It’s quite the transformative day at Southwest, as the airline seems hell-bent on changing everything that makes it unique. I’ve already covered how Southwest will start charging for checked bags, will start expiring flight credits, and will devalue Rapid Rewards points. That’s not all that’s changing, as Southwest is also introducing basic economy fares.
Southwest rolling out Basic fares as of May 2025
Southwest has announced plans to introduce a new basic economy fare, simply branded as Basic. This will replace Wanna Get Away fares, and will apply for tickets purchased as of May 28, 2025. So in reality, this represents a rebranding with some new restrictions.
The airline views this as aligning with all the other changes being made, and this will also be rolled out in advance of offering assigned seating and extra legroom seating options.
Below is a chart showing Southwest’s new fare types, including the new Basic fares.
As you can see, Basic fares will still allow flight credits for cancelations, but flight credits on Basic fares will only be valid for six months, rather than for 12 months, as is the case on other fares.
Furthermore, with Southwest soon introducing assigned seating, the expectation is that Basic fares won’t offer seat assignments in advance. Southwest recently massively cut points earning on its cheapest Wanna Get Away fares (which will soon be Basic fares), and in a way, that almost seemed like a “soft” way to introduce basic economy. These fares had points earning cut by two-thirds, going from earning 6x points to earning 2x points.
The fares aren’t particularly punitive, frankly, as far as basic economy goes. For example, it appears that full size carry-ons will still be allowed on these fares. If anything, it almost seems like the goal of the rebranding is to make these fares sound less appealing, in hopes of getting people to buy up to more expensive fares.
I guess at this point basic economy makes sense?
Look, Southwest is no longer Southwest. Literally everything is changing. It’s more like AmericanFrontier. The company’s corporate culture is dead. Staff morale is low. The company is telling its loyal customers to essentially pound sand, and to get used to a new airline.
So if you’re going to change everything else, introduce assigned seating, cut points earning on cheap fares, start having vouchers expire, etc., then I suppose basic economy fits into that as well.
I’ve gotta say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of the most successful, long standing companies in an industry completely take an axe to everything that makes it unique, to align with competitors. Ever. What a thing to witness.
As we see all this, I can’t help but wonder what’s going through the head of Southwest CEO Bob Jordan. Is he this desperate to keep his job that he’ll watch literally anything change, is he actually drinking the Kool-Aid, or…? He’s putting out statements about how great these changes are going to be, so one certainly wonders…
Bottom line
For tickets purchased as of May 28, 2025, Southwest will be introducing new Basic fares. These fares will replace Wanna Get Away fares, and will some with seating restrictions, limited validity on vouchers, and reduced points earning.
Southwest is changing basically everything about its business model, so in that sense, this is hardly the most surprising change. I’m fascinated to see how Southwest’s financial situation evolves over the coming years, because we’ve never seen anything like this before.
What do you make of Southwest introducing basic economy?
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