Southwest adds some detail to assigned seating, updates to change policy

Southwest Rapid Rewards has sent an email to members today adding some limited detail about changes to come in mid-2025 when they begin selling assigned seating for travel in early 2026. The announcement adds a little detail, but still leaves a number of unanswered questions.

Southwest elite benefits coming in 2025

There are a few key elements coming in 2025 for Southwest elite members:

• Southwest A-list members will be able to select standard up-front seats for free at the time of booking and will be able to select extra legroom seats within 48 hours of departure if available
• Southwest A-list Preferred members will be able to select all available seats, including extra legroom, for free at time of booking
• Companion Pass holders will be able to select a seat for their companion (presumably provided they bought a ticket that includes seat selection) and any tier benefits the Companion Pass holder has will extend to their companion (meaning that if the companion pass holder can select better seats as a status benefit, that will include the companion).

As you can see in the screen shot above, there is also a mention of same-day changes coming with even better seat options, though it isn’t really clear to me what that means yet.

Additionally, many existing perks remain the same.

I like that elite members will be able to select seats up front. My family usually sits in the back and will probably continue to do so, but I imagine that most frequent travelers prefer to be near the front in order to get off the plane quickly. It makes a lot of sense to me to offer that as an elite perk.

And since they will sell the luxury of extra legroom seating, it makes sense to me that they would offer that luxury for free to their most loyal customers. That said, keep in mind that extra legroom seating is going to add “at least 3 extra inches” of legroom. I do like having more legroom rather than less legroom, but the value I place on an additional 3″ of seat pitch is limited.

Bags still fly free

Good news for Southwest loyalists is that there is no change as of yet to the policy of offering two free checked bags for all customers.

Change policy updates

Southwest buried some additions coming to its change policy near the bottom of the announcement in a box that you had to expand to see. Those include:

• The ability to cancel one leg of your round trip flight.
• Allowing first and middle name corrections for existing flights.
• Change your flight, not everyone’s: The ability to change an individual’s flight selection without changing the whole group’s reservation is now available on our website and app.

Those seem like very positive changes that make Southwest more user-friendly and self-serviceable.

As-yet unknowns

When exactly will Southwest begin selling seat selection? How much will they charge those of us without elite status? Which fares will include seat selection? We don’t yet have specifics on a lot of aspects of these changes. Southwest has instead been dripping out information slowly.

Since Southwest intends to begin selling seat assignments in mid-2025 for travel beginning in early 2026, we can expect to know more by the summertime.

I’m also curious what updates we may see to the Companion Pass. As of yet, there hasn’t been any hint that requirements or benefits would change, but I do wonder whether there will be any updates.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.