Flying Southwest Airlines with Kids: Is It Worth It in 2026?

People either love or hate flying Southwest Airlines with kids. There is no in between. For years I blamed the ridiculous open-seating boarding scramble for that. Well, plot twist: Southwest blew up its own playbook in 2025 and 2026. Assigned seats are here, the “Bags Fly Free” era is over, and the whole anxiety-inducing cattle call I built this post around no longer exists. So the real question isn’t “should you fly Southwest with kids” — it’s “is Southwest still a good airline for families now that it acts a lot more like everyone else?” Mostly, yes. Here’s the honest, updated rundown.

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Quick Verdict: Is Southwest Still Worth It With Kids?

Short version: Southwest is still a solid, family-friendly pick — just not the wildly different, free-everything outlier it used to be. The best reasons to fly it with kids in 2026 are the complimentary family-seating guarantee, no change or cancellation fees, free in-flight entertainment, and genuinely pleasant employees. The things I used to brag about — open seating you could game and free checked bags for everyone — are gone. Read on for what changed and what still earns my money.

• Family seating: Southwest guarantees kids age 12 and under sit next to an adult in your party — for free.
• Seats: Assigned now (no more boarding free-for-all). You pick at booking on most fares.
• Bags: No longer free for everyone — there’s a checked-bag fee, with exceptions (more below).
• Changes/cancellations: Still no fees, but what you get back depends on your fare.
• Entertainment: Free movies, shows, and games via the app; free Wi-Fi for Rapid Rewards members on most flights.

How Does Southwest Airlines Boarding Work Now?

For decades, flying Southwest Airlines meant no assigned seats. You got a place in line — a cattle call reminiscent of the bus area at Disney World — and then sprinted onboard to claim a row. That whole system is dead. For travel on and after January 27, 2026, Southwest switched to assigned seating, and on most fares you choose your seats when you book.

The old A/B/C groups with numbered positions are gone too. Boarding is now organized into numbered Groups 1 through 8, with a Pre-board group for passengers who need extra time (including unaccompanied minors) and Group 1 reserved for top-tier flyers and the priciest seats. The frantic onboard ritual — people slapping a jacket on the middle seat and averting their eyes to scare you off — is officially retired.

Here’s the thing: as a parent, I’m not even mad. The open-seating scramble gave me major anxiety about flying Southwest with kids. I genuinely worried we’d end up with an unaccompanied-minor situation on our hands. After all, who wouldn’t want to sit next to these unsupervised guys and listen to them whisper secrets into each other’s ears at a megaphone-like volume about all things toilet?

The answer, obviously, is everyone except their parents. I used to fantasize about convincing a stranger to swap seats by handing them a bag of sugar and instructions to administer it to my children through an IV at regular intervals. Now I just pick our seats together at booking like a functional adult. The stress was always for nothing — and these days, it’s been engineered out entirely.

1. The Family Seating Guarantee

This is still the single best reason to fly Southwest with kids — it just works differently now. The old perk was “if your kid is six or under, you board after Group A.” With assigned seating, Southwest replaced that with something better: a complimentary family-seating guarantee. The airline commits to seating children age 12 and younger next to at least one adult in your party, at no extra charge. Families booked on the same reservation are kept together.

In practice this is a quiet upgrade for parents. The old benefit only covered little kids and only solved boarding order; the new guarantee covers kids all the way up to 12 and solves the part that actually mattered — sitting together. Honestly, I’m relieved I no longer have to perform the ultimate walk of shame down the jet bridge with a stroller while a plane full of strangers silently prays I’m not headed their way.

One caveat worth knowing: the cheapest fare tier (Basic) doesn’t let you pick seats at booking — those get assigned at check-in. Southwest still aims to seat families together, but if guaranteed advance seat selection matters to you, book up from the lowest fare and confirm the current family-seating terms when you reserve. For more ways to keep travel days sane, my eight tips for traveling with kids have saved my sanity more than once.

2. Southwest Rapid Rewards Chase Cards

You can still knock a serious chunk off Southwest flights with points and miles. Chase offers several Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards, and there’s a bonus that’s especially handy for families now: a Rapid Rewards credit card gets your first checked bag credited, which softens the new bag-fee blow.

We carry the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Chase Card. The annual fee is $99. The everyday earnings aren’t thrilling — 2X points on Southwest purchases, 2X on the first $5,000 a year in combined gas and grocery spending, and 1X on everything else — but the welcome offer does the heavy lifting. At the time of this writing, it’s 80,000 Rapid Rewards points after spending $1,000 in the first three months, plus 3,000 anniversary points each year. Card offers change constantly, so check the current welcome bonus and annual fee on Chase’s site before you apply.

Keep Chase’s 5/24 rule in mind. If you’ve opened — or been added as an authorized user on — five or more credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months, you’ll likely be declined. If points and miles are new to you, start with my guide to earning travel points and the rundown of the best beginner travel cards before you apply for anything.

3. No Change or Cancellation Fees

Southwest Airlines still doesn’t charge change or cancellation fees, which is gold when you’re traveling with kids who specialize in throwing wrenches into plans. You can change a flight online or over the phone, and if you switch to a pricier flight you simply pay the difference.

What you get back if you cancel or switch to a cheaper flight now depends on your fare type, so read the fine print before you book the rock-bottom option:

• Basic fares are generally non-refundable with no flight credit once the 24-hour window closes — cheap, but you’re committed.
• Mid-tier fares typically give you a flight credit to use later.
• Top-tier fares generally get you a full cash refund.

