60% Of Southwest Flyers Now Pay To Upgrade From Base Fare — Here’s What It Costs In 2026

Southwest Airlines closed the first quarter of 2026 with six in ten passengers paying more than the fare shown at the top of the search results, according to figures tied to the carrier’s Q1 2026 results, mentioned by Yahoo Finance. That statistic sits behind Southwest’s swing to a $227 million profit on record revenue of $7.25 billion, and it turns “what does a Southwest ticket cost” into a two-part question: what is the Basic fare, and what does it actually cost to leave it? This article answers both, tier by tier, and checks Southwest’s 2026 pricing against Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines.