Southwest Airlines' Baggage Fee Changes: KY and IN Flyers React

Earlier this week, Southwest Airlines shocked the travel industry with an announcement that shocked their most loyal customers. Officials announced that the airline is making significant changes to its free checked baggage policy.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES NEW CHECKED BAGGAGE POLICY

Essentially, after May 28th of this year, Southwest customers will be paying for each bag check- unless, of course, they meet qualifications established by the airline. Basically, select passengers will still get their two bags checked for free. Those passengers are members of Southwest's A-List loyalty program, those who have the Southwest credit card and those who book travel with a business fare.

Look! I travel frequently and I use Southwest almost exclusively if I am flying domestically. I do quite a bit of international travel and, because of the convenience, I will routinely fly Southwest out of Nashville International Airport (BNA) or Louisville (SDF).

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I can't even tell you how many times I have booked a quick Southwest flight from Nashville to New York City, or Nashville to Atlanta, or Nashville to Miami to connect for an international trip. I have been incredibly brand loyal. But now, I don't feel like the brand is being loyal to me. I'm not alone.

A variety of frequent flyers from Kentucky and Indiana have chimed in to share their thoughts on the airlines' abandonment of their free checked bag policy.

CUSTOMERS REACT TO SOUTHWEST AIRLINES' NEW CHECKED BAG POLICY

Audra Blair is no fan of the news at all. She shared this on social media. "That was the biggest perk! Hate they are changing it!"

Jaimie Moore, like Audra, had a pretty testy initial reaction to the news. She says, "At first, super annoyed. Then saw that their credit card holders still get one bag free, so, now less annoyed. But between this and adding assigned seating, they took away everything that differentiated them."

And, yes! Southwest announced last year that they would soon eliminate open seating and switch to assigned seats. Many Southwest faithful anticipate the airline, like the others, will also start charging for seat selection.

Nashville recording artist Steve Bridgmon, who is a frequent flyer to and from Nashville International, is highly critical of the decision. He posted the following on Facebook. "Southwest Airlines has been my "go to" as both an independent artist and even when I was on a label... the no luggage fees helped them stand out for me because I could take a suitcase of clothes and a bag of merch/sound equipment at no extra charge. Greed wins every time."

Simeon Pogue, who recently moved from southern Indiana to San Francisco, California, had this to say. "In my opinion, Southwest hasn’t been a 'budget friendly' airline for quite some time. Every time I look at flights, I check SW and they are usually just as high as everyone else. The only perk was the free checked baggage. Now that they are eliminating that, I doubt I’ll even consider them anymore."

David Bristow, who lives in Owensboro, KY, but travels multiple times per year, sums up the announcement with this- "Just another piece of their competitive edge chipped away."

Beth Ratliff is thinking ahead about how customers will adapt. She envisions this scenario. "Less people checking means more people carrying on means less OH storage space means slower boarding times and more last minute requirements to check plane side. 0 out of 10 stars."

And, finally, Marina Gonzalez (who lives in Louisville) admits, "It makes them an elevated Spirit rather than a budget Delta. It will definitely make me rethink using them if pricing is within $100 of another major airline."

So, what impact will this decision ultimately have on Southwest? Ultimately, time and travel will tell for the masses. However, I can tell you that my loyalty just flew right out the airplane window. Until this week's announcement, Southwest was ALWAYS my first stop when shopping for rates. Now, forgive the pun, it's all up in the air.