given that SWA costs more than most other airlines on a per-seat basis, if they’re not going to guarantee a refund of the second seat, it makes more sense to book a second non-refundable seat on a cheaper airline than risk having to pay the higher fare for both seats on Southwest.
@Cole isn’t the issue with that their are many reports of other airlines using the second seat that folks purchased to seat someone when the flight is overbooked? Not sure if this is a big deal, or like the complaints about third party hotel booking services, 98% of Booking.com customers have not issues, but the 2% who do complain loudly on various internet forums