Southwest's elimination of open seating and free checked bags has driven a wave of frustration among loyal customers. These airline apps offer free checked bags, more reliable boarding passes, or the better loyalty programs that long-time Southwest flyers are now looking for.
Each app below addresses a specific gap in Southwest Airlines's offering. We picked them based on real user review patterns and feature differentiation.
JetBlue is the closest spiritual heir to old Southwest — a free checked bag still comes with most fares, the seats have more legroom than American or Delta economy, and every flight has free WiFi. The app is consistently rated higher than Southwest's (4.86 vs 4.84) and doesn't have the same bait-and-switch seat selection problems.
Explore JetBlue data →Alaska Airlines (now merged with Hawaiian) consistently ranks at the top of customer satisfaction surveys and the Mileage Plan loyalty program is widely considered the best of any US airline. Its app is reliable, supports mobile boarding passes that actually work, and the seat selection process is straightforward.
Explore Alaska Airlines data →Delta has the best on-time performance of any major US airline and the app reflects that reliability — boarding passes, gate updates, and bag tracking all work as expected. SkyMiles is less generous than Alaska's Mileage Plan but the network reach is unmatched, especially for international connections.
Explore Delta Air Lines data →American's app is functional and the network is the largest in the US, with strong international partnerships through oneworld. The AAdvantage program is more generous than Delta's SkyMiles for casual flyers. App stability has improved significantly in recent updates.
Explore American Airlines data →United's app is one of the most feature-rich in the category, with reliable boarding passes, real-time bag tracking, and free in-flight entertainment streaming. The Star Alliance network gives you the broadest international reach of any US carrier. MileagePlus has improved significantly over the past five years.
Explore United Airlines data →Hopper's price prediction algorithm tracks historical fare data and tells you when to book. It's airline-agnostic, so you can compare Southwest against Delta, United, and JetBlue side by side. Useful when Southwest's pricing is no longer the obvious best deal it once was.
Explore Hopper data →We found these alternatives by analyzing review patterns across airline apps and cross-referencing the primary churn reason for Southwest users — the recent changes to seating and baggage policies. The apps below were selected because each addresses at least one of those friction points directly.
Southwest announced in early 2025 that its signature free-checked-bag policy would end as part of a broader strategic shift demanded by activist investor Elliott Management. The change has been deeply unpopular and reviews suggest it's the single biggest reason loyal customers are considering other airlines.
JetBlue still includes a free checked bag on most fares, making it the closest equivalent to old Southwest. Alaska Airlines also offers a free checked bag for elite status members and credit card holders. American, Delta, and United generally charge for checked bags on basic fares.
The app handles basic booking adequately but reviewers consistently flag issues with boarding pass generation, TSA Precheck integration, and the new seat selection system. Many users report having to log in multiple times and finding their selected seats changed at check-in.
App Vulture uses AI-powered review intelligence to analyze what real users say about apps — their pain points, feature requests, and reasons for switching. We identified these alternatives by analyzing review patterns across airline apps and validated each candidate against the source app's most common churn reasons.
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