Southwest Airlines made significant waves on Tuesday when they announced changes to their checked bag policies, and Amtrak took a shot at the company.
In a social media post, Amtrak delivered a succinct statement on Southwest’s announcement that they will begin charging for checked baggage while pointing to their own policies.
guess we’re the only ones doing free baggage now
— Amtrak (@Amtrak) March 11, 2025
“Guess we’re the only ones doing free baggage now,” the agency said.
According to Amtrak’s website, passengers are permitted to bring one personal item onto trains, weighing less than 25 pounds and no more than 14x11x7 inches.
Passengers are also permitted to carry-on two pieces of luggage weighing no more than 50 pounds and measuring no more than 28x22x14 inches, according to the agency’s website.
For the first time in its history, Southwest will begin charging most of its passengers for checked bags, with the exception of “A-List Preferred” frequent fliers. Southwest credit card holders and A-List level members will each get one checked bag.
Previously, the company allowed passengers up to two checked bags weighing 50 pounds or less and a personal carry-on bag free of charge.
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"What's changed is that we've come to realize that we need more revenue to cover our cost of our costs," COO Andrew Watterson told CNBC. "We think that these changes that we were announcing today will lead to less of that share shift than would have been the case otherwise."
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The move will take effect on flights beginning in late May. The company has also previously made waves after deciding to phase out its seating policies, with passengers previously being assigned boarding groups. Instead, passengers will now get assigned seats, with the company also unveiling economy class and premium tickets in coming months.
