Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN/AP) - Southwest Airlines will begin charging customers a fee to check bags, abandoning a decades-long practice that executives had described last fall as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals.
Southwest, which built years of advertising campaigns around its policy of letting passengers check up to two bags for free, said Tuesday that people who haven't either reached the upper tiers of its Rapid Rewards loyalty program, bought a business class ticket or hold the airline's credit card will have to pay for checked bags.
The airline did not outline the fee schedule, but said the new policy would start with flights booked on May 28.
This policy change to end the "Bags Fly Free" perk certainly came as a shock to a number of travelers flying out of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
"That's kind of the only reason why we travel with Southwest is for the free baggage. If we don't bring bags, then we usually fly Frontier, to be honest. So it is quite disappointing to hear that," said Sheila from Niagara Falls.
"It will definitely make me think about flying Southwest again, because one of the benefits of Southwest was flying with the check-in bags being for free. So now I might have to look and compare other airlines with Southwest," added Amy from Lancaster.
For travelers like Kevin from East Amherst, he tended to think of Southwest Airlines as a bargain flight, but that's no longer the case with the policy change surrounding bags.
"I probably won't fly Southwest as much as I usually do. I'll continue looking for the best deal, like I typically do, but I will not specifically look for Southwest anymore. So it's kind of shocking," said Kevin with WBEN.
Southwest said Tuesday it would continue to offer two free checked bags to Rapid Rewards A-List preferred members and customers traveling on Business Select fares, and one free checked bag to A-List members and other select customers. Passengers with Rapid Rewards credit cards will receive a credit for one checked bag.
People who don't qualify for those categories will get charged to check bags. The airline said that it also would roll out a new, basic fare on its lowest priced tickets when the change takes effect.
This may get travelers like Reginald from Niagara Falls looking into those benefits for Southwest Airlines going forward.
"It definitely will make me look into other methods, if they got a better package or such. I might switch, who knows, but it's kind of disappointing to hear that they're getting rid of the bags. That's insane," said Reginald with WBEN.
Sheila will also be looking for any kind of perks that may provide free baggage going forward, or else she'll likely be flying through another airline.
"Southwest is a little bit more expensive than some other airlines, but the perks are the reason why they are a little bit more pricey, and we pay for that. So if they are removing the bags, but they don't change the price, that's not logical. We would probably change over to a different airline," she said.
The "Bags Fly Free" policy from Southwest played a factor for many travelers when choosing an airline to fly with.
"Definitely being able to check bags for free is a money saver. I've always flown Southwest, but now because of the fact they're going to end the free check-in bag in May, it's definitely going to make me look at other airlines," Amy said.
Meanwhile, others like Kevin really liked the flight options with Southwest, in addition to the bag policies making it a bit easier to fly.
"I travel out of the country a lot, like I'm going to Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand right now. So Southwest usually has a really good flight to Los Angeles before I go over to international, but it's going to be a little more with the bag fee," he said.
The airline estimated in September that charging bag fees would bring in about $1.5 billion a year but cost the airline $1.8 billion in lost business from customers who chose to fly Southwest because of its generous baggage allowance.