Southwest moves to assigned seating and AmTrav makes seat selection simple

As Southwest Airlines shifts from open seating to assigned seating early next year, AmTrav now lets you select your seat on your Southwest flight.

For flights departing on and after Tuesday, January 27, 2026, you can now preview the available seats on the flight results page and select a seat at booking, including preferred and extra legroom seats.*

Seat selection varies depending on which Southwest fare you book:

• Basic Economy (note that your company may block Southwest Basic): Standard seat assigned at checkin, or you can pay for a Preferred or Extra Legroom seat before then.
• Choice (formerly Wanna Get Away Plus): choose any Standard seat at no cost, or pay for a Preferred or Extra Legroom seat.
• Choice Preferred (formerly Anytime): choose any Standard or Preferred seat at no cost, or pay for an Extra Legroom seat.
• Choice Extra (formerly Business Select): choose any Standard, Preferred or Extra Legroom seat at no cost.

A-List Preferred members can select any Standard, Preferred or Extra Legroom seat for free at time of booking, A-List members can select any Standard or Preferred seat for free at booking and select any available Extra Legroom seat for free starting 48 hours prior to departure.

AmTrav customers have had special access to Southwest Airlines for years thanks to AmTrav’s first-of-its-kind connection to Southwest’s modern booking technology launched in 2019. That modern technology enables access to the same lowest fares found on Southwest.com, streamlined unused ticket exchanges and trip changes, and more.

This is just the latest AmTrav investment in our seats technology, following our integration of Seatmaps.com data in our seatmap and offering loyalty-entitled and paid premium seats.

In addition to Southwest, in October AmTrav also upgraded our booking technology for Amtrak rail. It’s now even easier to book Amtrak’s nationwide rail network, with streamlined Amtrak Guest Rewards loyalty earnings and easier trip changes. This follows AmTrav’s launch of Brightline rail options across Florida earlier in 2025.

AmTrav customers love Amtrak: 65% of AmTrav customer travel between Washington and New York City and points between (Baltimore, Philadelphia) is on Amtrak rail instead of airline flights, and 49% of shorthaul routings in the Northeast (Washington to Boston) are booked on Amtrak rail.

*For flights departing on and before Monday January 26, 2026, you can still purchase EarlyBird Check-In.

Seat selection varies depending on which Southwest fare you book:

• Basic Economy (note that your company may block Southwest Basic): Standard seat assigned at checkin, or you can pay for a Preferred or Extra Legroom seat before then.
• Choice (formerly Wanna Get Away Plus): choose any Standard seat at no cost, or pay for a Preferred or Extra Legroom seat.
• Choice Preferred (formerly Anytime): choose any Standard or Preferred seat at no cost, or pay for an Extra Legroom seat.
• Choice Extra (formerly Business Select): choose any Standard, Preferred or Extra Legroom seat at no cost.

A-List Preferred members can select any Standard, Preferred or Extra Legroom seat for free at time of booking, A-List members can select any Standard or Preferred seat for free at booking and select any available Extra Legroom seat for free starting 48 hours prior to departure.

AmTrav customers have had special access to Southwest Airlines for years thanks to AmTrav’s first-of-its-kind connection to Southwest’s modern booking technology launched in 2019. That modern technology enables access to the same lowest fares found on Southwest.com, streamlined unused ticket exchanges and trip changes, and more.

This is just the latest AmTrav investment in our seats technology, following our integration of Seatmaps.com data in our seatmap and offering loyalty-entitled and paid premium seats.

*For flights departing on and before Monday January 26, 2026, you can still purchase EarlyBird Check-In.hip Manager.