Southwest Airlines is getting into the airport lounge business for the first time, and a new premium credit card is coming with it.
The airline announced Wednesday that it plans to build a network of Southwest-branded lounges in partnership with Chase. The first four locations are expected to open in late 2027.
And Southwest isn’t stopping there.
The airline says at least seven additional lounges are planned over the following several years. This will put its initial network at 11 or more locations.
It goes without saying that these developments are another massive shift for Southwest, which has changed a lot about its experience in recent years. The airline has introduced assigned seating and extra-legroom seats, ended its long-standing two-free-checked-bags policy for most customers, and increasingly added products aimed at customers willing to pay more for their trip.
Now, that experience will extend into the airport.
Southwest’s First Lounges Are Coming to 4 Airports
Construction is already underway on Southwest’s first four lounges at:
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
- Nashville International Airport (BNA)
Southwest expects to begin welcoming guests in late 2027, though it hasn’t provided opening dates for the individual locations.
The airline is working with Chase on the lounges and plans to draw on the bank’s existing Chase Sapphire Lounge network. Southwest says the spaces will combine its own approach to hospitality with locally inspired dining, more sophisticated design, and amenities and travel benefits already found in Chase’s lounges.
For now, that’s about as specific as Southwest is getting.
The airline hasn’t revealed the size or exact location of the first lounges, what amenities each will offer, or where the next seven or more locations will be. We don’t have renderings yet, either.
The initial airport choices do offer a sense of where Southwest is starting. Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu, and Nashville are all significant Southwest markets.
And with at least 11 lounges now in the pipeline, this is intended to become a network rather than a handful of experiments.
A New Premium Southwest Credit Card Is Coming, Too
Southwest will also introduce a new premium Rapid Rewards credit card from Chase in 2027. The card is slated to provide access to the new lounges.
That’s just about all we know about the card for now.
Southwest hasn’t announced its annual fee, welcome offer, other benefits, or exactly how lounge access will work. We also don’t yet know whether there will be other ways to enter the lounges, including for customers with certain Southwest tickets or elite status.
There are also some interesting questions about how the Southwest and Chase lounge networks will overlap.
Southwest hasn’t said whether Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders will receive access to Southwest lounges or whether holders of the new Southwest card will have any access to Chase Sapphire Lounges.
Those details will come later. But the new card and lounge network indicate that Southwest is continuing its push to offer more to customers willing to pay for a premium experience.