In the 20+ years that I’ve been flying as a paying adult, I’ve flown Southwest airlines far more than any other airline in the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to more than 60 countries and to enjoy some of the fanciest business and first class products in the world over the past decade, but despite my enjoyment of fancy flying, I have chosen Southwest for the vast majority of our domestic trips, which has meant that I haven’t flown any other airline nearly as many times (nor nearly as many miles I’d bet). We’ve consistently chosen Southwest for many years because they’re different. Unfortunately, Southwest will soon become almost the same as any other domestic carrier. What now? Will I still choose Southwest?
Southwest changes make them less different
For as long as I can remember, Southwest was different. From the plastic boarding cards I remember in the early 00’s to the time a flight attended serenaded my flight as we taxied to our gate with the closing lyrics, “We hope you’ve enjoyed our hospitality, marry one of us and you’ll fly for free”. Southwest has often put a smile on my face.
Big changes are on the way next month that will shake things up entirely. Many of the things that have long made my family loyal to Southwest will end or change, such as:
- Bags Fly Free no more. While we’ve never needed 2 checked bags per passenger in my family, we almost always travel with a checked bag or two. We just spent the Easter holiday visiting family and we packed an entire suitcase full of gifts for our new niece (and my wife filled it for the return trip with some great local finds from Facebook marketplace). Free checked bags has been a major advantage for Southwest since we haven’t had a United credit cards for years and have never had one with Delta or JetBlue.
- Boarding policy. This isn’t changing next month, but rather when Southwest begins selling seating assignments later this year for travel next year. I know that many people hate Southwest’s boarding process. In the 20+ years I’ve been flying Southwest, it has never bothered me in the slightest. Before kids, I would often carry a $50 bill in my pocket to offer someone to switch seats if my wife and I needed it, but we never had to use it. In the 7+ years since our first son was born, we’ve continuously had at least one kid under 6 years of age, so we’ve been boarding after “A” group without worry about check-in time. We’ve never had a problem getting our preferred seats near the back of the plane.
- Redemption rates that we could count on. While I love to get far outsized value as much as anyone, it has been convenient to know what I could expect from Southwest points in terms of purchasing power as compared to cash rates. We never got incredible value, but we knew we wouldn’t get poor value, which was a competitive advantage over collecting competitor miles for domestic travel.
- Flight credit that never expires. This was a pandemic-era change, but we’ve loved having the ability to book now and change plans later without being boxed into an expiration date on flight credit. I haven’t hesitated to book Southwest cash tickets even when plans weren’t solidified. Moving forward, I will be far more hesitant to book Southwest flights with cash, particularly for travel far in advance since a cancellation close to departure may leave me with a flight credit due to expire without much time to use it.
- Happy, bubbly employees (usually). My experiences with Southwest employees have been largely positive over the years. Not every interaction has been perfect, but flight attendants in particular have often been notably cheerful. With cuts to staff events, layoffs, and policy changes sure to sour customers on the airline, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a shift in attitude among employees.
Changes coming in the above areas will not make Southwest remarkably worse than competitor airlines, it will just make Southwest more similar to the competition. As disappointed as I am in all of the above, I’m not sure that the changes will yet chase me away from Southwest.
Southwest will still be the same
I don’t love the ways that Southwest will soon be different (or less different from competitors depending on your perspective). However, some key things are either staying the same or will effectively be the same for my family.
- The hard product isn’t changing (yet). Let me be clear: Southwest cabins and seats aren’t special compared to other airlines. The part of the product that has kept us coming back is the consistency in the model of plane. Southwest exclusively flies 737s, so there is a consistency of product that matters. My wife loves to travel, but it causes her a great deal of anxiety (I know she’s not alone there!). The consistency of Southwest’s product means that every plane hass a 3-3 seating layout that isn’t going to make her feel extra claustrophobic. For the time being, this will continue to be a factor that might make us choose Southwest, though it will feel far more like a compromise than it once did.
- The Southwest Companion Pass remains a great deal. We have had a Companion Pass in our household every year for more than a decade. It has gotten more use some years than others, but we have long valued having it as it has long made Southwest the better option (even considering increased prices we’ve seen on Southwest in recent years). I wrote posts for years asking whether the Companion Pass was still worth it, and year after year the answer was a clear yes. Contrary to a commonly flawed logic, Southwest points are not worth double for Companion Pass holders, but the pass nonetheless helps us save year after year.
