Southwest Assigned Seating With a Companion Pass
There are three kinds of seating assignments when you fly Southwest Airlines.
Front of the plane and the exit rows
Basic seats toward the front/middle
Basic seats in the back section
Options to choose a seat
You never have to pay for a seat. You can use one of these options:
1) Hold a Southwest credit card
Every Southwest card comes with seating benefits and if you're in this course, you'll have at least one of the credit cards!
The highest fee cards let you pick your seat at the time of booking. This is personally what I opted for because I would rather pay a little more in annual fees but make sure I get seats together for my family.
Benefits apply to everyone on your reservation with you (as the cardholder). They will also pass through to your Companion.
One quirk to be aware of is that if you are the cardholder but you're not logged into your account when you book tickets for you + others, there might be some lag time for the system to recognize your benefits.
Let's say, for instance you have the card with better benefits but you're using your spouse's Rapid Rewards points to book for you and your family. You can do it from your spouse's account -- and be sure to add your Rapid Rewards number to the booking. It probably won't let you pick seats quite yet. Don't panic. Buy the tickets, wait 5 minutes and log into your account. Now it should let you pick seats for everyone.
2) Hold A-List or A-List Preferred status
A-List can pick a Standard or Preferred seat at booking, even on Basic, and can upgrade to Extra Legroom 48 hours out if one's available. A-List Preferred picks an Extra Legroom seat free at booking, and is guaranteed to board no later than group 2. Both cover up to 8 people on the reservation.
3) Book Choice fare or higher
A Choice fare gets you a free Standard seat at booking. If you really want seats together it might be cheaper to get a Choice fare than Basic + paying for seats.
What each card gets you
The card you hold decides both which seat you can pick and when you can pick it. That second part matters more than people expect.
Want the full comparison including annual fees? See our Southwest credit card guide.
Your companion's seat — read this part twice
As a Companion Pass holder with a Southwest card, you can select a seat for your companion for free. You do it when you add them to the reservation or 48 hours before departure, depending on which card you hold.
But Southwest doesn't make this easy! You need to make sure you write your own seat number down first.
When you go to choose your companion's seat, the system won't show you where your own seat is. So note your seat number when you pick it.
Key Points - Assigned Seating
- Your companion is not seated next to you automatically. Adding them to the reservation books their flight, not their seat.
- Nothing guarantees a party sits together — Southwest does say it will “try” to seat families together but there is no real guarantee. Their only guarantee is that if they can't seat you together, they will put you on a later flight with seats together.
- If you cancel your Southwest card, any free seats you selected are released. If you're planning to close the card before the trip, book a fare that includes seat selection instead — or have someone else on the reservation who still holds a card pick the seats.
- Booking a trip you're not on doesn't work. Your card's seating benefit only applies if the primary cardholder is actually traveling on that reservation. You can't book a ticket for a friend or family member and expect them to get your seating benefits, unless you are flying on the reservation with them.
Families with two Companion Passes
Some families have two Companion Passes, one per parent, but only one parent holds a card that allows seat selection at booking. Or one person has A-List Preferred and a different person holds the Companion Pass.
You can still get everyone the highest level of benefits. But you have to follow these steps and give the system time to catch up.
- Book a reservation for everyone flying together except the companions. It doesn't matter whose points you use or whose account you're logged into — but everyone should enter their own Rapid Rewards number so their benefits link to the reservation.
- You might not be able to select seats yet, depending on which account you booked from. Don't worry.
- After confirmation, add all companions to the reservation. Adding a second companion sometimes only works from a computer — the app currently always display companion info accurately for two or more companions. Sometimes it only works from the app, it depends. You still might not be able to select seats. Don't worry.
- Log in to the account with the highest level of benefits — the most expensive card, or the highest A-List status. Find the reservation and select seats for everyone you can see. Make a note of those seats.
- Wait five minutes. This gives the Southwest system time to catch up.
- Pull up the companion tickets — the confirmation numbers are in your email — and click “Upgrade your seats.” It should now let you select seats for free.
What if you just don't pick a seat?
Everyone with a credit card can at least pick a seat 48 hours before departure but sometimes even then there won't be seats together.
A seat gets assigned to you at check-in or sometimes not until you're at the gate. There will be no guarantee you sit together.
Family seating and boarding
Southwest doesn't guarantee families can sit together, and encourages you to select seats at booking if that matters to you. Their official policy is that Southwest “will endeavor to assign a child (age 12 and under) a seat adjacent to one accompanying Passenger (13 and older) to the extent practicable and at no additional cost.”
If you reach the gate without seats together, ask a gate agent or flight attendant — they'll try to seat each child next to at least one adult, and if they can't, they can move you to the next flight with seats together.
Family boarding no longer exists. Everyone gets a boarding group from 1 to 8, and families board with their assigned group. If you need extra time, priority boarding goes on sale 24 hours before departure.
How early do you really need to do this?
Some Southwest cards let you pick a seat at booking. Several only open it up 48 hours before your flight.
Honestly, it's still too early to say whether 48 hours is enough time to get seats together as a family. It may turn out there's plenty left to choose from. On popular routes and busy travel weeks, there might not be.
If sitting together as a family matters to you, select seats when you book, and don't count on 48 hours being enough.
Want the full detail?
This lesson covers what you need as a Companion Pass holder. This article goes further — paid seat pricing, refunds and exchanges on seat fees, the full family seating policy, and more.
