Southwest Baggage Fees 2026: $45/$55 by Fare, Who Still Flies Bags Free (Table)

Before you pay, check the free-bag list below (fare, status, credit card, military); you can pay online from 24 hours before departure.

How much does each Southwest fare pay for bags?

Bag fees depend on the fare you buy: Basic, Choice and Choice Preferred pay the same $45 and $55, and Choice Extra includes two checked bags. Every fare includes a carry-on and a personal item.

Source: Southwest Optional Travel Charges, "For U.S. Mainland travel", current fees, read 3 November 2026. Fees are one way.

Southwest's fare terms put it in one line: "Bag fees apply to Basic, Choice, and Choice Preferred fares. Choice Extra fares and Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred Members receive two free checked bags."

Older fare names. An older confirmation may show the fare names Southwest used before. Its fare guide for travel agents still files the four fares under codes that match the old names: Basic is WGA (Wanna Get Away), Choice is PLU (Wanna Get Away Plus), Choice Preferred is ANY (Anytime) and Choice Extra is BUS (Business Select). Southwest's 2025 bag rules gave Business Select two free bags, as Choice Extra gets today.

I bought my ticket before 9 April 2026: which fee do I pay?

Southwest's fee page now lists one set of fees, $45 and $55, with no ticket-date split. Until at least 26 October 2026 it also showed $35 and $45 for tickets booked and ticketed before 9 April 2026, and applied the new fees to tickets "booked and ticketed and/or changed on or after April 9, 2026" (Wayback Machine capture). If you hold a ticket bought before 9 April 2026, check the bag price in your reservation before you pay.

Delta charges the same amounts: Delta's checked-bag prices within the US also rose to $45 and $55, for tickets bought from 8 April 2026.

Who still flies bags free on Southwest?

Choice Extra passengers, A-List Preferred members, active-duty military and Getaways by Southwest vacation customers check two bags free; A-List members and primary Rapid Rewards credit cardmembers get the first bag free.

Source: Southwest Optional Travel Charges and footnotes 2, 5 and 11; Help Center cardmember article; read 3 November 2026.

Conditions that trip people up:

• Cardmembers: the primary cardmember must be on the reservation and add their Rapid Rewards number when booking. Authorized users and employee cards of business cards get no bag benefit, and Southwest says to "allow up to 14 days" after opening the card for the status to show. The account must be open and not in default.
• Military: active-duty customers "must have their current, valid military ID to receive the exemption."
• No stacking: a cardmember who is already A-List or holds a free-bag fare gets the tier or fare benefit instead. The first bag is never free twice.
• Partner flights: "Checked bag benefits do not apply on flights booked with a partner carrier." On a partner itinerary, the partner's baggage policy and fees apply to the whole trip.
• Extra charges still apply: free bags cover standard bags only; overweight, oversize and extra-bag charges are paid on top.

What changes on 1 January 2027. Southwest is renaming its tiers: "A-List Members become Silver Members" and "A-List Preferred Members become Gold Members". A new top tier, Platinum, gets three free checked bags; Gold keeps two and Silver keeps the first bag free. "Existing Companion Pass holders keep all benefits for their full term". The cardmember first-bag benefit stays, according to Southwest's Rapid Rewards 2027 page.

How much are overweight, oversized and extra bags?

A standard checked bag can weigh up to 50 lb and measure up to 62 in (length + width + height, wheels and handles included). Beyond that, Southwest adds a charge on top of the normal bag fee.

Source: Southwest Optional Travel Charges, Additional Fees tables and footnotes 3 and 13, read 3 November 2026. The mainland table carries the heading "For U.S. Mainland travel"; Southwest does not publish a separate international table on that page.

• Charges stack across categories: an extra bag that is also overweight pays the extra-bag fee plus the overweight fee, so a third bag of 55 lb costs $150 + $100.
• Not across size and weight: a bag that is both oversized and overweight pays a single $200 charge, "regardless of the weight as long as it does not exceed 100 lbs."
• Limit: 20 checked pieces per passenger per flight.
• Sports equipment and musical instruments: standard bag fees apply and the oversize charge is waived (sports equipment up to 115 in, instruments up to 150 in), but the overweight fees still apply.

What a trip costs: worked examples

The arithmetic below uses only the tables above, for tickets bought on or after 9 April 2026.

