Originally Posted by
3Cforme
Speculation can run wild. Informed observation is that Delta's cheapest award tickets still book into Main Cabin, not Basic Economy. AA can do something different but this is a 'Monkey see, Monkey do' business: AA/UA/DL seldom do something a lot different from their peers.
Sure, they can do whatever they want, and maybe there is some rationale for them to offer/book discounted awards with Basic amenities.
But generally I agree with you. If the underlying reason for the Basic fares in the first place was to be competitive with the ULCs -- well, really there's no need to be competitive in offering any particular itinerary at the lowest mileage. Very few people probably comparison shop award itineraries (FTers excluded, natch) because very few people even have enough miles on different programs. And I don't even know what kind of reward program Spirit/Allegiant/etc. have.
Longer-term, maybe someone at AA will think they could make AAdvantage more attractive by providing more discount award redemption opportunities. However, I think there's no shortage of OTHER, easier things they could do to make the program more attractive... (Like reverse most of the changes in the past year!
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