You may say, of course you ninny! But, I had never noticed this issue until last night.

I am trying to book flights for a trip, which is still several months out. When I looked at the seats available for basic economy, I thought it was peculiar that almost all the window and aisle seats were unavailable so far out. It could very well be that the flight is just already full, but I did some Googling and came across this article: https://thepointsguy.com/2017/10/blo...d-aisle-seats/

He seems to show proof that AA is blocking seats to basic economy customers so that they can charge an up-charge for those blocked seats.

For the 5 people on this trip, the difference in price between basic economy and main cabin is about $60. So you save $300 if you book basic economy. AA changed their rules recently and now basic economy is allowed to have 1 carry on at no additional charge. So, apparently the only differences now are as follows:


The flight is not terribly long - only 2 hours and I know I will get to pick my seats 24-hours before the flight. We did this on Lufthansa to Munich and it was fine. But, their seats weren't all blocked like AA's seem to be.

Do you know if AA makes an effort to seat people together who are on Basic Economy or is that not even a consideration anymore because the tickets are so cheap? Yes, I realize the flight is that long and we don't "need" to sit together. But, I'm just curious.