BASIC ECONOMY = We have BASICally increased our ECONOMY airfares
For the past week, I've been checking United's airfare for several domestic locations for a potential summer vacation departing from ORD.
Today in my search, instead of the usual 3 columns of airfare on their website, I saw the new "Basic Economy" 4th column. What is very interesting is that instead of the lower fares as I was expecting for "Basic Economy", they were actually EXACTLY the same fare as yesterday's regular Economy fare. They simply raised the regular Economy fare to make room for Basic Economy.
For example, going to LAX at the end of May, yesterday there were 2 flights available for $107. Today, the new Basic Economy N-fare is exactly the same at $107 for those 2 flights. The regular Economy fare has gone up to $127, a $20 increase. Since I'm traveling with small kids, Basic Economy will not work for us. In effect for my family of 4, the roundtrip airfare has increased by $160. Fares from ORD-EWR follows the same fare logic, except the increase is $15 across the board.
Imagine if Toyota did this . . . "Introducing the 2018 Toyota BASIC Camry. We've removed the power windows, power door locks, power seats, cruise control, sunroof and we're selling it for the SAME price as the fully-loaded 2017 Toyota Camry"
Given the incident last week, I'm surprised they rolled out Basic Economy out on schedule. Passengers booked in N-fares will most likely be unfamiliar with United policies. Gate agents will have to spend time explaining the seating and carry-on policies. With an overbooking situation, N-fares will be the first group to be denied boarding. N-fare families will be swapping seats on board. It's going to be a fun summer!