After months of changes passengers hated, Southwest is finally adding a perk travelers might actually like — although there are still a few catches.
It seems like nearly every change Southwest Airlines has made recently has been anti-passenger. For example:
- Seats in economy have become smaller
- They began assigned seating and, with it, charging to select seats
- They now encourage families to pay for assigned seating so young children can sit with a parent.
- They started charging for checked bags and then had the gall to raise that fee less than a year later
So it was genuinely surprising when the airline announced another upcoming change — and this one might actually benefit passengers.
The airline is introducing its new Sip and Ship program, which will allow passengers to check one case of wine for free when they fly out of wine country.
Wine lovers will be able to check up to 12 bottles, for free, when traveling from select West Coast locations to eligible U.S. destinations.
Southwest hasn’t yet said exactly which airports qualify beyond “select West Coast locations,” although its April 7 announcement coincided with the airline beginning service at Santa Rosa’s Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport.
The program begins on April 24, 2026.
The rules
According to Southwest, each passenger may check one case of wine weighing up to 50 pounds, as long as it’s packed in a secure wine shipping box or specialized wine suitcase that meets standard checked baggage requirements. The promotion applies only to eligible routes, which have not yet been specified, and passengers must be 21 or older.
Similar to Alaska Airlines
Of course, Alaska Airlines has offered the same perk for years, and its version is available from roughly 30 airports in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California.
Depending on how Southwest defines “wine country,” the number of eligible airports may be limited—at least for now.
Still, for travelers flying from those locations, it’s a surprisingly solid perk—especially coming from an airline that hasn’t exactly been adding many of those lately.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
