E
elen
Guest
Does Southwest offer first class upgrades or premium seating?
I used to fly with all sorts of airlines, and I always assumed that “first class” was a universal thing. So when I booked a flight with Southwest for the first time last year, I had the same question: do they offer first class upgrades or any kind of premium seating? Spoiler: it’s not what I expected.
Southwest doesn’t have traditional first class, business class, or premium cabins like many other airlines do. All the seats on every Southwest plane are the same — there’s no separate section with larger seats or extra legroom that you can pay to upgrade into. That was a little surprising to me at first, because on my last United and Delta flights I’d been spoiled with those perks.
But here’s where Southwest does things differently: instead of seat classes, they focus on boarding order. The closer you are to the front of the boarding line, the better your pick of seats. When I flew from Chicago to Las Vegas, I booked a regular Wanna Get Away fare, and my boarding group was in the C’s — so I ended up in a middle seat in the third row from the back. Not terrible, but not great either.
That experience motivated me to look into EarlyBird Check-In. It’s not a first class seat, but it does automatically check you in 36 hours before departure — before the general 24-hour check-in opens — which usually puts you in a much earlier boarding group. On my flight home, I paid for EarlyBird and ended up in the B group, snagging a window seat near the front. Honestly, it felt like a little upgrade, even if the seat itself was the same.
One thing I learned the hard way: if you really want a specific seat or to sit together with someone, checking in right at the 24-hour mark (or getting EarlyBird) makes a huge difference. I once tried to upgrade at the gate thinking they might have extra perks — but there’s really no premium cabin to upgrade into. The gate agents will offer earlier boarding spots if they have them, but that’s as close as it gets to “upgrading” on Southwest.
So the short answer? No first class seats or premium cabin upgrades — but yes, there are ways to improve your boarding position so you can choose a better seat. After my Chicago–Vegas experience, I won’t book Southwest without at least considering EarlyBird next time!