Originally Posted by
minnyfly
How many people are knowledgeable enough to know the detail about fare classes but then don't know much about the generality of the basic economy fare? It has to be minutely small.
I think you may be missing the point. You're indeed right that most passengers won't be "knowledgeable enough to know the detail about fare classes," but based on news reports they may still assume all economy on UA is BE, and book on OAL accordingly, just to save themselves the hassle.
All despite the fact that they could've simply selected a non-BE fare on UA. That's how purchase decisions work sometimes.