‘This Is Why I Don’t Book Southwest’: Woman Claims Airline Changes Seat Availability Based on Fare Tier

A woman is going viral online for calling out Southwest Airlines after claiming the airline manipulates its website so customers are forced to pay extra for certain seats. In her clip, which has since been reshared by X user @WallStreetApes, she shows herself navigating the Southwest website while attempting to change her flight.

The options include Choice Extra, Choice Preferred, and Choice, with the latter being the cheapest option. But after playing around with the different fare tiers, she claims Southwest greyed out certain seats under one option, yet those same seats became available when she selected a different tier.

Woman Claims Southwest Only Showed Certain Seats Under Different Fare Tiers

The woman explains that she first clicked on Choice Extra, which costs $314, and then shows viewers the booking screen behind her. That option includes perks like an extra legroom seat, Group 1 boarding, a premium drink, and 14x Rapid Rewards points per dollar.

But when she attempted to select her seat, all of the extra legroom seats were grayed out, meaning none were available and she couldn't select one. Or are they? She then clicks on the Choice fare, which costs $194 and includes perks like choosing a standard seat at booking, general boarding, no cancellation fee, flight changes, 6x Rapid Rewards points per dollar, and a few other incentives.

Once she selects that option, some of the same seats that were greyed out under the $314 Choice Extra fare now appear, available to choose. But there's a catch. Only a few seats appeared, and each one has an additional charge of either $68 or $74. "So they want me to choose the lower," she says, referring to the cheaper fare, before adding, "but still charge me an extra $74 for these seats."

She then tells viewers, "This is why I don't book Southwest," and based on many of the comments, people seem to feel the same way. "Southwest Airlines has completely lost the plot," one person wrote. Meanwhile, another chimed in, "Yep, I'm done with them — extra fees are ridiculous. Bye-bye Southwest."

A third said, "I NEVER fly @SouthwestAir anymore. I was an A-List Preferred member. Their airline has turned to s--t over the past couple of years. They're squeezing the life out of it." Another commenter wrote, "Southworst has been crap since day one." 

While many commenters criticized Southwest, others simply recommended flying with a different carrier. Southwest had not publicly responded to the claims shown in the video at the time of writing. The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the booking experience described by the creator.