If you paid with Rapid Rewards points, the difference in points gets credited back to your account. I always book the day a new batch of flights is released, then compulsively check the price afterward and rebook the same flight if it drops. On the old system I found a cheaper fare nearly every time. The strategy still works — just confirm your fare lets you recapture the difference as credit rather than losing it. Fare rules shift fast right now, so verify the current terms at booking.

4. Southwest Airlines Leg Room

Southwest still doesn’t have a traditional first class, which is another reason plenty of people roll their eyes at it. I’ve heard the airline called a bus in the sky. Well, that Greyhound has some decent-sized seats. My husband is 6’4″ and spends most economy flights with his knees in his mouth; on Southwest he’s merely uncomfortable instead of folded in half. Nothing fancy is happening, but those extra inches matter when you’re also juggling kids and their snack bags.

One change to flag: Southwest now sells tiered seats — Standard, Preferred, and Extra Legroom — with the Extra Legroom rows offering up to five extra inches of pitch plus perks like priority boarding and complimentary beverages. So the old “everybody gets the same roomy seat” pitch is weaker now; the best legroom costs extra, like it does everywhere else. If long flights wreck you, paying up for the roomy row can be one of those vacation upgrades that are actually worth it.

5. The Southwest Airlines App

The Southwest app is one of my favorites, and this is the rare perk that got better. Beyond letting me obsess over check prices all day to save a few points, it serves up free in-flight entertainment — movies, live TV, full TV series, and games. Download the app before you fly, because you’ll want it loaded before you lose signal. As a bonus, Wi-Fi is now complimentary for Rapid Rewards members on most flights, so kids can stream and you can pretend you’re “working.”

I maintained my sanity on our last flight by catching up on the Real Housewives of New Jersey and playing some Candy Crush ripoff while my kids ate more junk food than they had the entire month prior and zoned out on their tablets. Flying brings out my best parenting. A loaded entertainment plan is non-negotiable, which is why “charged devices and headphones” sits near the top of every one of my packing lists.

6. Checked Bags: What Changed

This used to be the headline perk, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise: Southwest ended its 54-year “Bags Fly Free” policy. For travel on and after May 28, 2025, checked bags carry a fee — it launched at $35 for the first bag and $45 for the second. Fees have been moving around as the airline reshuffles its whole model, so check the current amount on southwest.com before you pack a single book the kids will never read.

The sting is softened if you fall into an exempt group. Free or credited checked bags still apply for certain situations, including:

• Top-tier fare buyers and A-List / A-List Preferred elite members get one or two free bags depending on status.
• Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card holders get the first checked bag credited.
• Hawaii inter-island residents get two free.

Honest take: this is the change that hurts most for families, since “bring all the junk for free” was Southwest’s signature family flex. The workaround is to pack like a person who has made peace with reality — a carry-on each and one strategic checked bag — or to lean on that credit card bag credit. My minimalist packing approach exists precisely because the airlines finally figured out how to charge me for overpacking.

7. Southwest Airlines Employees

The airport feels like a hostile place. Everyone is crabby. A lot of airline employees seem exhausted from arguing with disgruntled customers and a little high on the power to stop you from boarding. That has not been my experience flying Southwest with kids.

The vast majority of Southwest employees we’ve dealt with have been friendly and helpful. The flight attendants tell jokes. They give the convincing illusion that they’re delighted to hand out snacks, which is more than most carriers manage anymore. Happy staff improves everyone’s mood, and on a flight packed with overtired toddlers, mood is everything. Whether that culture survives the airline’s giant business overhaul is the open question — but as of our most recent flights, the people are still a reason to choose them.

FAQ: Flying Southwest Airlines With Kids

Does Southwest still have open seating?

No. Southwest ended open seating and moved to assigned seats for travel on and after January 27, 2026. On most fares you choose your seats when you book; the cheapest Basic fare assigns seats at check-in instead.

Can my family sit together on Southwest?

Yes. Southwest’s complimentary family-seating guarantee commits to seating children age 12 and younger next to at least one adult in your party at no extra cost, and families on the same reservation are kept together. If you want guaranteed advance seat selection, book above the lowest Basic fare.

Are checked bags still free on Southwest?

No longer for everyone. The “Bags Fly Free” policy ended for travel on and after May 28, 2025; the first checked bag launched at $35 and the second at $45. Elite members, top-tier fares, Rapid Rewards cardholders, and Hawaii inter-island residents still get free or credited bags. Confirm current fees on southwest.com before you fly.

Does Southwest charge change or cancellation fees?

No change or cancellation fees across fare types. What you get back varies: Basic fares are typically non-refundable after the 24-hour window, mid-tier fares give a flight credit, and top-tier fares get a cash refund. Check your fare’s rules at booking.

Is there free in-flight entertainment for kids?

Yes. The Southwest app offers free movies, live TV, TV series, and games — download it before you board. Wi-Fi is also complimentary for Rapid Rewards members on most flights, so streaming is on the table.

Final Thoughts

Southwest is no longer the free-bags, open-seating, everybody’s-equal outlier it once was — it now looks a lot more like the legacy carriers it used to needle. But it’s still a good option for families with small kids. The family-seating guarantee, no change or cancellation fees, free entertainment, and friendly people keep it on my list. The bag fees sting, and the best seats and boarding now cost extra, so do the math against your usual airline instead of assuming Southwest automatically wins. If you’re rounding out a bigger family trip, my guide to saving money on Disney trips and my theme park travel tips for little kids pair nicely with whatever you’re flying. And because the airline is changing its fees and fare rules fast, verify every dollar figure on southwest.com before you book. The sugar bag, sadly, is still on you.