Prove it It's Free
News

Southwest Ends 'Bags Fly Free' After Nearly Five Decades

Two free bags and no assigned seats were the whole pitch for fifty years. An activist investor had other ideas.

The Complaints Department

The Complaints Department

— 1 min read
Share
Suitcases on an airport baggage claim carousel
Photo: bradleygee (CC BY 2.0)

For nearly its entire history, Southwest Airlines built its brand around two things almost no other US carrier offered: two free checked bags, and no assigned seats.

In 2025, both went away. The airline began charging most fare classes for checked bags starting May 28, 2025, and rolled out assigned, tiered seating with extra-legroom upsells — bringing Southwest in line with the fee structures at Delta, American, and United.

The shift followed sustained pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, which took a stake in Southwest in 2024 and pushed for changes to boost revenue per passenger.

"Bags Fly Free" had been Southwest's tagline since long before most of its current customers were flying. It is now, like the leg room and the boarding line, something you can pay to get back.

Filed from public reporting:

Read more

Milwaukee County Required Augmented-Reality Game Publishers to Apply for Park Event Permits After Pokémon Go Crowds Overran Lake Park. The Law Was Undone by a Cowboy-Themed Poker App and Cost $83,000 in Legal Fees.

Milwaukee County Required Augmented-Reality Game Publishers to Apply for Park Event Permits After Pokémon Go Crowds Overran Lake Park. The Law Was Undone by a Cowboy-Themed Poker App and Cost $83,000 in Legal Fees.

In July 2016, Pokémon Go was released, and Lake Park, a public park on Milwaukee's East Side, turned out to be full of places the game told people to visit. Hundreds of players arrived, and sometimes thousands, at all hours. According to the Associated Press, the result was

By The Complaints Department
Panera Launched an Unlimited Self-Serve Drinks Subscription in 2022 Alongside a Lemonade With Up to 390 Milligrams of Caffeine. The Only Limit at the Fountain Was One Cup Every Two Hours.

Panera Launched an Unlimited Self-Serve Drinks Subscription in 2022 Alongside a Lemonade With Up to 390 Milligrams of Caffeine. The Only Limit at the Fountain Was One Cup Every Two Hours.

On 19 April 2022, Panera Bread launched Unlimited Sip Club, which it billed as the first nationwide unlimited subscription for self-serve beverages. For $10.99 a month, members could take one self-serve drink every two hours during café hours, refills included. The menu covered coffee, tea, fountain soda,

By The Complaints Department
The Man Who Wrote the Password Rules Said in 2017 That He Regretted Them. His Own Guideline Had Predicted in 2004 That Everyone Would Capitalize the First Letter and Put the Symbol at the End.

The Man Who Wrote the Password Rules Said in 2017 That He Regretted Them. His Own Guideline Had Predicted in 2004 That Everyone Would Capitalize the First Letter and Put the Symbol at the End.

In June 2004 the National Institute of Standards and Technology published Special Publication 800-63, the Electronic Authentication Guideline, by William Burr, Donna Dodson and Timothy Polk. It was written for US federal agencies. Its Appendix A set out a method for estimating how strong a password was, and it

By The Complaints Department
Ofo Put Millions of Yellow Bicycles on China's Streets for Anyone to Ride and Took a Small Deposit to Make Sure They Came Back. At Last Count, More Than Fifteen Million Riders Were Still Waiting for the Deposit.

Ofo Put Millions of Yellow Bicycles on China's Streets for Anyone to Ride and Took a Small Deposit to Make Sure They Came Back. At Last Count, More Than Fifteen Million Riders Were Still Waiting for the Deposit.

Ofo was founded in 2014 by Dai Wei, a Peking University graduate, and began on that university's campus. The idea was simple enough to fit on a sticker. A yellow bicycle stood on the pavement, unattended. A rider paid through an app, cycled wherever they were going, and

By The Complaints Department