Southwest Announces Its Lounge Network
The Airport Lounge Wars™ are heating up again!
Southwest is joining the party with 4 lounges set to open up in late 2027 at the following airports:
Austin (AUS)
Baltimore (BWI)
Nashville (BNA)
Honolulu (HNL)
The low-cost carrier also plans to open 7 more lounges in the years to come for a total of 11 locations.
Okay, Southwest! We see you…🤩
The lounges will be developed in partnership with Chase, who is the sole issuer of Southwest credit cards.
That’s a huge win for travelers since we already know how great Chase lounges are!
How will people get access to the new lounge network?
A new, premium Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card issued by Chase will be launching in 2027 and will provide access to the new Southwest lounge network.
Southwest also entering the premium card space? Alright, alright, alright!
Speaking from experience (Nic here), the lounge scene in Baltimore is not the best, so it just feels right for Southwest to establish roots at one of their largest airport hubs.
Southwest operates more than 70% of passenger traffic at Baltimore and also has a huge presence in Nashville (~55%) and Austin (~40%).
We're a little shocked their headquarters in Dallas (DAL) was not selected as a first option, but a new Chase Sapphire Lounge did just open at Dallas (DFW) recently.
The other 7 lounge locations have not been announced yet, so we could see other Southwest hubs added in the future.