Using Southwest’s Customer of Size Policy

Southwest’s customer of size policy is a size-inclusive rule that allows passengers in larger bodies to have two seats on any Southwest flight at no extra charge. This policy helps large travelers fly more safely,¹ and allows passengers (in bodies large and small!) more comfort in flight.

I’ve used Southwest’s Customer of Size policy dozens of times, and recently, I interviewed a Southwest Airlines employee about the policy. In this article, I share all the insider knowledge.

how to use Southwest’s customer size policy

Here’s how to use this policy if you need a little extra room to fly safely:

1. Pay in Advance for Seat #2 or Try Your Luck at the Airport

While plus size travelers are eligible to request an extra seat for free after they get to the airport- there’s no guarantee a seat will be open on your flight. (Southwest can’t give you a seat that doesn’t exist!) For this reason, it’s best to purchase 2 seats for yourself during booking.

Paying in advance for two seats while you are booking your tickets guarantees that you’ll have two seats. After your flight(s), you can request a refund for the second seat.

🧑‍✈️ While Southwest will try to accommodate your request for a second seat if you ask at the airport, purchasing an extra seat beforehand allows the airline to adequetly plan and avoid asking fellow customer to relinquish their seat.

After you’ve purchased your tickets, you don’t need to do anything else between confirming your flight and arriving at the airport.

2. When you Arrive at the Airport – Visit the self check-in kiosk or see a customer service agent.

Plan to arrive at the airport a little earlier if you are using Southwest’s COS policy, when you’re flying under this policy you won’t be able to load a mobile boarding pass.

If you have purchased your extra seat beforehand

If you did not purchase a refundable extra seat at your booking

If you didn’t book your extra seat in advance, go directly to the customer service agent at the check-in counter. Do not wait until the last minute! Allow plenty of time for the agent to arrange your extra seat.

Simply approach the customer service agent and ask for an extra seat per Southwest’s customer of size policy. In my experience using Southwest’s customer of size policy, the gate agents are extraordinarily friendly and accommodating in helping passengers discreetly navigate this process.

3. When your Flight Boards, Preboard to Claim 2 Seats

In another smart move on Southwest’s part, customers of size are permitted to board with the earliest boarding groups. To me, this is just a smart business move that creates a better experience for everyone. By boarding early, I don’t have to squish between rows of filled seats, and everyone is more comfortable. When later boarding groups begin filing onto the plane, I’m settled in my window seat out of the way.

When traveling using this policy, you are invited to pre-board. You do not need to wait for your boarding group to be called.

4. Place Your Seat Reserved Document in the Spare Seat

Obviously, your extra seat is the seat directly next to you- I mean that’s the whole point! 😸 Once you find your seat, place the Seat Reserved Document (it looks like an extra boarding pass) prominently and deliberately in the middle of the seat next to you. If someone begins eyeing that seat as the plane fills, the card may do the work of maintaining that empty seat, so you don’t have to defend it.

If you don’t want to actively defend your extra seat on a full flight, A flight attendant recommended that I place a coat or bag in the second seat, put the tray table down, and place the “seat reserved” card on the tray table.

If someone tries to sit in the seat next to you, you can inform them “the seat is reserved” or, if that doesn’t work, I’ve “purchased a second seat.” If they refuse to move on, don’t hesitate to call a flight attendant to help.

5. Stretch Your Body Throughout Your Flight

Economy seats are not made for people like us. The discomfort and lack of freedom of movement that disproportionally affects large bodies can result in health problems (which, because of medical bias towards people in large bodies, often may not be diagnosed or treated properly² ).

For this reason and so many others, it’s essential to use that extra space to do stretches every hour. Even simple stretching during a flight can significantly reduce the risk of health issues.³

6. Enjoy Your Flight and Consider Deplaning Last

By the time we arrive at our destination, we’re all ready to jump out of our seats and sprint off the plane. If you’ve taken advantage of Southwest customer size policy, though, consider letting others get off the plane first.

Of course, by the time your seat row is ready to deplane, the path out should be clear- but deplaning last can be a courtesy to other travelers whom you skipped in front of for boarding.

7. If Needed, Email Southwest’s Customers Service

You’ll need to call or send an online message to the Southwest Customer Service Center to arrange for the price of the second ticket to be refunded back to your payment source. Personally, I always email. It takes 2 minutes and there’s no hold time!

Here’s how I get my customer of size seat refunded by sending Southwest an email:

1. Go to the Southwest Airlines “contact us by email” form:  https://support.southwest.com/email-us/s/
2. Select “comment.” 
3. then select “customer service”
4. Then, in the form that pops up, you can copy and paste this text, with your information added:
   • I recently purchased two tickets for a single passenger who is a customer of size. I would like to request a refund of the second fare. The confirmation number for the reservation is #XXXXXX and the Passenger’s name was ___ ____ (add dates and origin/destination)
5. You can skip most other blanks in the form. (There’s a bunch but I only fill out the required fields and always get my refund)
6. Submit your message and wait for an email of refund confirmation. 

