If you’re flying Southwest Airlines in the coming days, you may be treated to free Wi-Fi. While this is only a limited time trial for the time being, I have to imagine that there’s a motive behind this…
For context, Southwest ordinarily charges $8 per device for Wi-Fi, so those are some nice savings. For now this is just described as a trial. For what it’s worth, it’s the second time this year that Southwest has offered such a limited time promotion. The first trial was between May 1 and May 5, 2025, and with that trial, all passengers received free Wi-Fi, with no requirement to actually be a Rapid Rewards member.
I assume that Southwest is assessing how well bandwidth keeps up with demand when all passengers have access to free Wi-Fi, vs. just Rapid Rewards members. I also imagine the company is analyzing how many Rapid Rewards sign-ups this drives, and how it impacts customer satisfaction on flights over this period.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
