Are Carry-On Bags Free on Southwest? Checked Bags Are Not

Southwest spent more than fifty years telling flyers that bags fly free, and for the cabin bag that is still true. It is the checked bag that changed, and the change is recent enough that a lot of what circulates online still describes the old policy.

This separates the two. It covers what is genuinely free on every Southwest fare and what now costs money, then when and where you actually check a bag once you know which case applies to you. Every figure below is checked against Southwest’s own fee and policy pages, dated to when each one took effect.

What to check before you fly Southwest

• Your fare type: Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra, since that decides your checked-bag price.
• Your Rapid Rewards tier or Southwest credit card, since A-List, A-List Preferred and cardmember benefits each work differently.
• Whether you are travelling with a stroller, car seat or wheelchair, which check free on any fare.
• A luggage scale, since Southwest weighs and measures separately and rounds against you at the counter.
• Your confirmation number, needed to pay for a bag online before you reach the airport.

Is a carry-on bag free on Southwest?

Yes, on every fare, for every passenger, with no exception tied to Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra. Southwest never charges for the cabin bag or the personal item, and nothing about the May 2025 policy change touched either one.

That puts carry-on outside the fee conversation entirely. The only limits that apply are size and, for the carry-on bag, your own ability to lift it into the bin.

Carry-on bag

One bag, up to 24 x 16 x 10 inches including wheels and handles, fits in the overhead bin. Southwest publishes no weight limit for it, but you must be able to lift it yourself without help from a gate agent.

See what counts as a carry-on if you are unsure whether an item qualifies.

Personal item

One item, up to 18.5 x 13.5 x 8.5 inches, fits under the seat ahead of you. A purse, laptop bag or small backpack all qualify, and it does not count against your carry-on allowance.

Are checked bags free on Southwest anymore?

Mostly, no. Southwest’s decades-old promise of two free checked bags narrowed sharply when a policy change took effect on May 28, 2025. That ended the last blanket free-bag policy among major US airlines.

Under the current rules, only a Choice Extra fare or Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred status gets both bags free. Every other passenger on a Basic, Choice or Choice Preferred fare now pays for each checked bag, at a price that itself changed again less than a year later.

Southwest checked bag fees, before and after April 2026

Fees rose a second time on April 9, 2026, on top of the May 2025 policy change that introduced them. Which bracket applies depends on when the reservation was booked, not when you fly.

Bag	Before April 9, 2026	On or after April 9, 2026
First checked bag	$35	$45
Second checked bag	$45	$55
Third and later bags	$150	$150

The size and weight limits did not move with the price. A standard checked bag is still capped at 62 linear inches (length plus width plus height) and 50 pounds, the same figures most other US carriers use. See checked baggage by airline for how Southwest compares.

Which fares and Rapid Rewards tiers still get a free bag?

Free checked bags survived for a shorter list of passengers than most people expect, and the list splits between one free bag and two.

Fares and status that include two free bags

Only a Choice Extra fare (the renamed Business Select) and Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred elite status include both checked bags at no charge, on Southwest-operated flights.

Everyone who still gets one free bag

A-List members and Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmembers get their first checked bag free, a benefit that also extends to up to eight companions travelling on the same reservation. Active-duty military with a valid ID, and Hawaii residents flying interisland, also check bags free under their own separate rules.

Fare or status	Carry-on + personal item	1st checked bag	2nd checked bag	Notes
Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred	Free	$45 (from Apr 9, 2026)	$55 (from Apr 9, 2026)	Standard passenger rate
Choice Extra	Free	Free	Free	Both bags included
Rapid Rewards A-List	Free	Free	$55	Second bag at standard rate
Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred	Free	Free	Free	Matches Choice Extra
Rapid Rewards Credit Cardmember	Free	Free	$55	Covers cardmember + up to 8 companions
Active-duty military (with ID)	Free	Free	Free	Southwest-operated flights only

When should you check a bag for a Southwest flight?

Earliest, up to four hours before departure at the ticket counter or curbside kiosk where one is available. That window exists mainly for early arrivals, not as a recommendation to cut it close at the other end.

The safer target is 45 minutes before domestic departure. Southwest treats anything checked later than that as a Late Check. It will try to get the bag on your flight but will not cover delivery costs if the bag misses it.