- We’ll still get a free bag x 4 and priority boarding. This is because my wife has the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority credit card. Cardholders will get 1 free checked bag per passenger for up to 8 passengers on the same reservation (plus one for their companion if they are a companion pass holder). This means that our family could still check up to 4 bags. While that’s half the allowance today, I don’t think we’ve ever checked more than four bags anyway. And since the Priority card comes with an annual $75 Southwest credit and 7,500 points at anniversary, we easily justify the $149 annual fee even before whatever seating benefit they offer (they’ve said that it will offer a seating benefit, but we don’t yet have details).
- Flexibility might allow us to take advantage of outsized redemption. While I don’t love the new dynamic pricing model, there is a chance that we’ll be able to take advantage of those situations where flights provide outsized value thanks to greater-than-average flexibility in terms of dates and times.
Southwest has certainly lost some of its luster, but the truth is that the above will probably keep us loyal to Southwest, but with less enthusiasm.
Southwest points are less valuable now. Southwest points about to be more valuable.
I recently updated our Reasonable Redemption Value for Southwest Rapid Rewards points. I found that points are on average less valuable than they were previously.
At the same time, points value for low-demand flights (which is to say the cheapest flights in most cases) has increased. An obvious play in some situations will be to book a cheap Wanna Get Away Plus fare at elevated value per point, looking to same-day change to a more ideal itinerary (when this is possible). Southwest claims that they do not oversell flights. In the past, this has meant that if someone else has cancelled a seat after midnight local time on the day of departure, it would pop into inventory making space available for a same-day change to their flight. However, we recently had a reader report that a seat their family member cancelled did not go back into inventory. I thought that something must have been awry, but then as I walked to my Southwest gate over the weekend, I heard gate agents for 3 separate Southwest flights looking for volunteers to bump to a later flight. It is possible that all of those were a matter of weight-and-balance issues or crew needs….or perhaps the activist investors running Southwest have implemented changes to the overbooking policy that haven’t yet been published. I don’t know for sure.
However, the reason I say that Southwest points are about to be more valuable is because cash is going to become a less desirable means to book a Southwest flight. Points will become more valuable to me because cash bookings will become less attractive.
Here’s what I mean: Imagine that I wanted to book a flight today for travel on January 3rd, 2026 (perhaps for the way home at the end of the holiday break). Now imagine that plans change the day before departure (on January 2, 2026) and I needed to cancel that flight. If I paid with cash, I would end up with a Southwest credit due to expire (at best) in less than 4 months, on April 25, 2026. Worse yet, if my booking were for a Basic Economy fare (not yet available, but coming soon), I believe I’d end up with nothing since cancelled Basic Economy tickets will get credit that expires 6 months from date of purchase (which will have already passed). If I booked using Rapid Rewards points, those points would go right back into my account and the taxes and fees could be refunded to my original payment method with no expiration to track or worry about.
The flexibility of cancellations was long a selling point for Southwest Rapid Rewards points. The luster of that faded as all airlines began offering free cancellation and both Southwest and others removed expiration dates from flight credits. Now that flight credits are changing for the worse, I’ll be even more inclined to use my points for flight bookings — and I may even consider transferring points to Southwest in the right scenario. Now that they are a Bilt transfer partner, that gives me another option to top off my account.
A week or two ago, a member of our Facebook group asked a question about transferring points to Southwest Rapid Rewards. In response, I noted that I had never transferred a point to Southwest in the past because of the lack of ability to get outsized value for points and that I would likely never consider transferring to Southwest moving forward without a specific near-term use in mind since the dynamic pricing model makes it possible to get really poor value for points.
However (spoiler alert!), as we recorded this week’s podcast yesterday, I began relaying that story and sentiment when I caught myself and realized that the coming change to Southwest flight credits makes a material difference that might make transfers to Southwest more appealing than they have been in recent years.
