Southwest seat tracking
34% View from the Wing
21% FrequentMiler
45% Other
Southwest’s shift to assigned seating means passengers can now choose their exact seat when they book, a change that took effect for travel beginning January 27, 2026 FrequentMiler +4
Assigned Seating and Seat Selection
- Seat selection became available at the time of booking starting July 29, 2025 for flights departing on or after January 27, 2026
- The airline introduced three seat categories: Standard, Preferred, and Extra Legroom, each tied to fare type, elite status, or credit‑card benefits 🔗
- Boarding groups are now numbered 1 through 8, and passengers on the same reservation board together automatically🔗
Seat Tracking and Data Use
- Southwest’s updated privacy policy notes that the carrier collects “historical seating data,” which can be used to influence which seat offers and fares are shown to individual customers
- This data may enable dynamic pricing, such as raising the price of a frequently purchased extra‑legroom seat for a particular traveler 🔗
- The policy also mentions that seat‑related behavior can be combined with other profile information for personalized marketing and pricing decisions🔗
The Bulkhead Seat 13%
Southwest Ends Open Seating: Assigned Seats and New Boarding Groups Begin Tomorrow
More than 50 years after it pioneered open seating, Southwest Airlines will officially retire the free-for-all boarding process that became one of its most distinctive traits. Beginning Tuesday, January 27th, every Southwest flight will depart with assigned seating (ending the tradition of picking any open seat after boarding). The shift brings Southwest in line with most major US carriers and introduces a new fare-based seat selection system (along with a full overhaul of the boarding experience). Passengers booking flights departing on or after January 27th have already been able to select seats since July 2025. With assigned seating, passengers
Live and Let's Fly 9%
The End Of An Era: Southwest Ends Open Seating, Launches New Boarding Process
After more than 50 years of the most distinctive boarding process in U.S. aviation, Southwest Airlines is finally ending open seating and rolling out assigned seats and a new boarding structure that looks nothing like the airline most of us grew up flying with. Today marks the end of an era. Southwest Airlines has officially retired its iconic open seating policy, the 50+ year tradition where passengers rushed to check in exactly 24 hours before departure to obtain a preferential boarding number, queued by A, B, or C groups, and then chose any seat on the aircraft. Instead,
ATXJetsetter 12%
Southwest Unveils Details Around Assigned Seating and Boarding Groups
While we’ve known that the airline has planned to add assigned seating for quite some time, Southwest Airlines has officially announced the rollout date and what passengers can expect when stepping on board. For the first time in company history, Southwest will begin assigned seating on all of its flights as of January 27, 2026. Customers will have the option to select their seat at the time of booking starting July 29, 2025 for flights operated on January 27th and beyond. This is the final, major, overhaul for the Dallas based carrier since an activist investor took a
Travel Points Playbook 7%
Southwest Assigned Seating at Time of Booking Starts Next Week: What You Need to Know
We’ve known for some time that Southwest was moving to assigned seats, what those seating options will look like, and what access to these seats elite members and credit card holders will have. What we didn’t know is when those flights would start selling and flying – now we do. Starting July 29th, assigned seating options will be available for travel January 27th, 2026 and beyond. It is also safe to assume that Southwest will further open their schedule on 7/29 as you can only book flights out to 1/26 currently. I would expect the new schedule will cover
One Mile at a Time 2%
End Of An Era: Southwest Airlines Assigned & Premium Seating Now Live
Southwest Airlines is in the process of transforming its business model, under financial pressure from activist investors. The airline is changing just about everything, and has started charging for checked bags, adding basic economy, expiring travel credits, and more. In July 2024, Southwest announced plans to introduce assigned and premium seating on flights, ending the carrier’s decades-old policy of having open seating. This feature has now been implemented for flights as of early 2026, so we have our first look at what pricing will be like… In this post: Southwest Airlines is introducing both assigned seating and
View from the Wing 34%
Southwest Quietly Expanded Its Privacy Policy — Now Customers Fear Dynamic Pricing And Biometric Tracking
A genuine pet peeve of mine is companies changing their privacy policies or terms and conditions, sending out a notice e-mail that they’ve done so, but not saying in the e-mail what actually changed. When companies send emails that they're changing their terms and conditions or privacy policy they should tell you what they changed. https://t.co/N5d1RFEcVD — gary leff (@garyleff) March 30, 2026 They do this because they don’t want you to know and figure you’ll just delete the message. And most people will! But it’s rude, and it also leads to rampant speculation and
PYOK 2%
Southwest’s Iconic Open Seating Policy Blamed In Viral Assault Lawsuit
A Southwest Airlines passenger who was subjected to a violent assault onboard one of the carrier’s planes at New York LaGuardia Airport in June blames Southwest’s iconic open seating policy for the viral melee that attracted worldwide attention. Livia Rombola from Kansas says she has suffered severe emotional distress and continued psychological injury as a result of the incident going viral on social media, a lawsuit filed in a New York Supreme Court alleges. Livia had already boarded Southwest Airlines flight WN-779 to Kansas City on June 16, 2025, and had taken a seat close to the rear
FrequentMiler 21%
Southwest assigned seating is coming soon; how it & boarding groups will work
We’ve known for about a year that Southwest will be moving to an assigned seating model, but up until now we didn’t know exactly when that would be starting, nor what kind of seating benefits Southwest credit cardholders would receive. Southwest finally made an announcement yesterday sharing more details about when this will all come into play, how it will all work, how many boarding groups there’ll be and more. Assigned seating will be used for all flights booked from July 29, 2025 for travel starting from January 27, 2026. Southwest’s flight schedule is currently only bookable through