Picking your own seats on Southwest flights out of Denver ends next week

Someday we will tell our kids and grandkids about the days when you could pick your own set on an airplane. Those days end on Tuesday (Jan. 27).

Flights departing on or after Jan. 27, 2026, will have seat assignments for passengers, and Southwest will introduce group-based boarding similar to other airlines.

Rather than getting a group letter and position number for boarding when checking in for the flight, then choosing a seat upon boarding, travelers will now receive a boarding group number between 1 and 8 that correlates with loyalty status or fare class.

The seats available for booking will depend on the fare class selected. Basic, which is replacing Southwest’s Wanna Get Away option, will assign a Standard seat at check-in. Choice, replacing Wanna Get Away Plus, allows customers to choose a Standard seat at booking.

Choice Preferred, replacing Anytime, allows people to select an available Preferred or Standard seat at booking, while Choice Extra, replacing Business Select, also offers the choice of an Extra Legroom seat at booking.

Those who have a Southwest credit card or who hold Rapid Rewards elite status will get early access to seat selection, seat upgrades and preferred boarding.