I was worried about bag issue too switching over to AA with having 4 in my family. That being said, a basic credit card from AA is $99/year and "First eligible checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to 4 companions traveling with you on the same reservation". That's with no status. When you get even gold that starts opening up more baggage options. I'm EP and last year to Pensacola I could have checked 12 bags for free for all of us lol.

Southwest is def not the cheapest anymore so even that $99 fee for the credit card each year saved me a ton vs the flight costs of SWA. If that makes sense.