Originally Posted by 3Cforme

Spokespeople get paid to pay stupid things to support the company line, but I don't believe that UA execs or equity analysts are really dumb enough to believe this.

A stated goal of Basic Economy fares is to compete with ULCCs. Will an inferior product - no seat assignments, no redeemable miles, no elite miles, no carry-on - at the same price as 'normal UA' today help UA better compete with Frontier (or Allegiant, or Spirit, or Delta's Basic Economy)?

UA may think it will force some people into higher fare buckets to maintain service attributes deleted from Basic economy. If they could get away with a $30 price increase on a large fraction of coach fares don't you think they'd do it today? Do you think the same 'normal' product at a higher price will help UA compete with Delta, AA, Alaska, Virgin American et al?

There are lots of factors that go into pricing across city pairs and over time, but no, UA is not going to get the same average discount coach fare systemwide it gets today for the upcoming Basic Economy.