Lesson learned on basic economy that is not disclosed at all by United - you cannot check in online and have to go to a kiosk plus have an agent manually check you in. To me, this almost totally defeats the purpose. I bought tickets for a day trip, knowing that we would have no luggage (or even a carry-on), but had to arrive early at the airport both ways, evidently so that the check-in agent could confirm that we had no carry-ons. The gate agent could have easily done (and did) the same screening and saved us 30 minutes each way. Not worthwhile for me until (or if) this is addressed.