International departures need 60 minutes, and Southwest’s Contract of Carriage sets an absolute floor of 30 minutes before departure, below which a bag can be refused outright.

Note: a bag paid for online in advance still has to physically reach the counter, curb or kiosk by these same cutoffs. Prepaying does not extend the deadline.

Where do you actually check a bag on Southwest?

Three places for a standard suitcase: the ticket counter, curbside check-in where the airport offers it, or a self-service kiosk inside the terminal. All three accept a bag checked online in advance as well as one paid for on the spot.

The boarding gate is not one of them for ordinary luggage. Gate check exists for a narrower list of items, covered next, and a full-size suitcase brought to the gate will be sent back to the ticket counter rather than checked there.

If your carry-on itself will not fit rather than a checked bag, carry-on size by airline covers the gate-valet process most airlines use for that case.

Strollers, car seats and other items that check free regardless of fare

Strollers, car seats and wheelchairs check free on every Southwest fare, in addition to your regular baggage allowance, and none of the fee rules above apply to them.

1. Check the item at the ticket counter or curb, alongside your regular luggage, if you would rather not carry it through security.
2. Bring it all the way to the boarding gate and hand it off there instead, if a child needs it right up to boarding.
3. Expect a limited release of liability on anything gate-checked. It is part of Southwest’s Contract of Carriage, and it means the airline is not responsible for damage the way it is for a bag checked at the counter.
4. Buy a car seat bag at the counter for $17 if you want padding for a checked or gate-checked seat, though it is optional, not required.

What an overweight or oversized bag costs

Weight and size are checked separately, and a bag can pass one and still fail the other. Both failures are charged on top of whatever the base checked-bag fee already is.

Bag condition	Extra fee
51 to 70 pounds	$100
71 to 100 pounds	$200
Oversized, 63 to 80 linear inches	$200
Over 100 pounds or 80 inches	Not accepted

A bag that is both overweight and oversized is charged for each separately, not just the higher of the two figures. If you are flying more than one airline on the same trip, cabin-bag weight limits vary far more than checked-bag ones. Carry-on weight limit by airline covers how they compare.

Your bag was flagged, checked late, or the fee looked wrong

1. Ask which limit it failed. Weight and size are measured separately, so a bag can clear one and still fail the other.
2. Ask for the exact bracket, not just the word “overweight,” since the fee roughly doubles between the 51-70 lb and 71-100 lb tiers.
3. Redistribute into a second bag if you are travelling with someone, since paying for a second bag is often cheaper than one overweight fee.
4. Confirm your fare or status was applied, if you expected a free bag and were charged anyway. A-List, A-List Preferred and cardmember benefits are tied to the Rapid Rewards number on the reservation, not the payment method.
5. Keep your receipt if the bag was checked less than 45 minutes before departure and arrives late, since that is treated as a Late Check rather than a standard delay. Travel insurance worth it covers whether a policy would reimburse a delayed or damaged bag in this situation.
6. Contact Southwest Customer Relations afterward if a fee still looks wrong once you are off the aircraft, rather than disputing it again at a later checkpoint.

Frequently asked questions

In short

Southwest split its old bags-fly-free promise into two different rules. The carry-on bag and the personal item stayed free for everyone, on every fare, with no change at all.

The checked bag did not. Only Choice Extra fares and A-List Preferred members keep both bags free, and everyone else now pays $45 and $55, a price that rose twice in under a year.

Where and when you check a bag stayed simple by comparison. A standard suitcase goes to the counter, the curb or a kiosk, on the same 45-minute clock as any other airline. Strollers, car seats and wheelchairs are the exception, free on any fare and welcome at the gate if that is easier.

Rules change without much notice. If something here no longer matches what you were told at the counter, tell us and we will correct it.

Sources

• Southwest Airlines: Optional Travel Charges
• Southwest Airlines: Checked Baggage Policy
• Southwest Airlines: Fare Information and Rules
• Southwest Airlines: A-List Rapid Rewards Tier
• Southwest Airlines: Cardmember Benefits
• CNBC: Goodbye to “bags fly free” on Southwest Airlines
• Featured photo: Photo by Margo Evardson on Unsplash