Basic Economy with AA Status
 

If I book a basic economy ticket but have AA status (EXP) does the status override the basic economy restrictions? Do I get to choose a seat at booking? Can I still choose a Main Cabin Extra seat at booking? Luggage restrictions? Boarding group?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Yes, status prevails. See: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...ic-economy.jsp

You will get all of those EXP benefits on a Basic Economy ticket.

Yes, you get all of the EXP privileges. The only downsides I could find to booking basic economy are reduced RDM/LP earnings, no changes and no cancellations. But when I had specific dates for travel and didn't expect to need to cancel, I booked basic economy and saved some money.

As other have mentioned, you would get the benefits. But you will earn about 30% of the miles you would for a Main ticket, so if Loyalty Points and Redeemable Miles are of importance to you then you will need to evaluate the delta in cost. To see how many miles you will get for a flight, you can login and go through the booking process all the way up to the Review and Pay screen. It is presented there. ... or just ballpark it by taking the fare and multiply by 11 as EXP. As an example, looking at short flight in BE for $192 will earn 722 LPs/Award miles. The same flight in Main is $221, and will earn 2112 LPs/Award Miles.

If you do go the BE route, and the price is the same for round trip vs two one ways (not sure if it ever is), you could consider purchasing the two one ways. (lets say something comes up and you are forced to modify your outbound... you will only lose that ticket, and not both directions)

I’m an EXP considering booking my first BE fare and am seeking clarification of the bolded language above. I have seen the same caveat elsewhere on FT. But the way I read the AA website , it seems as though same day changes are indeed permissible on BE fares, and that as an EXP I could do that at no charge. Is my interpretation correct?

Yes. As an EXP, you can do same-day confirmed changes, for both earlier & later flights, at no charge. Standby, too, for what that's worth.

Also, in reading the fine print lately, "no cancellations" meant a $99 cancellation fee + flight credit for domestic tickets and, for a ticket to LHR, actually no (as in zero) cancellation permitted at all.

The only bad thing about Basic Economy for me is the cancellation policy.

You can also use SWUs on basic economy fares.

Booking myself with some other folks who are penny pinchers on a domestic itinerary and have some questions, since I have never booked a BE ticket. If I book a BE ticket for 4 passengers - myself (EXP) and 3 non-status holders - and for some reason a cancellation has to be made, I am interested in three scenarios:
1) One or more of the other passengers wants to cancel and the others do not - can that/those pax's ticket(s) be cancelled with a travel credit minus the $99?
2) I want to cancel and the others do not - obviously the others would lose the status benefits, but would I be able to be cancel with a travel credit minus the $99?
3) All 4 of us cancel - would we all be entitled to the travel credit minus the $99? In this case, since I am paying for the ticket, would I get 4 individual travel credits, or one lump travel credit; or would each of us (presuming all have AAdvantage accounts) get our own credits? If any of the other three does not have an AAdvantage account, how would this work?

Not to sound snarky, but if you think there is some chance that you will need changes, likely the BE fare is not for you. What is the difference in fare between BE and Main Cabin. As a general rule of thumb, I am more inclined to use Main Cabin when I am near 100% sure I will not need to cancel or change my flight. (Status does help with the Same Day Changes and such but usually when buying BE I purchase what I'm pretty sure I am going to actually fly.) As far as the flight credits, I'm not 100% positive but I think they are tied to a passenger and a PNR, not necessarily an advantage#. When canceling for my wife and I it issues us each a separate credit even if I purchased it using my credit card. That was only able be used by the PAX from the itinerary that it was issued to.

I've got a ticket from Panama back to California in Sept. In BE. The connection out of MIA is amazingly bad. So I was forced to overnight in MIA. The next day is the exact opposite. PHX and then CLD should go by quickly. Hence flying BE. My question is, what is this upgrade for cash to 1st class thing AA keeps pushing? Is it $100 per segment or for all 3 segments. My Elite status gives me choice of seats, all the way to the front of economy and I'll be visiting an AA lounge in between flights that are not very long. So what is the benefit? Passengers are not exactly fed well nowadays, and I'm led to believe that the lounges are not going to do any better.

It is the lowest priced segment. Click on it and you will see the options.

Thank-you Antarius. I appreciate your perfect response.

To answer your other question about the worth of it - YMMV. AA is aggressively marketing them now. If you're going on a big vacation, it's an opportunity to splurge a little and bee more comfy.

IME, the real value comes for people without elite status booking far out or close in. For example, I have a flight on UA in a few days and Economy + seat selection + checked bag was $670. First, including a lay flat on the 777 was $770. I booked the latter in a heartbeat. Even without the layflat, the extra space allows me to use my laptop, which more than pays for itself. Other cases, the difference on TUL-IAH was $45. It was actually cheaper to book First than Y + seat + bag.

With elite status, I wouldn't drop an extra 300 bucks on the difference. However, sans status, it is a no brainer.

The upgrade offer is likely for PHX-CLD which is a short ca. 1 h (wheels up/wheels down) flight on E175. On such a flight you will be getting drinks and packaged snacks from a basket. Not worth of $100 for sure. However, leaving MIA you should be able to get into the Flagship lounge even you are flying AA with AA status - as long as your connection in MIA is <24 h. Safe travel!