Southwest Lounge at Honolulu Airport: Update - 7/28/26
Southwest's first airport lounge in 55 years is slated for our home airport. Photo: Unsplash
As of July 2026. Editorial note: this article contains no affiliate links. Opinions are my own and program details change fast, so always confirm current terms with the airline before you book.
- Southwest CEO Bob Jordan confirmed on the airline's July 23, 2026 earnings call that lounge work is underway and the spaces will likely be co-branded with Chase.
- Honolulu is the furthest along. Southwest holds a five-year HDOT lease for a two-level, 12,241 square foot space in Terminal 2, the former Garden Conference Center.
- Access is expected to run through a new premium Southwest co-branded card from Chase, with reported annual fees in the $500 to $600 range. Nothing is confirmed.
- No opening date has been announced. Southwest has still not formally acknowledged the project.
- For kamaʻāina, the practical takeaway is simple. Keep earning flexible points now, and do not chase an unannounced card.
Southwest is finally building airport lounges, and the first one is going in at our airport. That is the short version of what came out of the airline's second quarter earnings call last week, and if you fly out of HNL on points the way I do, it is worth five minutes of your attention.
What did Southwest actually say about lounges?
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan confirmed there is active work underway on a network of airport lounges, and said they will likely be co-branded with Chase, the issuer of Southwest's Rapid Rewards cards. He stopped short of a formal announcement. Speaking on the airline's earnings call on Thursday, July 23, 2026, Jordan said the point of the lounges is to expand the co-brand offering, expand the card set, and give customers something they really want.
That framing matters. Jordan did not pitch lounges as a customer experience upgrade first. He pitched them as a credit card play. As AirlineGeeks reported, this fits the broader direction Southwest has taken since activist investor Elliott Management pushed through changes that ended free checked bags and open seating for most travelers.
Southwest has never operated an airport lounge in its 55 year history. So this is a genuine break from the model the airline was built on.
Why is Honolulu getting Southwest's first lounge?
Honolulu is first because the paperwork is already done. In October 2025, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation approved a direct lease letting Southwest develop and operate a VIP airline lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and no other city in the pipeline was that far along at the time.
The specifics from the HDOT filings, as first surfaced by View from the Wing:
- Location: Building 342 in Terminal 2, the former Garden Conference Center, right alongside the Honolulu Airport Cultural Gardens.
- Size: 12,241 square feet across two levels. Roughly 9,577 square feet downstairs and 2,664 square feet upstairs.
- Lease: Five years at $156.14 per square foot, which works out to about $1.91 million per year.
- Buildout: A minimum $20 million improvement commitment. That is not a pilot project number.
- Neighbors: This is the same corner of Terminal 2 where the American Airlines and Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Qantas, and IASS lounges already cluster.
Reporting from Beat of Hawaii pinned the HDOT action to October 9, 2025. If you want the full picture of what is happening at our airport, I broke down all three new lounges coming to HNL earlier this year, because Delta and Alaska have lease filings moving too.
| Airport | Status as of July 2026 | Reported size |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu (HNL) | Lease approved Oct 2025, amended Jan 2026 | 12,241 sq ft |
| Nashville (BNA) | Permits filed Feb 2026, largest in pipeline | 30,000 sq ft |
| Austin (AUS) | Reported as under consideration | Not reported |
| Dallas Love Field (DAL) | Reported as under consideration | Not reported |
| Denver (DEN) | Reported as under consideration | Not reported |
How will you get into a Southwest lounge?
Nobody knows yet, and that is the honest answer. The widely reported expectation is that access will be anchored to a new premium Southwest co-branded credit card from Chase, with industry reporting putting the annual fee somewhere in the $500 to $600 range. Southwest has not confirmed a card, a fee, a day pass price, or whether A-List elites get in.
What we do have is a customer survey Southwest ran, reported by View from the Wing, that floated potential perks including unlimited lounge access, a Priority Pass Select membership, a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, CLEAR membership, a $100 annual travel credit, and preferred seat upgrades inside 48 hours. A survey is a trial balloon, not a product. Half of that list may never ship.
Southwest has still not formally announced the lounge program, the premium card, or an opening date for Honolulu. Everything above the survey line comes from state lease filings and earnings call remarks. Treat the $500 to $600 annual fee figure as reporting, not as a published number.
What does this mean for kamaʻāina flyers?
For Hawaiʻi residents, the short-term impact is close to zero, and the long-term impact could be real. A 12,241 square foot lounge at HNL is a serious piece of real estate, and it would sit in the premium cluster of Terminal 2 rather than tucked away somewhere. But construction takes years, and Southwest will almost certainly time the opening to a card launch.
