Southwest Plans Icon Lounges at Four Airports From Late 2027
Southwest Airlines has named its first airport lounges and confirmed four locations, with access expected to come mainly through a new Chase credit card.
Southwest Airlines will open its first airport lounges, called Icon Lounges, by late 2027. The carrier plans nearly a dozen of them across its network over the next few years.
Four locations are confirmed so far, all at major bases: Austin Bergstrom International, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, Nashville International and Daniel K. Inouye International in Honolulu. Southwest has also committed to seven more lounges over the following years, without naming the airports.
Access through a new card
Entry will mainly come through a new premium credit card that Southwest plans to launch next year with Chase. At an event in Dallas last week, where the airline showed its new lounge portfolio, it displayed an image of the cobranded card. Its highest-tier consumer card today carries a $229 annual fee. The two most recent U.S. carriers to launch premium cards with lounge perks, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines, set fees between $395 and $499, though the lounge benefits on Southwest's card will almost certainly differ.
Southwest has announced no other way in. Some airlines let high-level elite members or long-haul premium passengers use their lounges, but Southwest has no long-haul flights or true premium seats. Executives say the Companion Pass will likely stay the central perk of the new "Platinum" elite tier.
What the lounges will offer
The airline gave a first look at the spaces. "They are going to be very aspirational," Nandika Suri, vice president of Rapid Rewards, told The Points Guy. "They will have a premium feel, but they will have that warm Southwest hospitality as well." Southwest also teased locally inspired food and drink and a mix of seating, working and relaxing zones.
The lounges follow a run of changes at the airline, which has moved to assigned seats, added an extra-legroom section, dropped free checked bags and just announced a loyalty program overhaul that takes effect in 2027. In the coming months, Southwest customers will be able to upgrade their credit card to get lounge access.
Source: The Points Guy