Jun 6, 2018, 1:40 pm
Last edit by: Kacee
The TATL -LGT Fares will be called Basic Economy Effective 12/11/2018, Additional Restrictions will Apply
Now even more ways to fly across the Atlantic -- Atlantic Joint Venture offering with Air Canada and Lufthansa Group
Will earn 50% PQMs, 100% PQDs, RDMs, Lifetime miles and segment credit toward 4 UA segments needed for elite status
-- BE and TATL BE earns will be the same
BE uses N fares, TATL BE / -LGT can be a number of the lower discount economy fare classes
No changes -- dates, fare class, truly non-refundable ... and no upgrades
Other -LGT restrictions
Normal TATL fares include a free check bag -- -LGT fares do not for non-elites / non-credit card holders
No Premier seating benefits - i.e., no free Economy Plus
To aviod TATL BE fares
United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...
Benefit impact of restricted economy fares on UA Elites (Basic Econ, -LGT, Light Econ
Now even more ways to fly across the Atlantic -- Atlantic Joint Venture offering with Air Canada and Lufthansa Group
New ways to fly across the Atlantic Effective June 5, 2018, United Airlines in line with Atlantic Joint Venture partners Air Canada and Lufthansa Group, will introduce a new fare option in select trans-Atlantic markets.
Created for our customers who may be more price-sensitive, these lowest-priced fares are the first step towards a Basic Economy product on trans-Atlantic United flights. The fare includes the same inflight experience as standard United Economy but with important restrictions that you'll want to review carefully before booking.
Created for our customers who may be more price-sensitive, these lowest-priced fares are the first step towards a Basic Economy product on trans-Atlantic United flights. The fare includes the same inflight experience as standard United Economy but with important restrictions that you'll want to review carefully before booking.
What is the new fare option?
For customers traveling between the United States or Canada and select European countries in specific lower Economy booking classes, the new fare option will not include a complimentary first checked baggage allowance, upgrades or the ability to make changes following purchase.
Customers purchasing this fare for travel ticketed and operated on United will be eligible for advance seat assignments, one standard carry-on bag and one personal item, and the same United Economy cabin experience and services, including dining options, Wi-Fi for purchase and inflight entertainment.
What date is the fare option applicable?
The fare option is applicable for first ticket and first travel date on or after June 5, 2018, for all points of sale. The first bag fee does not apply to tickets purchased before June 4, 2018
.
How is the fare option identified?
For all Atlantic joint venture carriers, the last 3 characters of the fare basis code will be -LGT, and the fare type code is ERU/EOU.
For point of origin U. S. the fare is planned for booking classes K , L and T.
For point of origin E.U. and Canada, the fare is planned for booking classes K, L, T, S and W. Booking classes are subject to change and may vary by route.
The fares will vary from market to market and depend on availability. Customers traveling between the U.S. or Canada and Europe will be able to see if this fare is available on their flight when booking.
What are the conditions of the new fare option?
The new fare has some important restrictions compared to a standard United Economy ticket:
• The fare does not include a free baggage allowance for checked baggage.
• The fare is non-refundable and non-changeable except as stated in the United 24-hour flexible booking policy.
• The fare cannot be combined with any other fare type.
• The fare is not eligible for upgrades to a premium cabin (complimentary, purchased or instrument).
For customers traveling between the United States or Canada and select European countries in specific lower Economy booking classes, the new fare option will not include a complimentary first checked baggage allowance, upgrades or the ability to make changes following purchase.
Customers purchasing this fare for travel ticketed and operated on United will be eligible for advance seat assignments, one standard carry-on bag and one personal item, and the same United Economy cabin experience and services, including dining options, Wi-Fi for purchase and inflight entertainment.
What date is the fare option applicable?
The fare option is applicable for first ticket and first travel date on or after June 5, 2018, for all points of sale. The first bag fee does not apply to tickets purchased before June 4, 2018
.
How is the fare option identified?
