As a follow up I can also confirm this. I was able to choose either a preferred or standard seat, for me and my wife, by purchasing the Basic Fare. It also carried over her flight credits since she's a RR member too.
That may have been old information before they changed the cabin layout with the extended legroom seats. For the best information, I would go search the SW forum at FlyerTalk.
We were sitting in seats 7B and 7C so I know there wasn't a window for 7A on our plane when we flew last month. But I'm sure that the rows have changed for some of the windows.
Unless you are taking them out of your bags, how are they planning to enforce this? I am not familiar with airline baggage processes, but are they going through each passenger's bag(s) and searching for battery packs? I have a small packing cube which holds 2-3 small (<10,000mAh) battery packs that I bring in my backpack . How would they know if I brought them on the plane? I am not planning on flying SWA anymore (and this is just another reason), but if other airlines follow this trend, the question still stands. I want to follow the rules, but I am genuinely curious how they plan to enforce it.
They advised by mid-2027 all the fleet would have the in-seat charging.
SWA isn't at all the first airline to do this. A decent amount don't allow in-flight charging of them, more and more don't allow overhead bin storage of them (like SWA), several of them don't allow the usage of them period during the flight at all. But these are international carriers so if you're only flying U.S. ones it might seem very new.
I used to bring 2 of them because of the time it takes to charge a power bank to full charge. But my concern was largely for the most part back then for usage during my trip not the flight time. Over time power banks have gotten better and better on them and I quit trying to bring old old power banks that have lost their effectiveness where they go dead too quickly.
Technically that's a TSA rule so in theory it lies with them. You're supposed to have the wattage amount listed on the power bank for that reason too, at least to make it easier to know. Then airlines can have a more generous policy but their info on the TSA webpage lists "with airline approval passengers may also carry up to two spare larger lithium ion batteries (101–160 Wh) or Lithium metal batteries (2-8 grams). This size covers the larger after-market extended-life laptop computer batteries and some larger batteries used in professional audio/visual equipment.) so in theory that means if TSA stops you, checks your items, you may have to prove the airline approved what you're bringing).
