So much for "no change fees"
Sep 24, 23, 11:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
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So much for "no change fees"
Sep 24, 23, 11:23 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
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Ummmm...I'm not getting your point? If you book a Basic Economy fare, you can't make changes. That's always been the case (there was a brief period at the beginning of COVID where they didn't enforce this). If you book a regular Main Cabin fare, as shown in your screen shot, there are no change fees.
Sep 24, 23, 11:43 am
#3
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Sep 24, 23, 11:52 am
#4
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Maybe the point is that $694 x 2 is less than $1,807 x 1. But that assumes that the fares will remain substantially the same if and when the OP has to change his dates and book a new ticket.
Sep 24, 23, 11:57 am
#5
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But even if that's the point, basic economy tickets come with other restrictions/limitations (including on mileage earning) beyond just the change limitation, not all of which are waived by status, that main cabin fares don't.
Sep 24, 23, 12:04 pm
#6
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You're right about the reduced mileage earnings, but elite-status passengers get free advance seat selection, free MCE seats (for AAdvantage and some oneworld elites), free checked baggage, access to priority check-in desks, and priority boarding.
Sep 24, 23, 3:56 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,359
Ummmm...I'm not getting your point? If you book a Basic Economy fare, you can't make changes. That's always been the case (there was a brief period at the beginning of COVID where they didn't enforce this). If you book a regular Main Cabin fare, as shown in your screen shot, there are no change fees.
Sep 24, 23, 4:02 pm
#8
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This is a lot different than an MC fare being $30-$100 more than a BE fare. Using your logic, AA could have always advertised they didn't have change fees as they've always (or at least as far back as I recall) offered flexible tickets, albeit way more expensive than a standard advanced purchase fare.
And, no, it's not the same as having no change fees only on some tickets. This is no change fee for any (domestic) ticket.
Sep 24, 23, 4:14 pm
#9
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No change fees for tickets that originate in the USA. As you noted in that screenshot, some tickets, such as Basic Economy fares, cannot be changed at all (other than by canceling them for a credit). But there is no fee to cancel. You just can't make changes to the existing booking.
However, tickets that originate overseas may have change fees in accordance with what is customary and what the market expects in each country (and what competitors and partners are doing).
However, tickets that originate overseas may have change fees in accordance with what is customary and what the market expects in each country (and what competitors and partners are doing).
Sep 24, 23, 4:28 pm
#10
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This is a lot different than an MC fare being $30-$100 more than a BE fare. Using your logic, AA could have always advertised they didn't have change fees as they've always (or at least as far back as I recall) offered flexible tickets, albeit way more expensive than a standard advanced purchase fare.
I've never seen a BE to Y spread this large. I'd suspect that it will narrow soon once they rebalance inventory.
Sep 24, 23, 5:11 pm
#11
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Sep 24, 23, 5:42 pm
#12
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I'm curious what route the OP is pricing, or as suggested some imbalance in inventory. I've never seen a spread that big. Normally it is roughly equivalent to the spread between Main Cabin and Main Cabin Extra in my experience.
Sep 24, 23, 5:53 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2010
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Point remains that the differences between BE and Main are more than just the change policy
Sep 24, 23, 6:40 pm
#14
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It would be good to know what route this differential applied to
Sep 24, 23, 7:03 pm
#15
Join Date: Dec 2010
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Posts: 2,464
If having insurance that covers unforseen circumstances and a set plan, no changes is not a big issue - I don't think that there is $1100 of benefit that would justify purchase of Main Cabin over Basic Economy
It would be good to know what route this differential applied to
It would be good to know what route this differential applied to
More to the point: In general I agree with you here. But OP didn't title this "big price differential between BE and Main". They titled this "so much for no change fees". This isn't about change fees.
Most likely this is some inventory weirdness, like the cases when Premium Economy prices out cheaper than Main Cabin, because all the discount buckets have been sold. I can think of no reason why AA revenue management would want this big of a differential between BE and Main.
