Southwest Airlines is joining the airport lounge club. The Dallas-based carrier has announced it will open 11 lounges across its network, with the first ones branded "Southwest Icon Lounges" due to welcome travellers in late 2027. For an airline that spent five decades resisting pretty much every traditional airline convention, this is a big symbolic shift — and it lands alongside other sweeping changes like the end of free checked bags, the move to assigned seating and a new extra-legroom cabin section.
The first four locations are already confirmed: Austin Bergstrom International (AUS), Baltimore/Washington International (BWI), Nashville International (BNA) and Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International (HNL). These are no random picks — each is one of Southwest's biggest and fastest-growing bases, and all four have featured heavily in the airline's recent route expansion. Seven more lounges are promised over the following years, though cities haven't been named yet. Nashville's outpost, one of the first to open, will sit on the mezzanine level of the main atrium.
So how do you get in? Right now, the only announced route is through a new premium credit card Southwest plans to launch with Chase in 2027. The annual fee hasn't been revealed, but expect it to sit well above the $229 charged for Southwest's current top-tier consumer card. For comparison, the recent premium cards from JetBlue and Alaska — both of which come with lounge perks — carry fees between $395 and $499. There's no word yet on whether top-tier elite flyers will earn access as a status benefit; executives say the famous Companion Pass will stay the headline perk of the new "Platinum" elite tier for now.
As for the look and feel, Southwest showed off early renderings at a media event in Dallas. The design brief is a "golden hour" aesthetic with local flavour: an arboretum-inspired corner at BWI, and a Music City-influenced setup in Nashville, complete with a statement main bar. Expect locally inspired food and drink, plus separate zones for working, eating and winding down. Nandika Suri, Southwest's vice president of Rapid Rewards, told The Points Guy the lounges will feel premium but keep the airline's trademark warm hospitality.
Why does this matter if you're not a Southwest regular? Because the lounge race among US carriers keeps intensifying, and Southwest's entry gives frequent flyers on its network — especially business travellers in Austin, Baltimore, Nashville and Honolulu — a genuinely new option where none existed. It also signals where Southwest is heading overall: the airline that once stood for bare-bones simplicity is now chasing the premium traveller, and the Icon Lounges will be the most visible proof of that. If you hold a Southwest card or chase the Companion Pass, keep an eye on the new Chase card details expected in 2027 — that's likely to be your ticket in.
Story via The Points Guy.
