Basic Economy Fare Question
Mar 18, 2019, 8:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NJ
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Basic Economy Fare Question
I have a Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard. I do not have Elite status. My question is about booking a Basic Economy fare. Do I still get the perks of the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard such as select my seats for no fee, board Group5 and get First checked bag free for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions?
Mar 18, 2019, 8:23 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
I have a Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard. I do not have Elite status. My question is about booking a Basic Economy fare. Do I still get the perks of the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard such as select my seats for no fee, board Group5 and get First checked bag free for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions?
credit card does not let you select free seats even in regular economy. You can only select a regular seat that is available to non Elite members. However since you are flying basic economy you will not be select your seat for free. It will be available for purchase 48 hours before your flight or American will auto assign your seat for free at the time of check in.
Mar 18, 2019, 8:44 pm
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NJ
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Posts: 136
If you don’t have status and flying BE you will still get boarding group 5, free checked bag for you and 4 companions (domestic flights only).
credit card does not let you select free seats even in regular economy. You can only select a regular seat that is available to non Elite members. However since you are flying basic economy you will not be select your seat for free. It will be available for purchase 48 hours before your flight or American will auto assign your seat for free at the time of check in.
Mar 18, 2019, 8:46 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
Thanks. I'm traveling during a peak holiday time so not being able to pre-select a seat will be a deal breaker for me. Not willing to pay their up-charge for main cabin either. Will most likely end up on another carrier and cancel the Barclays card. Perks are not what they used to be. Thanks again.
If you are traveling during busy holiday time you can wait 2 hours until departure ti check in online and if flight is pretty full you may end up in MCE for free
Mar 18, 2019, 8:48 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NJ
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I’m not sure what the perks used to be but red aviator card never ever gave you a free seat selection benefit.
If you are traveling during busy holiday time you can wait 2 hours until departure ti check in online and if flight is pretty full you may end up in MCE for free
Mar 18, 2019, 8:50 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
you can still book a regular economy ticket and book a seat for free (with or without Barclays cars). Even elites are not able to select a seat for free if they purchase basic economy.
Mar 18, 2019, 8:52 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NJ
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Yes but the fare for economy is around $60.00 more than a Basic Economy fare. Not worth $60.00 just to select a seat at the time of booking.
Mar 18, 2019, 8:54 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
you can just buy basic economy and pay to select a seat 48-24 hours before your flight. It will definitely be less than 60 dollars for a regular seat.
Mar 18, 2019, 8:59 pm
#9
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Location: NJ
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Not willing to take that chance during a peak holiday season. I've traveled many times during peak holiday times and just want peace of mind knowing I have a seat.
Mar 18, 2019, 9:03 pm
#10
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
If you are not going to getvstatus on AA and other airlines have non basic economy for the same price of course go for it! No reason to fly on AA
Mar 18, 2019, 10:53 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Are you buy any chance traveling as a family with young children? There have been reports on FT that you could get your seats assigned in advanced for free in advanced without even needing to request it if you're traveling with young companions.
Mar 18, 2019, 11:22 pm
#12
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With the credit card they still need to consider bag fees or overhead storage space if they give up the credit card boarding benefit
Mar 19, 2019, 7:25 am
#13
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 313
While it may be irrelevant to the OP, this is true. AA is required to do this by the FAA. Families with young children (under age 14) will automatically be assigned seats together if they do not select scattered seats on the seatmap. Since BE pax cannot select seats, any BE families will be seated together by an automatic process within 48 hours of booking. I should clarify that these families will be seated so that each child is near an adult. A family of two parents and 2 kids may have two seats together in the front and two seats together in the back, with each child near an adult, so the whole family may not be together, but the kids will not be alone either.
Mar 19, 2019, 7:45 am
#14
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I'm not sure who you're going to book to get a seat assignment without a fare premium (maybe JetBlue operates on your airport pair). AA has basic economy. DL has basic economy. UA has basic economy - and prohibits carry-ons on said fares. Southwest has no seat assignments. Spirit, Frontier, and Allegiant have seat fees. That's over 85% of domestic capacity.
Mar 19, 2019, 9:59 am
#15
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: CLT
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Sorry to nitpick, but even if you don’t pay in advance to select a seat, you can still rest assured you’ll have a seat on that plane by the time it boards, yes? Are you genuinely worried about getting bumped?