The Companion Pass is still a great coupon
I noted this above, but the Southwest Companion Pass, at least thus far, remains a great deal. Earn 135,000 points or more in a single calendar year (or 125,000 points for cardholders) and a companion flies for free for the rest of that year and the entire following calendar year, paying only the taxes on the flight. The fact that this buy-one-get-one coupon can be used repeatedly makes if highly valuable for anyone who will primarily fly with a companion. In my own case, I’ve found that even in cases where Southwest is more expensive than competitors, the companion pass has meant that Southwest is a better deal for me.
I refer to the pass as a coupon intentionally because that’s how it functions. If you always travel as a pair, you can think of the companion pass as a repeatable coupon good for 50% off. It is important to make the distinction between it being that type of coupon versus being an instrument that makes points more valuable. A common misconception is that points are “worth double” if you have the Southwest Companion Pass. That’s simply not true. Here’s an explanation that I recently gave someone:
Imagine a passenger named Ryan, who doesn’t have a companion pass, and a passenger named Shane, who does have a companion pass.
Ryan doesn’t have a companion pass. Ryan wants to book a flight for 2 passengers that costs 10,000 points or $100 for 1 passenger. Ryan has two options:
- Use $200 to buy tickets for two passengers
or - Use 20,000 points to buy tickets for two passengers.
Using 20,000 points keeps $200 in Ryan’s pocket. Points are worth $0.01 per point in this example.
Shane has a companion pass. Shane wants to book a flight that costs 10,000 points or $100 for 1 passenger. ***Shane’s choice is different because Shane the Companion Pass essentially provides Shane with a Buy One, Get One coupon***. Shane has two options:
- Use 10,000 points to buy tickets for two passengers
or - Use $100 to buy tickets for two passengers
Using 10,000 points keeps $100 in Shane’s pocket. Points are worth $0.01 per point in this example. Using 10,000 points doesn’t keep $200 in Shane’s pocket because Shane wouldn’t have needed to spend $200 for those tickets. Shane’s cash option was to use $100. If Shane had zero points, Shane wouldn’t have to spend $200, Shane would have to spend $100.
The Companion Pass is a great coupon, but it doesn’t increase the value of the points any more than it increases the balance of your bank account, it just decreases the cost of 2 passengers. If you have $500,000 in the bank, you don’t become a millionaire with the Companion Pass, you just get the chance to pay less for your flights, whether with cash or with points.
To be clear, this isn’t a knock on the Companion Pass. In the example above, Shane gets to use half the points or half the cash that Ryan does. That’s an great deal whether Shane is using points or cash.
The changes stink, but probably won’t change my habits
The bottom line for me is that Southwest will likely continue to be my go-to airline for domestic travel as long as they continue to fly a consistent product, offer a checked bag for credit card holders, and maintain the Companion Pass in its current form.
We won’t be as enthusiastic about Southwest as we once were. And I won’t necessarily recommend Southwest to friends or family since there won’t be any benefit to choosing Southwest for those who aren’t particularly savvy to the types of things we do to travel more for less. Since they won’t get free checked bags, flight credits that won’t expire if plans change, and family boarding, there isn’t a reason for infrequent travelers to pick Southwest over American, United, Delta, etc.
However, thanks to the broader techniques we use to make travel more affordable, the coming changes won’t be as bad for us as they look. And despite never having transferred a point to Southwest in the past, I could now imagine transferring to Southwest for the better cancellation situation if I didn’t have enough points for an award and didn’t want to risk being stuck with an expiring travel credit.
If and when Southwest starts flying other plane models, reduces the value of the companion pass, or brings costs far enough out of line with competitors to make them more expensive even after considering the companion pass, our loyalty may change quickly. After all, I would rather collect an airline currency that I can use for outsized value with partners and/or earn elite status that will extend my benefits to numerous partner airlines the way I could with American, United, or Alaska. But between the Companion Pass and consistency of product and our ability to maintain similar benefits through credit cards, we don’t yet have enough reason to switch loyalty. Here’s hoping Southwest doesn’t push us the rest of the way.
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As long as there will be a way to extend the flight credits easily by booking a new flight and canceling, I won’t be upset by these changes. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.
I need to use up my Amex Platinum flight credits. So as long as you cancel a SW flight before their D-Day (end of May) you’ll get flight credit with no expiration?
They nuked earning rates on paid flights from 6X down to 2X.