In the last three rows, repacking the heavy bag to 50 lb saves $200 on the round trip. Before you pay for Choice Extra to save bag fees, compare its fare with Choice plus $45 to $100 in bags per direction.

What are Southwest's Hawaii interisland bag fees?

On flights that start and end in Hawaii, residents check two bags free and non-residents pay $30 for the first bag, $40 for the second and $50 for the third. These prices apply only when the "flight must originate and conclude within Hawaii".

Source: Southwest Optional Travel Charges, "For interisland Hawaii travel", current fees, read 3 November 2026. For when non-residents paid $15 and $20, see the change log below.

To get the resident rate, add your Rapid Rewards number when booking. Southwest bases residency on the primary mailing address in that account, which "must be a valid United States Postal Hawaii mailing address (P.O. Boxes are not permitted)." Surfboards count within the two free bags. Flights between the mainland and Hawaii are not interisland flights; Southwest's fee page has no separate table for them, so check the bag price in your reservation.

What can I carry on Southwest for free?

Every passenger can bring one carry-on bag and one personal item at no charge, on every fare. Southwest's Help Center sets the carry-on limit at "24” (length) × 16” (width) × 10” (height)", and "Wheels, handles, and any attachments count toward these dimensions."

• Carry-on bag: goes in the overhead bin, for example a roller bag or small suitcase.
• Personal item: goes under the seat in front of you, for example a purse or crossbody bag, briefcase, laptop case, backpack, blanket or small camera. Southwest gives examples and no measurements.
• Does not count: a neck pillow does not count toward the limit. A pet carrier counts as your carry-on or your personal item.
• No weight limit is listed on Southwest's carry-on page, only the dimensions; the 22 lb figure on some sites is not Southwest's.

Other airlines set firmer limits; our table of personal-item limits at 20 airlines compares them.

If the bins fill up, gate agents check carry-ons to the hold; you collect them at baggage claim at your final destination (strollers and assistive devices come back at the jet bridge).

Since assigned seating began on 27 January 2026, Southwest bases boarding on the fare, status, seat type and cabin location: Choice Extra boards in Group 1, Choice Preferred in Groups 3–4, and Basic is "Last to board". A-List Preferred members board before Group 1, A-List members in Group 1 and cardmembers no later than Group 5.

Southwest does not say whose bags get gate-checked, but since Basic boards last, a Basic passenger is the most likely to find the bins full (our inference); keep medicine, valuables and batteries in the personal item. Before a bag goes into the hold you must take out e-cigarettes, power banks, smart-bag batteries, spare batteries and lighters, and Southwest recommends removing medication and keys too.

When and how do I check and pay for bags?

You can check bags and pay online from 24 hours before departure, or at a self-tagging kiosk or ticket counter at the airport. At the airport, Southwest will not accept a checked bag more than 4 hours before the original scheduled departure.

• Domestic deadline: bags checked less than 45 minutes before departure may not be accepted (90 minutes at St. Thomas). If a late bag misses your flight, Southwest does not pay to deliver it.
• International deadline: check bags at the ticket counter at least 60 minutes before departure (75 minutes at Aruba). Arriving in the US with a connection, you collect your bags, clear customs and check them again, unless you flew from the preclearance airports Aruba or Nassau.
• International fees: Southwest's fee page shows only a table headed "For U.S. Mainland travel" and one for Hawaii interisland flights, and its international baggage article lists deadlines and embargoes but no separate fee. We could not confirm on Southwest's pages that Mexico, Caribbean and Central America flights cost the same $45 / $55, so check the bag price in your reservation.
• Payment: online by credit card, PayPal or Apple Pay; at the airport only with a physical credit card. Southwest does not take tap-to-pay or mobile payment for airport bag fees.
• Embargoes: Cuba (Havana) accepts no more than two bags, none over 62 in or 50 lb, all year. Nassau, Belize City, Montego Bay and San José (Costa Rica) limit you to two bags and refuse bags over 62 in between 15 November and 15 January; Montego Bay also from 15 August to 15 September.

How have Southwest's bag rules changed?

Southwest ended "Bags Fly Free" in May 2025 and raised its fees again in April 2026. These are the bag changes we found in Southwest's own pages and filings.

The live fee page stopped showing the old schedule between 26 October and 3 November 2026; the amounts before 9 April 2026 come from the archived copy.