For all Atlantic joint venture carriers, the last 3 characters of the fare basis code will be -LGT, and the fare type code is ERU/EOU.
For point of origin U. S. the fare is planned for booking classes K , L and T.
For point of origin E.U. and Canada, the fare is planned for booking classes K, L, T, S and W. Booking classes are subject to change and may vary by route.
The fares will vary from market to market and depend on availability. Customers traveling between the U.S. or Canada and Europe will be able to see if this fare is available on their flight when booking.
What are the conditions of the new fare option?
The new fare has some important restrictions compared to a standard United Economy ticket:
• The fare does not include a free baggage allowance for checked baggage.
• The fare is non-refundable and non-changeable except as stated in the United 24-hour flexible booking policy.
• The fare cannot be combined with any other fare type.
• The fare is not eligible for upgrades to a premium cabin (complimentary, purchased or instrument).
Are there any exemptions from the first bag fee?
The following customers are exempt from the fee when checking in with United and traveling on United or United Express for the first segment of a trans-Atlantic itinerary:
• MileagePlus Premier members
• Chase MileagePlus cardholders
• Members of the U.S. military
• Star Alliance Gold members
The following customers are exempt from the fee when checking in with United and traveling on United or United Express for the first segment of a trans-Atlantic itinerary:
• MileagePlus Premier members
• Chase MileagePlus cardholders
• Members of the U.S. military
• Star Alliance Gold members
-- BE and TATL BE earns will be the same
BE uses N fares, TATL BE / -LGT can be a number of the lower discount economy fare classes
No changes -- dates, fare class, truly non-refundable ... and no upgrades
Other -LGT restrictions
Normal TATL fares include a free check bag -- -LGT fares do not for non-elites / non-credit card holders
No Premier seating benefits - i.e., no free Economy Plus
To aviod TATL BE fares
ITA Matrix Google Flights -- select 1 Carry-on bag
related threadsUnited's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...
Benefit impact of restricted economy fares on UA Elites (Basic Econ, -LGT, Light Econ
TATL Basic Economy (renamed Dec 2018); all BE to earn 50% PQMs, earn 100% PQDs
Jun 6, 2018, 5:44 pm
#61
Join Date: Aug 2008
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meh, these don't seem too bad. If I were buying fairly close in (e.g. right outside of the 14-day mark) for a situation where it's unlikely that my travel plans will change, I'd probably go for it. These seem to lack the especially punitive features of the Basic Economy fares.
The biggest problem I have with non-changeable international fares is that if something happens and you need to change mid-trip you get stuck in a situation where you have to buy a punitively priced one-way ticket home, or buy a new roundtrip to get home with the intention of throwing away the return.
Edited to add: Sadly, non-changeable international fares are not a *A innovation. There are an obnoxious number of them out there ... including a lot of business class fares ex-Japan that allow cancellation but not changes.
The biggest problem I have with non-changeable international fares is that if something happens and you need to change mid-trip you get stuck in a situation where you have to buy a punitively priced one-way ticket home, or buy a new roundtrip to get home with the intention of throwing away the return.
Edited to add: Sadly, non-changeable international fares are not a *A innovation. There are an obnoxious number of them out there ... including a lot of business class fares ex-Japan that allow cancellation but not changes.
Last edited by Sykes; Jun 6, 2018 at 5:57 pm
Jun 6, 2018, 5:49 pm
#62
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I would have lost at least $4000 in UA fare value over the last twelve months if the tickets had been nonchangeable. Spend $900 in change fees, save $4000 in residual value. I'll happily take that over save $90 per ticket by buying a light fare, lose $4000 in residual value forever. Particularly since I have several credit cards which reimburse change fees up to $xxx.
The biggest problem I have with non-changeable international fares is that if something happens and you need to change mid-trip you get stuck in a situation where you have to buy a punitively priced one-way ticket home, or buy a new roundtrip to get home with the intention of throwing away the return.
My schedule (including vacations) has to be flexible due to work. I know I'm not the only one around here who has that limitation.