They require a credit card to have 1X free bag (same as everyone else) vs. before you got 2X for free with no requirement to hold the credit card.
Points are now worth less cpp on average (1.1 vs. 1.4).
Flight credits now expire after a year, whereas they previously didn’t have an expiration.
At the end of the day, if Southwest’s route network and flight schedule works for you, sure, go ahead and fly them. But they are worse than the big three now.
Former 17 yr Southwest employee though my wife entered her 22nd yr for Southwest. Not the airline it once was. Very toxic work environments all over in all the work groups and Southwest Leadership does nothing about it. They encourage hostility plus never follow up with Employees and Customers.
Terrible Leadership put Southwest in this predicament
The argument about whether the companion pass doubles the value of your points is one that mostly appeals to hopeless pedants. Since I myself am a hopeless pedant, here’s my analysis.
In the simplest analysis, Nick is correct. Ryan (not his real name) and Shane (not anybody’s real name) can each exchange their points for a penny a piece and therefore they have the same value.
However, you’re failing to consider several laws of physics here as well as one of economics.
Imagine passless Ryan with 10,000 points to his pseudonym intending to buy those two $100 seats tomorrow. That’s $200 of value to current-Ryan. If, overnight, Ryan were to obtain a companion pass, then future-Ryan would get $200 worth of value from 10,000 points AS MEASURED BY current-Ryan. So we can see:
1. The way in which the pass affects the value of the points depends on the observer. For Shane the points are worth a penny each but to current-Ryan they’re worth two cents each with the pass.
2. The act of acquiring the pass, somewhat perversely, LOWERS the value of the points. For current-Ryan the pass would make his points worth two cents each, but as soon as he acquires the pass the points drop in value to one cent!
Also, it’s probably a flaw to calculate the value of the points in terms of currency when what’s actually being “traded” here is airfare. What’s really happening is that the companion pass is doubling the value of your points AND ALSO YOUR DOLLARS when measured against “flight value”.
We all instinctively know what “flight value” means — it’s the numerator of the equation value / miles we use to calculate CPP and that Frequent Miler uses to calculate RRV. Without it miles become worthless because (using Nick’s companion pass logic) once you have the miles you don’t cash to purchase the ticket.
Does that sound illogical? What’s illogical is the notion that the simple acquisition of the pass turns $200 “worth” if travel into only $100. We all know those are still $200 tickets valued in “flight dollars” rather than “dollar dollars”. If tickets were freely resellable you could unload them for a hair under $200 (or potentially much more as the flight approaches).
So the correct way (or, at least, A correct way) of looking at the companion pass is that it allows you to obtain $200 flight-dollars worth of travel for $100 of cash or 10,000 points, thus doubling the value of both the points and the cash.
This reminds me of WestJet ( bear with me ). Prior to 2020 WestJet dollars ( their points currency ) could buy you “ member exclusive fares “. These fares were $125 for all one way domestic tickets plus taxes and fees. This could save hundreds of dollars off the published cash fare. Because WestJet dollars could be bought in points.com for $1 each the bloggers only valued WestJet dollars at $1 each even though member exclusive fares unlocked outsized value.
By 2020 WestJet member exclusive fares disappeared and a one way YYZ – YVR now costs > $300 WestJet dollars ( WSD ) plus taxes and fees instead of $125. What’s more Points.com still sold WSD but for $2 per WSD. So before WSD are worth $1 each because you could purchase them at that price. After a massive devaluation bloggers still value them at $1 each since they buy exactly $1 of flight. So weird.
Well thought out analysis. I like it!
For me, the changes at SW put it back into play for my short hops. I prefer assigned seats. While I prefer a domestic first class type seat, I’ll take an extra leg room seat. For long-tenured SW flyers, the changes might not be welcome. But, I’ll take them as a whole.
We referred 4 relatives to open credit cards so we could get enough points for the companion pass last year and were surprised to receive a 1099 this year for $800, their value for the 80k bonus points. So our tax bill was unexpectedly higher. It was still worth 23 months of a free companion, and the use of the 80k extra points, but a surprise for us.
If bonuses from a given card issuer (not associated with your own spending) add up to $600 or more per year, you will receive a 1099 from that card issuer.
