Sweater (sold out, similar) | Madewell Jeans | Loafers (sold out, similar) | Away Bigger Carry-On Bag c/o | Fossil Tote c/o | Swell Water Bottle | Swell Water Bottle

This photo kind of makes me cringe a bit.  Next time I’m at DCA or BWI I’ll be sure to snap a better lit, less fuzzy version with my favorite birds in the sky!

When it comes to flying Southwest Airlines, there are usually two camps – you fly Southwest Airlines and you love it OR you’ve never flown Southwest Airlines and don’t understand why anyone would want to fly on a budget airline.

If you’ve followed along with my travels for any time at all, you likely know that I LOVE to fly Southwest!  Prior to living in D.C., I’d only flown Southwest a couple of times.  But since moving to the area almost four years ago where Southwest has a strong presence at both DCA and BWI, I’ve become a loyalist.

There are lots of reasons as to why I prefer to fly Southwest, but today I thought I’d share my top five reasons with you!

5 Reasons I Love to Fly Southwest Airlines

The Companion Pass.  

Michael and I got our first Companion Pass back in 2015.  I had it in 2015 and 2016 and then Michael got his hands on one for 2017 and 2018.  If you’re not familiar with the Companion Pass, it’s one of the best perks in the airline industry (and not just in my opinion, it really is!).  Once you have the Companion Pass, you get to designate a companion to fly with you for FREE for the entire calendar year of the year that you get it PLUS the entire next calendar year.  Y’all, it’s amazing.

Michael and I have been flying anywhere and everywhere Southwest flies for the price of one for the past three (soon to be four) years (Boston, Portland, San Francisco, Punta Cana … just to name a few).  To qualify for the Companion Pass, you need to amass 110,ooo Southwest miles in one calendar year.  I explain in depth how I got the Pass in this post and this post.  An easy way to make your way towards that 110,000 miles is to get one of Southwest’s branded credit cards and meet the minimum spend requirement to receive a hefty (usually at least 50,000) sign-up bonus.  You can compare the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards card with other travel credit cards here to see how it stacks up.

Low Fares.

If you live near an airport that Southwest flies in and out of, consider yourself lucky.  Southwest continues to have the lowest fares in the game without sacrificing customer service or quality of experience.  Not only are the Southwest fares usually amazingly priced, the low costs also help drive down costs of other airlines flying in and out of the same airport.

No Black Out Dates on Mile Redemption.

I love that I can use my Southwest miles whenever I want to book an award redemption flight.  Unlike other airlines, there are no black out dates or restrictions on when you can use your points.  Southwest makes everything super easy and user (customer) friendly!

No Change or Cancelation Fee.

If I even think I’m going somewhere soon, I book my Southwest flight.  You know why?  Because it doesn’t matter if I end up having to change or even cancel the flight.  With Southwest you can change or cancel your flight at almost anytime prior to the flight time without incurring any penalty at all!  That’s amazing.  You simply pay the difference in flight costs or if you have to cancel you’ll either be credited the cost to your Southwest account to be used on a future flight or you’ll be fully refunded (it depends on whether you booked a Wanna Getaway fare or another type of fare).

The Boarding Process.

Call me crazy, but I LOVE Southwest’s boarding process.  This may sound counterintuitive, but I think it’s because of my A-type personality.  I love the fact that I’m in charge of where I sit.  It’s not based on status or when you booked your ticket or whatever the gate agent feels like doing in the system.  Basically it’s like a competition – With Southwest, you can check-in exactly 24 hours before your flight time.  You MUST check-in right at that 24 hour mark to have a shot at getting in the A boarding group.  I always set an alarm and never have to worry about getting stuck in the middle seat.  #winning

Do you fly Southwest? Do you love it as much as I do?!  Drop me a comment below!

Disclaimer: If you click and/or sign up for a credit card through certain links on this site or any of my related social media platforms, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase.  As always, all opinions are my own.