Inadvertently bought oversized luggage (65in). Has anyone experienced any wiggle room on SWA or do they slap the fee on you ruthlessly?
TIA
We stopped using our large luggage other than for military moves when we are allowed 70 lbs. When full, they are always too heavy. SW once told us to shift some things from one suitcase to another so we wouldn’t be charged, but that was 7-8 years ago.
Thx armywife. We’re good on weight… Have been shifting stuff around, and yes, it is about half full. But we can’t make it any smaller 
Unfortunately we are hours from departure and have already done a panic purchase of a “smaller” bag and it doesn’t seem like it will fare better.
Trying to decide whether to risk the larger bag or try the newer one (which is still returnable) but may still end up making a $150 potential rt fee into $230 when one considers the cost of the luggage…
You could always put the smaller one in the car and if you have to repack, you can, but that won’t help you if they ding you on your return.
As SWA allows you 2 suitcases each (right?) can you go with the smaller bags? One thing in your favour is that its only half full. You can’t change the size, but at least it’s not bursting at the seams or expanded.
Yep. 2 bags each and with a family of 5 going we could end up with 10 free bags totaling 500lbs, so it’s a bit irksome that I need to sweat 3 inches over size because I don’t have the bags I KNOW will qualify and getting them isn’t necessarily an economical alternative.
… And thanks for all the comments so far.
I know its too late to do now, but if you don’t use the larger luggage, can it be returned? (Why do they sell stuff like that anyway?) If not, $75 per bag each way is nothing to sneeze at.
I guess if it were me, I’d use the new luggage, but like I said, if you have room, bring the new luggage in the car, so if they want to charge you, you can swap them out. I know, my DH would give me an “are you kidding” look, too.
How many of your pieces are too large? Hopefully not all of them?
I have one large bag we bought for this trip weeks ago and cannot be returned. We have a second large bag which I bought tonight and is slightly smaller than the first, but may still be over depending on how it is measured. It can still be returned.
We were considering taking it as “backup” as you suggest. May do that since once there we can ask the attendant for advice. Just have to figure out what to ask our driver to do (my DFIL… Is that even an acronym?)
In case anyone following along, we bought ANOTHER, smaller bag and borrowed one. Took them to the airport empty… “Just in case”. Went to curb side check in with the original, big bag (and others). Skycap didn’t even glance at it twice just put it in the scale and verified weight. Woohoo… He was totally friendly the whole time and we were more than happy to give him (what we think) is a good tip.
Will have a couple of pieces of luggage to return to the store in a a couple of weeks, but t-minus 190 minutes to the most magical place on earth. Yay!
Thanks to all on the thread that helped me with therapy 
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Awesome! That’s a relief for you. Have a wonderful trip.
Safe travels and have a great time!