Southwest Raises Fee For Last-Minute Priority Boarding

One of the major US carriers, Southwest Airlines has increased the fee to nab a prime boarding position at the last minute on some flights.

In other words, the airline will charge for one way to board in the first group of travelers. And the fee may be up to $50.

In the year 2013, the procedure of upgraded boarding starts and the airline started charging $40 per person each way. Southwest also added an option of $30 on some flights in 2015.

Talking about this month, the carrier has added a $50 fee to the mix.

So now the airline passengers can board in three groups like A, B, and C and will be able to take any open seat. These groups are based on a number of things like the frequent flier status, type of ticket and time of online check-in.

Passengers in the A group will get the best seat selection and those of C category have to deal with the middle seats and may have to do a little hard work in finding seats together.

Talking about the boarding positions, Southwest has two paid options for the passengers: EarlyBird Check-In and upgraded boarding.

There is a charge of $15 each way for EarlyBird Check. With this option, there is no guarantee of an A or B but there is definitely an improvement in your place in the line.

When it comes to Upgraded boarding, the airline hasn’t revealed any statistic on the same but yes, there is an addition of a $50 fee in some markets.

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