The airline famous for its “Bags Fly Free” policy will start charging $45 for your first checked bag and $55 for your second.
Southwest Airlines announced that its fees will increase from $35 to $45 for the first bag, and from $45 to $55 for the second bag, starting April 9. Crucially, that includes any flights that are voluntarily changed after April 9. So if you need to rebook a Southwest fare and want to save that $10, do it now!
Quietly, Southwest also doubled its checked bag fees for Hawaii inter-island flights to $30 for the first bag and $40 for the second. Bags are still free for Hawaii residents.
Last April, all Southwest passengers received two free checked bags on every flight. It's almost unimaginable that just one year later, that same flight with two free checked bags would cost someone $100 – or $200 roundtrip.
This seismic shift in Southwest's business model started last May, when the airline began charging fees for checked bags after pressure from investors to return to profitability. In addition to saying goodbye to free checked bags, Southwest also added inflexible basic economy fares. Then, earlier this year, Southwest introduced assigned seating for all, a new boarding process, and extra-legroom seating … available for a fee, of course.
Still want free luggage with Southwest? Here's how you can avoid paying up.
- Travelers who book the priciest Business Select fares will get two free checked bags
- The same goes for flyers with the airline's top-tier A-List Preferred status
- Got one of Southwest's co-branded Chase credit cards? Whether you've got the entry-level Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card or the top-of-the-line Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, you can get your first checked bag free (more on that in a bit)
- With Southwest A-List status, you'll get one free checked bag, too
Southwest isn't the first airline to raise baggage fees … and they certainly won't be the last. JetBlue kicked things off last week, before Delta and United both bumped their fees up by $10 per bag, too.
Jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, climbing from roughly $2.40 per gallon to about $4.70 today, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. Fuel is one of airlines’ biggest expenses, second only to labor.
But while airlines have already raised ticket prices – with United saying some fares were up 15% to 20% – increasing fees is an even more effective lever for airlines to pull for a few reasons:
- Airlines have to pay a 7.5% excise tax on the fares they charge, but not on optional fees like baggage or seat assignments
- Those optional fees make airlines' co-branded credit cards – their real profit engines these days – even more alluring to consumers as a way to escape extra fees
- The last two decades of airlines unbundling fares and charging fees have proven that even when fuel prices decline, elevated fees remain unchanged
While an extra $10 per bag may not seem like much, luggage fees are big business. U.S. airlines collected more than $7.2 billion (with a b) on bag fees alone in 2024, according to federal data.
Bottom Line
After charging nothing for checked bags (for decades), Southwest Airlines announced a checked baggage fee hike – raising the cost of a first checked bag to $45 and a second to $55.
Whereas one year ago, Southwest travelers could get two bags for free, the same itinerary will cost them $200 roundtrip when this fee update goes into effect April 9.