Jun 6, 2018, 5:57 pm
#63
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,319
For those not as price sensitive (who are ready to pay substantially more for a ticket than UA change fee + OTA change fee + "fare difference") the non-LGT fares are still available, at some premium. But then again, these travelers were not shopping on a price in the first place, because if they were - as above, the prices they pay would be less than the change fees.
I do find it funny, though, that, for example for the Christmas-New Years season all of the expensive tickets to Europe on UA now have the "light" version, that's just as outrageously priced as the non-light one ($100 difference).
Also find it interesting that looking at Lufthansa site, for the same period of time all fares include checked bags. Guess they have not switched to the new fare standard yet.
Jun 6, 2018, 5:59 pm
#64
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,319
The biggest problem I have with non-changeable international fares is that if something happens and you need to change mid-trip you get stuck in a situation where you have to buy a punitively priced one-way ticket home, or buy a new roundtrip to get home with the intention of throwing away the return.
Jun 6, 2018, 6:00 pm
#65
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Fair enough. Different model from mine.
Jun 6, 2018, 6:02 pm
#66
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Non-refundable tickets can often be changed --- you just need to pay the change fee. For international tickets, the residual ticket values can be quite high.
This kind of "No-change" tickets cannot be changed, literally. If you do not take the original flights you booked, you cannot get anything out of it --- just take it or lose it.
This kind of "No-change" tickets cannot be changed, literally. If you do not take the original flights you booked, you cannot get anything out of it --- just take it or lose it.
Jun 6, 2018, 6:04 pm
#67
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Also important is that (on a normal Economy fare) once you've started a trip (flown the outbound), for United fares not only do you retain the pricing advantage of a roundtrip fare, but the advance purchase is measured from the ORIGINAL purchase date to original date of departure, so you will indeed have to pay the $300 change fee, but often the fare difference is fairly reasonable and is mostly dependent on available fare buckets (i.e. having to upfare from W to Q because W isn't available on the new flight).
Last edited by Sykes; Jun 6, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Jun 6, 2018, 6:16 pm
#68
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,319
Yes, but when you change a roundtrip ticket you still use a roundtrip fare, which is often massively different than the one-way fare that you'd have to pay if you didn't have the other half of the round-trip attached to it. For example, if you've already flown to London and need to change your flight back home to SFO, United's cheapest published one-way fare from LHR to SFO on 9/15 is a B fare at $1,972+taxes and fees ($2,323.91 one-way all-in).
Flight search engines have not caught on yet. Kayak and GF both still show these UA fares as including a checked bag for free (so - a little surprise when going over to the UA site to buy). Not sure about Expedias and the like.
And yes, no SDC. This is from the UA disclaimer:
"Flight changes are not allowed, including advance and same-day changes, even for MileagePlus Premier® members."
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jun 6, 2018 at 6:52 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
Jun 6, 2018, 6:52 pm
#69
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Jun 6, 2018, 7:51 pm
#71
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It appears you can do this in two steps - buy up to Economy and then buy up to Business. Whether the fares make this logical remains to be seen.
Jun 6, 2018, 8:15 pm
#72
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Within 24 hours of purchase, you may be able to do it. (Or, like BE, you may only be given the option to cancel). After that, forget it.
Jun 6, 2018, 8:33 pm
#73
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Jun 6, 2018, 11:21 pm
#74
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I am a little confused by this - especially the no SDC and W and no-upgrade parts. I wonder if they had to do a lot of work to re-program the system(s) - you would think it was looking at only the class before. Now, the system(s) have to look at the fare class too? Also, I can just see agents getting confused and deny SDC/GPUs for US-originated W fares.
Jun 6, 2018, 11:36 pm
#75
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Well, if you look at this thread, you can find a couple of people looking at the light fare as a "discount," which is exactly what UA wants and likely not generally in line with reality, at least when compared to prices one week ago. The exact same thing happened when BE was first introduced.