As Lee indicates, referral bonuses in excess of $600 generate a 1099 from all issuers. The good news is that you’ll get even more than $800 in value out of the points, so the value you get there + the value of the companion pass far exceed the amount it costs in taxes even if you’re at the top bracket.
I do think it is odd to pay tax on what is essentially monopoly money that any loyalty program would surely tell you has no cash value and belongs to the airline / can be zeroed our by the loyalty program at any time. But c’est la vie.
Southwest is not any different than any other airline now.
I hope their stock totally tanks and Elliot Management loses their shirts!
I, too, have flown SW far more than any other airline and have had at least one companion pass for probably 15 years. I am very, very unhappy about the changes to the boarding process/seating. People say they hate the “cattle call” but to me getting in an ORDERLY line is far preferrable to everyone rushing the gate for various “groups” on United, American, etc. In all my years of travelling with SW, including with 3 kids and now just my husband and I, we have never, not one time, been separated and we don’t purchase Early Bird priority. Even once when my husband and I got C numbers, we still found 2 seats together. I use my 4 free upgrades from the credit card to get a better position sometimes, but once those are gone I have never paid for an upgrade. And even if we did get separated, who cares? We are 2 adults that are perfectly capable of being alone for a few hours. I don’t get why people have such anxiety over the thought of being separated unless you have small kids, and then you are guaranteed boarding after A group. What really is going to make me unhappy is the roll-out to extra leg room. Southwest planes have more legroom than the other US carriers, which is also a reason we consistently fly them. Now they are adjusting the seats to reduce the legroom for most so they can add legroom for the few. And those seats are not going to be cheap and I bet it won’t be refundable if you cancel the flight. EB is not refundable, why would these seat fees be refundable. And from what I’m seeing, they are going to charge more for “preferred seats” near the front, too, that offer no extra legroom. I cannot say right now that I will abandon SW because the companion pass is still awesome, but I remain cautious and am pretty confident that the companion pass will be going away very soon, too. And then I really will be out.
Re: “I don’t get why people have such anxiety over . . .” – the thing about anxiety is that one typically doesn’t choose to be anxious. It’s a negative feeling, so most people would be happy to never have it. As a point of comparison, I don’t know why some people don’t like tomatoes. They’re delicious! It doesn’t make sense to me. But yet I can understand that different people feel things differently. One doesn’t need to share the feeling to be empathetic about it.
All that said, I agree that I prefer the Southwest boarding process and think people look down on it senselessly in comparison to the way other gates look. And I don’t like the idea of paying more for seats either, though my wife prefers to sit at the back anyway, so I guess I’ll be in luck there!
There are tricks to perpetually extend flight credits with the legacies. Do we know that won’t be possible with SW?

How much did SW pay you to post this nonsense? They are gutted now. It’s a dead airline. They removed everything that made them unique.
Southwest has a low PITA Factor which to me is similar to the “Joy of Free (TM)” that Nick and Greg talk about with awards. It’s freedom from hassle.
The PITA Factor is about to skyrocket
In regards to your conclusion, I have come to the same one.
I have already lost my Southwest enthusiasm, and do not see talking about Southwest like I once have done.
Gor family travel, we have already booked 3 Delta flights that I am sure we otherwise would have booked Southwest, even if it meant a short drive.
Going forward, we have decided to play it by ear through the end of 2026 when our current companion pass expires.
I have held A-List for as long as I can remember, but have no idea what that looks like for 2026.
I wish everyone good luck with the future Southwest endeavors!
it definitely feels like our family has lost a long trusted travel companion.
Morning Nick!
in regards to companion pass, I learned early in life that a penny saved is a penny earned.
May thought is that, if two couples have $100K in the bank set aside for necessary flights this year, one ends up with a depleted bank account, the other ends up with $50K still.
Do you not consider that making either you dollar, or point twice as valuable?
Obviously, the companion pass do not make money magically appear, but all factors being equal, it does save you exactly half of what you would have spent.
I definitely see the argument for making the value double, or maybe a better way to look at it is making the cost half.
For me, that equals the exact same amount.
My family has enjoyed companion pass since 2013, and it has definitely encouraged us to go more than we may have otherwise.
Exactly! Whatever amount you have set aside for travel, it’s going to last twice as long with the CP.