The more useful thing to notice is what Southwest is signaling. The airline already runs ʻOhana Rewards, its only location specific loyalty program anywhere in the network, which gives Hawaiʻi residents a minimum of 1,000 Rapid Rewards points per one-way interisland flight, awards from 4,000 points, two free checked bags interisland, and a quarterly discount code. Southwest's COO Andrew Watterson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the airline knows it is the smaller carrier here and has to try harder. A lounge at HNL is that same logic, aimed at a higher spending traveler.
If you want the current lay of the land at our airport in the meantime, my HNL airport lounge guide maps every lounge in both terminals and who gets in.
Here's what I'd do right now
- Nothing on the card front. There is no product to apply for. Anyone telling you to position yourself for an unannounced card is guessing.
- Keep building flexible points. Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards balances stay useful no matter which lounge opens first. That flexibility is the whole point of a transferable currency.
- Sign up for ʻOhana Rewards if you have not. It is free with a Hawaiʻi address, and the interisland bag and points benefits are live today.
- Do not drop your existing lounge strategy. Your current access at HNL, whether through status, a premium card, or Priority Pass at the Premier Club, is the only access that matters for the next couple of years.
- Watch the fourth quarter. If Southwest formally announces the card, that is when the sign-up bonus conversation actually starts.
That is exactly what the ʻOhana Program is for. I sit down with Hawaiʻi families one on one and build a card and points strategy around the trips you actually take, whether that is Vegas, the Mainland, or Japan with the whole crew.
Learn about the ʻOhana ProgramScottie's Take
I love this news, and I am also not getting ahead of myself. Honolulu getting the first Southwest lounge in the airline's history is a genuinely cool thing to say out loud, and putting it in the old Garden Conference Center next to the cultural gardens is a beautiful choice. That corner of Terminal 2 is one of the nicest spots at any airport in the country and it has been sitting mostly unused.
But here is my honest bottom line. This is a credit card announcement wearing a lounge costume. Bob Jordan said it himself, the purpose is to expand the co-brand. Southwest is not building this because interisland travelers asked for a nicer place to wait for the Kona flight. They are building it because a $500-plus annual fee card needs a reason to exist, and lounge access is the reason.
That does not make it bad. It might turn out to be a great value, especially if it comes with Priority Pass on top. I just want us going in clear-eyed. Nothing changes for your travel this year or probably next. Keep stacking flexible points, keep using ʻOhana Rewards for interisland, and we will run the numbers together the day that card actually shows up.
Are you excited about a Southwest lounge at HNL, or would you rather they just bring back the free bags? Drop a comment, I want to hear it.
A hui hou, Scottie.
Frequently asked questions
When will the Southwest lounge at Honolulu open?
No opening date has been announced as of July 2026. Southwest secured the HDOT lease in October 2025 with a $20 million minimum buildout commitment, and the lease was amended in January 2026. A project of that size typically takes years, and Southwest is expected to time the opening to a new premium credit card launch.
Where exactly will the Southwest lounge be at HNL?
The lounge will occupy Building 342 in Terminal 2 at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the former Garden Conference Center. It spans two levels totaling 12,241 square feet, next to the Honolulu Airport Cultural Gardens and near the existing American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Qantas lounges.
How much will Southwest lounge access cost?
Nothing has been confirmed. Industry reporting points to a new premium Southwest co-branded card issued by Chase with an annual fee in the $500 to $600 range, with lounge access as the headline benefit. Day pass pricing and elite access rules have not been announced.
Will Rapid Rewards A-List members get free lounge access?
Southwest has not said. Based on how Delta Sky Club and United Club access works today, gated access tied to a premium card is the most likely structure, but no elite entitlement has been confirmed either way.
Does this change anything for ʻOhana Rewards members?
Not right now. ʻOhana Rewards benefits for Hawaiʻi residents are unchanged, including a minimum of 1,000 Rapid Rewards points per one-way interisland flight, awards starting at 4,000 points, two free checked bags interisland, and a quarterly discount code. Lounge access has not been tied to the program.
Which other airports are getting Southwest lounges?
Nashville is the largest confirmed project at a reported 30,000 square feet, with permits filed in February 2026. Austin, Dallas Love Field, and Denver have been reported as candidates. CEO Bob Jordan has mentioned Chicago Midway as an airport to watch, but no filings there have been reported.
Should I wait for the Southwest premium card before applying for anything?
No. There is no announced product, no published fee, and no launch date. Flexible points currencies like Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards remain useful regardless of what Southwest launches, which is why I build most kamaʻāina strategies around them. See my breakdown of the best cards for Hawaiʻi travelers.
For the bigger picture on flying out of Hawaiʻi on points, including how the Alaska and Hawaiian merger reshaped things for locals, start with my Atmos Rewards guide for kamaʻāina.
