Southwest Airlines will build its first airport lounges, with the first four in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville. Construction has already begun, the first guests are expected in late 2027, and access will come through a new premium Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card from Chase launching in 2027.
Southwest announced it on September 2, 2026. The lounge partner is Chase, and the release names the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Network as the model.
What Southwest Confirmed
Four airports are named and construction is underway at all four:
- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu
- Nashville International Airport
Southwest describes this as "just the beginning of a broader footprint across the Southwest system, with at least seven more lounges planned to open over the next several years across high-demand business and leisure markets."
On access, the release answers its own question directly: "A new, premium, Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card issued by Chase will be launching in 2027 and will provide access to the new Southwest lounge network."
"The introduction of a lounge network represents a strategic investment in Rapid Rewards and deepens our 30-year partnership with Chase," said Tony Roach, Southwest's Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Brand Officer.
What Is Confirmed Versus What We Reported in April
We covered a version of this in April, from leaked airport documents describing a 40,000 square foot facility at Austin. Our piece on the leaked Austin lounge plans laid out what those documents showed and flagged that Southwest had not confirmed any of it.
Southwest has now confirmed the program and the cities. It has not published a square footage for any lounge, and this release does not mention Austin's size. The leaked figure and the confirmed program are two different kinds of information, and they should stay that way until Southwest states a number itself.
The Card Is the Access Path, and That Is the News
Read the access answer again. A new card, in 2027, is the route in.
Southwest did not say that A-List or A-List Preferred members get access. It did not say Business Select fares get access. It did not mention a day pass, a paid entry price, or reciprocal access for holders of the existing Rapid Rewards cards. None of that is ruled out; none of it is stated.
For a program built almost entirely on the idea that everyone gets the same product, tying a lounge to one specific credit card is a real change in direction. Our Southwest card lineup covers the five cards that exist today, none of which Southwest has said will carry lounge access.
The Chase Detail Worth Noticing
The partner here is not a lounge operator. It is the bank.
Southwest names the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Network as the standard the new lounges will be built to. Chase now runs its own lounge network, sells access to it through the Sapphire Reserve, and is about to run a second network under an airline's brand.
That gives Chase two lounge products in the same airports and two cards that reach them. Whether they connect, and in which direction, is not something either company has addressed. Chase's own network geography has not always matched where its cardholders fly, and adding a second brand to the same airports does not obviously fix that.
What to Do With This Now
Nothing, and that is the honest answer for a lounge opening in late 2027.
The first guests are expected more than a year out, the card that opens the door has not launched, and no pricing or status alternative has been published. Any decision you make today about a Southwest card should rest on what that card does today.
If lounge access is what you are shopping for, our roundup of cards with airport lounge access covers what is available now. If you fly Southwest and want the current earning structure rather than a 2027 promise, the Southwest Rapid Rewards cards are the existing lineup.
The date to put in a calendar is the card launch in 2027, not the lounge opening. The card is where the terms will appear, and the terms are the part that decides whether any of this reaches you.
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Sources
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