It’s the fastest way to get a refund for your extra seat! Here are some screenshots I’ve take as I completed this process recently:

What it’s Like to Use a Free Extra Seat on Southwest

The first time I used Southwest’s customer size policy was on a short flight in the Hawaiian Islands for my 40th birthday trip, but I’ve since used this policy to get a second seat on dozens of flights.

Since I’d already read up on Southwest’s policy for plus-size travelers, I knew that I had two options for getting a free extra seat:

To be on the safe side, since I expected my flight would be crowded, I went ahead and forked over the extra cash upfront for a second seat on the short flight.

Using Southwest’s customer of size policy was easy and non-stigmatizing. Unlike the discomfort of asking for a seatbelt extension, taking advantage of the customer of size policy is easy and discrete.

How to know if you qualify for Southwest’s customer of size policy (a.k.a. “am I fat enough to Get a Free Extra Seat?”)

Thankfully, there are no size police on Southwest flights. If you meet the criteria below, passengers can opt into this program as they see fit. Southwest’s official policy states the extra seat is available to “Customers who encroach upon any part of the neighboring seat.”

Some travelers might expect that needing a seatbelt extender is the metric for who can use the customer of size policy. However, Southwest has other measures:

Every single body is different, though, and neither of these means that your body is comfortable (or even safe) squished into a single seat- so listen to your body, practice mindful travel, and use your best judgment.

Personally, airplane seatbelts have always buckled for me. And with enough hunching, my broad shoulders don’t extend past the seat divider. However, I’m acutely aware of how being stuck in a small seat in a low-oxygen environment increases the health risks of flying.

Since big people are not able to stretch our legs in the way that smaller bodies are allowed to in an economy seat, this can put us at an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis.⁶

For this reason, I choose to take advantage of Southwest’s customer of size policy. I love that this policy honors the agency of travelers and our ability to determine what’s best for our bodies while also honoring the needs and comfort of fellow travelers.

Tips for using Southwest customer size policy:

1. Understand the policy

Like so many things in life, it’s your responsibility to understand the customer of size policy and how to use it. You may have a brand new gate agent or trainee flight attendant. Make sure you understand the policy so you can explain it if necessary.

2. Don’t feel self-conscious

Your body has different needs- that’s ok! It deserves care and safety.

Fat people are constantly told that we should not take up space, but our bodies deserve to exist without pain and suffering caused by facilities designed for thin bodies. We have every right to take up space – especially when Southwest has extended the space to us at no charge.

Claim your second seat with confidence, tell the gate agent you want to use the customer of size policy without shame, and let your body take up space.

3. Care for your body in flight

Researchers are clear that squishing into a seat and staying there, unmoving, increases the health risks of flying.¹ You’ve probably heard the advice to drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol before flying, which is excellent advice, but here’s what passengers of size need to do with that extra seat:

First-class vs. buying an additional seat for plus-size travelers

It will probably come as no surprise that I prefer to fly business or first class as a plus-size traveler rather than purchase an extra seat in economy. When money isn’t an issue, it’s first-class all the way for more generous seats for my body, more legroom, and the ability to prop my legs up on a footrest. They don’t call travel related lower leg blood clots “economy class syndrome” for nothing⁷ – first-class isn’t just more comfortable it’s safer.

On airlines other than Southwest, it’s sometimes cheaper to fly first-class than it is to purchase two side-by-side economy class seats. However, Southwest’s inclusive customer size policy (and the fact that their flights don’t even have a first-class section!) makes this decision easy when taking a short domestic flight.

When it makes sense to fly first-class Instead

If you have a flight over four hours, the risk of DVT increases significantly –, and that’s especially true for those of us in larger bodies or over the age of 40.⁸ If you have a very long flight or many risk factors, simply having an additional economy seat and a bit of room to stretch your lower legs might be more comfortable, but not significantly decrease this risk.

While I’m a huge fan of Southwest and particularly of their customer size policy, if the price difference isn’t staggering, I personally find the upgrade to first class on another airline preferable to having two seats on Southwest. However, for short flights like intra-island hopping in Hawaii or visiting family in Dallas, I wouldn’t dream of booking for first-class for these easy short flights.

how I learned about Southwest customer of size policy

When we rang in the new year in 2020, I was excited to be moving into a new chapter of life. And then, well, we all know what happened next. The following months saw me move from my tiny apartment into a house shared by friends and colleagues I’d made during my graduate school training to be a therapist. There, in that house full of eating disorder-focused therapists and dietitians, I had the delight of quarantining with a team of HAES, food positive, social justice-oriented friends, and professional colleagues.

