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Southwest Confirms 11 Airport Lounges and a New Premium Chase Card
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Southwest Airlines confirmed on September 2, 2026 that it is building at least 11 airport lounges in partnership with Chase. It is the clearest signal yet that the airline's move upmarket is not slowing down.
Four cities first, seven more to follow
The first lounges are planned for Austin, Baltimore, Nashville and Honolulu, with construction already underway. Southwest expects first guests in late 2027. The design borrows from the existing Chase Sapphire Lounge network, with Southwest touches like locally sourced dining.
The card is the real news
The lounges are years out. How you get in is the part that matters now. Access will be tied to a new premium Southwest Rapid Rewards card from Chase, launching in 2027.
Southwest has not published pricing, but its own customer surveys have been testing a $650 annual fee. If that holds, the card would sit in the same tier as the refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve and the American Express Platinum Card, a striking position for an airline built on free checked bags and open seating.
This is the 2026 premium playbook
The pattern is everywhere this year:
- Chase raised the Sapphire Reserve annual fee in June 2025.
- Amex refreshed the Platinum that September.
- Citi took the AAdvantage Executive to $695 this summer.
Southwest is the odd one out. Its core customer is a price-sensitive domestic traveler, not someone comparing lounge networks. A card at that price asks that customer to rethink the brand.
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What to do now
Nothing urgent. But if you hold a Southwest card today, a new premium tier usually means the existing lineup gets repositioned, with new benefits or a fee bump of its own. Watch the Rapid Rewards Plus, Premier and Priority cards as 2027 approaches. And if you are eyeing the premium card for lounge access, price it against how you actually fly. A lounge in Nashville is worth a lot if you connect through Nashville and nothing if you do not.
Thinking about a premium card? Test drive it against your real spending first and see what it would have earned you last year, before the annual fee is a live decision. See how test driving a card works.
Kudos tracks what each of your cards actually earns over a year, which makes the annual-fee-versus-value question much easier to answer before you commit to a premium card.
Wondering whether you would even be approved? Kudos shows your approval odds before anyone runs a hard inquiry, so a premium application is not a shot in the dark. Check your approval odds
Not sure which travel card fits you? The Kudos Explore tool matches cards to how you actually spend and travel, rather than to a generic best-of list. Explore cards with Kudos.
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are those of Kudos alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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