Southwest's quarterly report for April to June 2026 links the higher ancillary revenue to "bag fees for most fare products beginning May 28, 2025". When the fees started, Southwest's press document said it had prepared for "a forecasted increase in lobby transaction times and gate-checked bags".

What do other pages get wrong about Southwest bags?

Several pages that rank for Southwest bag fees mix the 2025 and 2026 rules. We checked each claim against Southwest's pages on 3 November 2026.

Lost, delayed or damaged bags: Southwest's deadlines and your rights

Southwest's domestic reporting windows are short: report a lost or delayed bag no later than 4 hours after the flight arrives, and damage no later than 24 hours, in person at the Baggage Service Office. Southwest's Contract of Carriage says it "will not consider a claim" otherwise.

Sources: Southwest Help Center, "My baggage is missing, delayed, or damaged"; Contract of Carriage section 7.g, read 3 November 2026.

If a bag is still missing after five days, you file the claim on Southwest's Baggage Claim Web Portal with your incident number. For a lost bag, the contract also asks for a Property Loss Claim form within 30 days of the date Southwest issues it.

• Bag fee back: under federal rules (14 CFR 260.5) Southwest must refund the bag fee for a lost bag or one delivered more than 12 hours after a domestic arrival, once you have filed a mishandled baggage report. Southwest's contract also refunds excess, oversize and overweight charges when a bag is 12 or more hours late. The wider rules are in our page on airline refunds under US law.
• How much Southwest pays: outside international trips (which follow the Montreal or Warsaw Convention, contract section 8), the contract caps liability at $4,700 per fare-paying passenger "pursuant to 14 CFR § 254.4", and only for the proven loss, valued at "original purchase price less depreciation". You can declare up to $1,250 of extra value at check-in for $1 per $100, a maximum of $5,950.
• What Southwest excludes: on domestic trips, normal wear and tear (scratches, scuffs, dents, stains), manufacturer defects and overstuffed bags.

Our guide on how US lost-luggage compensation works explains the claim steps for any airline.

How to reach Southwest through official channels

Use only Southwest's own website and app. Search ads and look-alike pages that promise "Southwest baggage help" are a common route to fake airline support numbers; we never publish phone numbers and are not connected with Southwest.

• Fees for your trip: Southwest's Optional Travel Charges page and the bag step after online check-in.
• Bag size and weight rules: Southwest's checked bag policy and carry-on policy.
• Missing, delayed or damaged bags: Southwest's baggage report page, which links the online report and the claim portal.
• Partner itineraries: Southwest's partner baggage page.

Common questions about Southwest baggage

Is Southwest's first checked bag still free?

Only for some passengers. Choice Extra, A-List Preferred, A-List, active-duty military, Getaways vacation bookings and primary Rapid Rewards cardmembers (with up to eight people on their reservation) check the first bag free. Everyone else pays $45 on tickets bought since 9 April 2026.

Does Southwest charge for carry-on bags?

No. Every fare, Basic included, includes one carry-on up to 24 × 16 × 10 in and one personal item. If the bins are full, gate agents may check your carry-on to the hold, and you collect it at baggage claim. Southwest publishes no dimensions for the personal item: it must fit under the seat in front of you, and the 16.25 × 13.5 × 8 in figure on some sites is not on Southwest's current carry-on page.

How many free bags do I get with a Southwest credit card?

One: the first checked bag, for the primary cardmember and up to eight passengers on the same reservation. The second bag costs $55 on tickets bought since 9 April 2026. Authorized users flying without the primary cardmember get no free bag.

Does Southwest charge for bags on international flights?

Southwest's fee page lists no separate international fee. It has one table, headed "For U.S. Mainland travel", besides the Hawaii interisland table, and its international baggage article covers deadlines, embargoes, customs re-checks and liability, not fees. We could not confirm the price for Mexico or Caribbean flights on Southwest's pages, so check it in your reservation before you pay.

Are Southwest bag fees per flight or per trip?

Per direction. Southwest states that its fees "are represented for one-way travel", so a round trip pays the fee twice: $90 for one bag at $45 each way. Southwest's pages do not say whether a connection in the same direction is charged again.

What is Southwest's checked bag weight limit?

50 lb per bag at the standard fee. A bag of 51 to 70 lb costs $100 extra, 71 to 100 lb $200 extra, each way (on Hawaii interisland flights $35 and $70). Southwest's fee table stops at 100 lb (165 lb for musical instruments).