{"id":115315,"date":"2023-07-09T23:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T23:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=115315"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:46:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:46:56","slug":"fee-changes-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/southwest-rapid-rewards\/fee-changes-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Airlines To Raise Some Fees Starting August 15th"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Southwest Airlines is known for its low fees and flexible policies. However, <strong>starting August 15, 2023<\/strong>, some of that is changing, with multiple fees being raised. It's not all bad news, and these may not affect the majority of passengers, but it's worth knowing before your next trip.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Southwest_Airlines_Fees_Changing_August_15_2023\">Southwest Airlines Fees Changing August 15, 2023<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Here are the new fees travelers will pay:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Overweight bags:<\/strong> It was previously $75 for bags over 50 pounds and up to 100 pounds. Now, Southwest will charge $100 for bags 51\u201370 pounds and $125 for bags weighing 71\u2013100 pounds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oversized and excess (3+) bags: <\/strong>This charge is changing from $75 to $125 per bag.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pet fare:<\/strong> This charge is increasing from $95 to $125. However, inter-island Hawaii prices are not changing from their standard fee of $35 each way.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unaccompanied minor: <\/strong>This charge is changing from $50 to $100 each way for each unaccompanied minor. This fee applies to children ages 5\u201311 traveling alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><img data-aspectratio=\"600\/400\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-90122 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/190214LAS_stock-WEB048-1200x800-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Southwest airlines plane taxiing the runway in front of a snow-covered mountain\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/190214LAS_stock-WEB048-1200x800-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/190214LAS_stock-WEB048-1200x800-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/190214LAS_stock-WEB048-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/190214LAS_stock-WEB048-1200x800-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>Southwest has updated the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.southwest.com\/html\/customer-service\/travel-fees.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Optional Travel Charges<\/a> list on its website to include the changes that will be taking place. Full details and descriptions of these charges are available there.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Unchanged_Fees\">Unchanged Fees<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Thankfully, some of the most popular Southwest offerings are not changing. This includes things like two free checked bags, no change fees, no cancellation fees, and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/southwest-rapid-rewards\/flight-credit-expiration\/\" rel=\"noopener\">flight credits not expiring<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Further, Southwest doesn't charge for seat selection. This is because the airline doesn't assign seats ahead of time. Instead, you'll receive a boarding group when you check in. Then, you'll board when your group is called and choose an available seat anywhere on the plane.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Reasons_To_Love_Southwest\">Reasons To Love Southwest<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The aforementioned fee-free perks are just a few of the reasons that we think Southwest is a great value for travelers. Free bags, free changes, free cancellations&#8230; what's not to love? Another thing we love is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/southwest-rapid-rewards\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Southwest's Companion Pass<\/a>. It's unmatched by any other airline. Essentially, once you've earned the Pass, you will receive &#8220;buy one, get one free&#8221; flights for the entirety of the year you earned it, plus the following year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/southwest-rapid-rewards\/how-to-earn-southwest-companion-pass\/\" rel=\"noopener\">The Ultimate Guide to Earning a Southwest Companion Pass<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Wrapping_Up\">Wrapping Up<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As we mentioned above, there will be changes to a few Southwest fees in just over a month. However, these are minor compared to the fee-free perks that are included with all Southwest tickets. Bottom line: These fees won't be changing anything about how we fly. However, they will affect a few travelers, and knowledge is power.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/southwest-rapid-rewards\/\" rel=\"noopener\">A Complete Guide to Southwest Rapid Rewards<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"ftoc\"><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Southwest_Airlines_Fees_Changing_August_15_2023\">Southwest Airlines Fees Changing August 15, 2023<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Unchanged_Fees\">Unchanged Fees<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Reasons_To_Love_Southwest\">Reasons To Love Southwest<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Wrapping_Up\">Wrapping Up<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southwest is known for its fee-free tickets, however, they do charge for things like excess bags, overweight bags, and unaccompanied minors. Coming in August, these fees are being raised. This article tells you what you need to know about the fee changes (plus what&#8217;s not changing), so you can be an informed traveler.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":97162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[12627,12674],"coauthors":[36392],"class_list":["post-115315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fees-rules-and-policies","tag-southwest-airlines"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115315"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255901,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115315\/revisions\/255901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115315"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=115315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}