- Southwest Airways is ending one other coverage widespread with vacationers.
- The brand new guidelines will apply to the airline’s flight credit and go into impact Might 28.
- Some vacationers are saying they are going to now not fly with Southwest as a result of new restrictions.
Southwest Airways has undergone main adjustments in latest months—2025 has to date included a brand new assigned seating coverage and the tip of the free checked baggage coverage that had been in place for greater than 50 years. Now, one other controversial change is coming, which is already upsetting loyal Southwest passengers who really feel that the insurance policies that drew them to the airline are quickly disappearing.
So what’s this subsequent massive change? Beginning on Might 28, flight credit issued by Southwest can have an expiration date. Any flight credit issued on Might 27, 2025 or earlier is not going to expire. Southwest flight credit created from reservations “booked or modified on or after Might 28, 2025 can have a specified expiration date.” You possibly can learn the wonderful print on the coverage change on the Southwest web site at assist.southwest.com.
A flight credit score from Southwest is outlined as “a credit score from both a canceled flight or a downgrade in fare that can be utilized to purchase a future flight.” Relying on the kind of flight you buy, any flight credit issued will expire in six or 12 months. In accordance with View from The Wing, common fares can have flight credit legitimate for 12 months, whereas primary economic system fares, known as Wanna Get Away, can have flight credit for six months.
One other vital differentiation? The fundamental Wanna Get Away ticket gained’t enable for transferable credit, however all different fares, together with Enterprise Choose, Anytime, and Wanna Get Away Plus tickets will enable for transferable credit. Which means the flight credit score could be transferred as soon as between two Southwest Speedy Rewards members.
Thus far, this variation doesn’t appear widespread with present Southwest passengers. “If I wait till I do know my journey plans with absolute certainty earlier than I e-book, I now don’t have any purpose to stay with Southwest as a lot and can simply e-book no matter airline is most cost-effective or most handy,” one Reddit consumer wrote in a thread discussing the adjustments. One other Redditor wrote, “Effectively, by no means flying with them once more.”
In a assertion from Southwest CEO Bob Jordan discussing the deliberate adjustments for the airline in 2025, he acknowledged that the most important shifts in widespread insurance policies might not be effectively obtained by long-time loyalists. “It’s not going to vary who we’re, or the values that we stand for,” Jordan stated. “It adjustments the product that we provide our clients that they need considerably.”
For these planning to journey with Southwest this yr, simply maintain the date Might 28 in thoughts. That would be the day that the two free checked baggage coverage and the no-expiration flight credit will change into a factor of the previous.