Southwest Airlines makes new policy change customers will hate

Southwest Airlines has been on a mission lately to ruin everything good about its brand and make as many customers mad as possible. At least it seems that way.

The Airline famously ended its Bags Fly Free policy, which set it apart from all of the other airlines, all of which charge for bringing even a single checked bag on the plane.

Southwest’s change in tune and decision to start charging caused a lot of frustration among people who flew Southwest specifically because of this perk.

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Southwest has also ended its classic policy of letting people choose their own seat, rather than having to pay to get a seat assigned.

The end of the open seating policy has actually received mixed reviews from travelers, as some want assigned seats and others prefer the previous flexibility. Still, it angered many flyers, and it took away another big brand differentiator, making Southwest more like every other airline.

Now, unfortunately, Southwest has introduced yet another policy that is sure to leave some customers very unhappy.

Southwest Airlines wants to anger more customers.

Image source: Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Southwest Airlines makes more moves to anger customers

The new policy introduced by Southwest Airlines this time is one related to the rules for larger customers who fly with the carrier.

Under Southwest Airlines’ longstanding rules within the airline’s Customer of Size policy, larger customers were always required to buy a seat if they were going to encroach upon the space of others around them.

However, Southwest provided a post-flight refund when the seat turned out not to be needed.

This policy is changing now, though, and not in a way that people are going to like. The new changes will go into effect beginning January 27, 2026, and have the potential to make things much more expensive and unpleasant for customers who need a little more space to be comfortable.

Southwest’s policy changes mean more money spent

Starting on January 27, 2026, Southwest has made clear that it will now refund the second seat required for customers of size only if:

The plane leaves with at least one seat that is open or with passengers who are traveling on space-available passes.
The customer of size purchases both seats at one time, and both seats are within the same fare class.
The customer of size submits the request for a refund within 90 days of the time of travel.

This is inevitably going to mean that more people get stuck having to pay for two seats instead of just one. Very few people are going to be happy about the fact that their cost of traveling is most likely going to double thanks to the change.

Southwest Airlines is also making another change that won’t go over well

As if this weren’t enough, Southwest’s other policy changes will impact customers of size. Specifically, as a result of the change to assigned seating, those larger customers are no longer going to be allowed to pre-board.

If a traveler comes to the airport who didn’t reserve two seats but who Southwest determines needs two in order to avoid encroaching on other passengers, that traveler will now be required to buy the additional seat on the day of travel.

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Unfortunately, if the flight is sold out or if there are not two adjacent seats available, the traveler is going to have to be rebooked on a later flight where there is space.

To avoid this unpleasant outcome, Southwest has urged affected travelers to just buy the extra seat from the start. This means, of course, spending a whole lot of extra cash that they may have avoided before all of these policy changes took effect.

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