I love to fly in fancy airline seats. There’s nothing like flying in a lie-flat seat and getting to recline back and catch a few ZZZs at 35,000 feet. It’s even more important if you’re going to be on a plane for 18 hours.
We can use miles to book flights when traveling over the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, but most of our flights are short trips within the continental U.S. Typically, we fly in economy with American, Delta, JetBlue, or Southwest, and it’s not worthwhile to use miles or cash to upgrade to first class.
However, there’s one seat on the plane I’ll always take if available.
It’s on Southwest, and for years it felt like a “blink and you’ll miss it” situation — because Southwest’s open seating meant the best seats were usually gone before most people even stepped on the plane. I could improve my odds by paying for Upgraded Boarding (or getting lucky with an early boarding position), but it was never guaranteed.
Now for the big update: starting with flights on/after January 27, 2026, Southwest is moving to assigned seating with “premium” seat options — including Extra Legroom seats. That means this favorite seat is no longer something you have to race for at boarding. You’ll be able to lock it in (either for free via certain benefits, or by paying for it).
The Southwest “infinite legroom” seat
Due to the seat designs on certain airplanes, access to the emergency exits necessitates removing seats next to the door. This means the row directly behind that area has no seat in the row in front of it.
Hello, legroom for days.
And yes — it still feels like a cheat code.
Back in the open-seating days, this seat was usually the FIRST one snapped up by savvy travelers (often those who had the earliest boarding positions). But on one of our flights, no one sat there before we got to it. My wife, Sharon, immediately jumped into the row to save the seat for me (and that’s true love, folks). Here’s what I was treated to on our Southwest A737-800.
If you’re looking for this seat on Southwest, it has traditionally been:
- Boeing 737-700: seat 12A
- Boeing 737-800: seats 16A and 16F
- Boeing 737 MAX 8: seats 16A and 16F
Important note for 2026 and beyond: with assigned seating (and Southwest’s cabin refresh), the easiest way to find this “unicorn” seat is to use the seat map and look for the Extra Legroom section around the mid-cabin exits. Seat numbers can vary by aircraft and layout, but the “giveaway” is the same: a window seat with an unusually huge open space in front of it.
Update: How to book this seat now (free or paid)
This is the part that changes everything.
For flights departing on or after January 27, 2026, Southwest will have three seat types:
- Extra Legroom: at the front of the cabin and near/at the exit rows
- Preferred: standard legroom, closer to the front
- Standard: standard legroom, generally farther back
So, how do you actually get this seat?
Option 1: Pay for it (most reliable)
- Book the “Choice Extra” fare bundle and you can pick an Extra Legroom seat at booking (if available).
- Book another fare bundle and purchase an Extra Legroom seat during booking or later (if available).
Translation: if you want to guarantee the seat (and you don’t have status), you’ll probably be paying for it — either bundled into a higher fare, or as a seat upgrade.
Option 2: Get it free with Southwest elite status
- A-List Preferred: can select any available seat at booking — including Extra Legroom — for free (when available). The benefit also extends to up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation.
- A-List: can select Preferred and Standard seats at booking for free, and can upgrade to Extra Legroom for free within 48 hours of departure (when available). This also extends to up to eight additional passengers on the same reservation.
If you’ve got status, you suddenly have a very realistic shot at snagging this seat without paying extra — especially if you’re A-List Preferred.
Option 3: Use a Southwest credit card to improve your seat-selection odds
Southwest is also giving Rapid Rewards credit cardmembers complimentary seating benefits (when available), but when you can select depends on which card you have:
- Plus / Plus Business: Standard seat selection 48 hours prior to departure
- Premier / Premier Business: Standard or Preferred seat selection 48 hours prior to departure
- Priority / Performance Business: Standard or Preferred seat selection at booking, plus eligibility to upgrade to Extra Legroom 48 hours prior to departure
So if you’re holding one of the higher-tier cards, you may be able to choose a decent seat much earlier — and potentially move into Extra Legroom later if Southwest makes that option available to you.
One more practical note: many Extra Legroom seats are located at/near exit rows, which can come with additional restrictions (age, ability to assist in an emergency, etc.). If Southwest flags a seat as exit-row related, you’ll have to meet the requirements to keep it.
What about flights before January 27, 2026?
If your Southwest flight departs on or before January 26, 2026, it’s still the classic Southwest experience: open seating. That means this seat is still a “get on early and grab it” game — and paying for something like Upgraded Boarding can still help.
But once your flights flip into the assigned-seat world, the game changes from “board early” to “book smart.”
Other airlines used to have a similar setup
Other airlines had a similar setup, and I had the legroom seat on an American flight, among all carriers. They had a configuration on some of their A319s. (Unfortunately, I now realize I was wearing the same sneakers) (Note from Sharon: They looked a whole lot newer then, my love. And yeah, I think you were wearing the same jeans, too).
Alas, American Airlines decided this wasn’t an efficient way to cram people into an airplane and has since reconfigured its planes to fit more people (and removed these seats in the process). I believe there are still a few JetBlue planes flying with a missing seat in the exit row.
Final thought
I’ll gladly take this seat whenever I can find it, since it’s still my favorite in economy. The difference now is that (for flights on/after January 27, 2026) it’s not just a “boarding position trophy” anymore — it’s a seat you can plan for.
And yes, I’ll even give Sharon the window seat on the next flight. Hopefully, she won’t get a seat like this.
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