During my time in this shared house, I worked with people who work with people every day struggling with the challenges of living in larger bodies or the (often legitimate) fear of living in larger bodies, and the disordered eating that occasionally accompanies that fear. While we were soaking in the house’s shared hot tub- a respite from all things 2020 – one of my roommates mentioned Southwest’s customer of size policy.

My ears perked up, “customer of size policy?” I asked. They then explained how Southwest Airlines, a budget airline that will cut costs anywhere and everywhere to stay profitable in a market where most airlines aren’t, offer a free extra seat to plus-size passengers. Incredulous, I asked more. They continued on to tell me that even if a flight is fully booked and there are no seats left, as long as a customer of size booked that extra seat in advance, they are guaranteed not to have someone sit next to them on a Southwest flight- all for free.

After learning this, even though we were still in quarantine, I resolved to give Southwest Airline’s customer-of-size policy a real-life trial as soon as I could safely and reasonably fly again.

The Passenger of Size Policies of Other major Airlines (Updated for 2023):

Delta’s Customer of Size Policy

Delta Airlines has no policy in place ensuring passengers in larger bodies and nearby smaller bodied fellow travelers can travel with reasonable comfort and safety. Read more about Delta’s Policies that Affect Customers of Size.

Delta’s policy is that “Delta has the right to charge for all seats occupied.” In other words, if passengers of size flying on Delta don’t pay double, they may be billed double without consent.

United’s Customer of Size Policy

The least inclusive of all airlines’ policies that I’ve researched, United Airlines has no policy in place to ensure that customers with larger bodies can travel safely. Rather, their policy prioritizes the comfort of thin passengers over the safety of plus-size travelers.

In order to avoid being required to purchase a second seat on United, as a customer of size you must be able to:

• buckle and wear the seat belt with one extension,
• be able to remain sitting with the seat armrest(s) down for the duration of the journey,
• and (not or) you must not “significantly encroach upon the adjacent seat” – a particularly unhelpfully vague standard.

This, despite the fact that FAA permits seatbelt repairs and replacements that can significantly shorten a “standard” seat belt, makes United’s policy troublesome.

Alaska Airline’s Customer of Size Policy

Alaska Airlines, unlike most airlines in 2024, acknowledges the existence and dignity of people in larger bodies by publishing a Customer of Size Policy. However, their accommodations are limited: Alaska states that a second seat purchase is required for “any customer who cannot comfortably fit within one seat with the armrests in the down position,” however there is a chance of having an extra seat provided free:

“If all Alaska Airlines flights in each direction departed with an open seat available, you will be eligible for a refund of the second seat.” In other words, if you can’t fit in a seat that international researchers agree is too small for health and safety of the average traveler, you’ll be required to pay for an extra seat on every Alaska flight you take.

Note: Only if every single leg of your travel in both directions has open seats available will you be eligible for any refund of the cost of the extra seat needed to fly safely.

Final Thoughts

More and more travelers are catching on to Southwest’s inclusive Customer of Size policy. Although I regularly see passengers larger than me squeezing into full rows on Southwest flights, I hope this article will help inform more travelers about options that can help all bodies travel with greater comfort and safety.

If you’ve recently taken a flight and encountered a policy either accommodating or marginalizing a larger body, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

1. Tsikouras, P., Anthoulaki, X., Deftereou, T., Chalkidou, A., Bothou, A., Gaitatzi, F., … & Nikolettos, N. (2020). Vein Thrombosis Risk in Women and Travel. In Tourism. IntechOpen. [↩] [↩]
2. Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD, Scott Kahan, MD, MPH, and Gail Geller, ScD, MHS. (2010) American Medical Association Journal of Ethics. Virtual Mentor. 2010;12(4):258-262. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2010.12.4.ccas1-1004. [↩]
3. Tsikouras, P., Anthoulaki, X., Deftereou, T., Chalkidou, A., Bothou, A., Gaitatzi, F., … & Nikolettos, N. (2020). Vein Thrombosis Risk in Women and Travel. In Tourism. IntechOpen. [↩] [↩]
4. Southwest’s official policy [↩]
5. Southwest’s official policy FAQ [↩]
6. Cannegieter, S. C., Doggen, C. J. M., van Houwelingen, H. C., & Rosendaal, F. R. (2006). Travel-related venous thrombosis: results from a large population-based case control study (MEGA study). PLoS medicine, 3(8), e307. [↩]
7. Porta, J., Saco-Ledo, G., & Cabañas, M. D. (2019). The ergonomics of airplane seats: The problem with economy class. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 69, 90-95. [↩]
8. Şabanoğlu, C. (2021). The secret enemy during a flight: Economy class syndrome. Anatolian Journal of Cardiology, 25(Suppl 1), S13. [↩]