Southwest has rolled out major updates to its travel experience, as of January 2026, including:
Assigned Seating
Southwest has moved away from open seating. Most fares now allow travelers to select seats at the time of booking.
After booking your Southwest flight through CTP, you will need to select seats directly with Southwest once the ticket is issued. This can be done via Southwest.com or the Southwest mobile app. Flights booked with CTP are typically visible directly through Southwest within minutes. This job aid provides step-by-step instructions on how to select your seats:
Southwest is working to enable seat selection at booking within travel agency systems. Please note that this current limitation is related to Southwest’s system transition.
New Seat Experiences
Fare types are now associated with different seat options (standard, preferred, extra legroom) along with enhanced boarding benefits.
New Boarding Process
Southwest has introduced eight boarding groups based on fare type, seat location, and traveler status.
For full details and visual examples of the new experience, visit Southwest’s site.
Additionally, a Southwest Airfare Class Guidelines document has been created for your reference.