fumje

(exceedingly minor clarification)

I think the 'scarlet letter' actually appears at the top of the BP, if I saw correctly over someone's shoulder. I'm not sure if you can wind up with both 'PREMIER 1K'/'GLOBAL SERVICES' and 'BASIC ECONOMY' printed on the boarding pass, but I would imagine so, in which case it has to go somewhere other than the bottom.

LASUA1K

Here is a good one! ORD-IAD, one way for next week 366.00, in Basic Economy AND Economy. Yup, exact far for N fare and E fare.

LASUA1K

One more gem of a fare. ORD-EWR one way next week. 438.00 for Basic Economy, and 439.00 for Economy. There will be some upset people who book that 438.00 fare. Is it really worth it to UA to confuse people and make them upset?

MY-OTHER-BROTHER-"TED"

To be one of the first to board & HOTFOOT it to an E- seat isn't anything that I would want to experience, EVER!!!

Q: As a MileagePlus Premier member, will I be able to select a seat in Economy Plus or in the front cabin when flying on a Basic Economy ticket?

A: No, all travelers with Basic Economy tickets, including MileagePlus Premier members, will not be able to sit in Economy Plus or the premium cabin. This includes complimentary and for-purchase Economy Plus seating, as well as any type of upgrade including paid upgrades, MileagePlus Upgrade Awards, Complimentary Premier Upgrades, Regional Premier Upgrades and Global Premier Upgrades.

Q: I'm a MileagePlus Premier member — will I still be able to choose an Economy Plus seat?

A: Customers who purchase a Basic Economy ticket, regardless of Premier level, will not be able to purchase or receive an Economy Plus seat.

Darlox

Non-snarky answer: Yes, it is.

This down-tiering is INTENTIONALLY designed from soup to nuts, to confuse the consumer. There's even a name for it in Marketing: "Decoy Pricing". Profiting from consumer confusion, ignorance, misunderstanding and overall poor decision making is one of the classic time-tested tactics of companies in near-monopoly or oligarchical situations. Airlines have consolidated their way into the same rarified circle as banks, cable companies and cell phone carriers.

You're going to make bad decisions. They're going to profit from them. And then 6 months later, you're going to do it again, most likely because you have no other choice.

Eventually the house of cards falls... but it'll take awhile, and there's far, far too much money to be made in the meanwhile!

JohnneeO

I came to the thread to post this link, but you beat me to it!

Unfortunately, this article contains at least one factual misstatement (emphasis added);



One tweet quoted in the article concerns me;

The restrictions clearly state BE does not allow a "full size carry on", and the fine print gives specific dimensions of the smaller item that all travelers are allowed. However, while the implied result is that BE fares can only carry-on one bag, and cannot use the OH bins, this is not explicitly stated in the screen shots shown in the article.

If the knapsack was small enough to fit under the seat along side a purse, should it have been allowed? I can easily picture a woman with a small laptop/device bag and purse that can both fit under the seat flying on a BE fare expecting that they can bring both items on the flight.


In any case, UA's success with their strategy comes down the competitive response from AA/DL. For the record, Kirby clearly states "[United] for the most part is charging a basic economy fare for what American and Delta is a regular fare". The context is that UA expects AA to match their strategy. If AA fails to match, then I expect UA will tweak their offerings. If AA matches, then UA will likely hold fast.

One other comment. The slides show linked up-thread that shows quicker boarding times with BE fares as opposed to before is only using data from April 1-17 as comparison for non-BE boarding. Seems like too small of a sample size to me.

Plato90s

Is it confirmed that gate staff has been trained to note Premier members traveling on BE are allowed to bring a full-sized carry-on?

I need to travel BOS-EWR and the flights I am on are all ERJ so I'm considering buying BE instead. Seat selection or E+ is hardly an issue on such a short flight.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I'm pretty sure they check passengers with BG5 boarding passes, although if you amble on with BG5 (versus your normal group assignment, which should be printed on your BP), the GA may jump to the conclusion you get the limited BE carry-on allowance.

findark

I'm pretty sure BASIC ECONOMY goes in the same place as PREMIER 1K. I don't know what they would do for a 1K on a BE fare, but possibly it would just say PREMIER 1K since the "scarlet letter" isn't as important when the pax gets G1 boarding and a carry-on.

seat38a

Just signed up and got approval for the Mileage Plus Explorer card. So just to be clear, if I buy a Basic Economy fare for LAX-SFO, I will still receive all of the perks?

Locke202

I recall seeing someone on twitter suggesting when to check-in for a basic economy flight for a better chance of getting a decent seat. Is there any truth to this? I think I remember him saying an hour before the flight but I could be wrong. I tried searching this thread but couldn't find anything

IAH-OIL-TRASH

You get free checked bag, boarding group 2, and the regular carry-on allowance.

lincolnjkc

That would be my impression/expectation as well -- at that point branding the pax Basic Economy is essentially irrelevant to the GA (save for perhaps and attempted SDC, but I'm sure AERO would put the kibosh on that faster than any printed message would)

Having spent way too much time studying boarding passes while designing our wedding invitations, United really only has 2-3 PECTAB templates for boarding passes [based on the type of ATB printer used, if its a standard kiosk/CUSS kiosk/CUTE terminal/owned terminal] with fields populated/displayed/hidden based on business logic. With all of the stuff that "can" appear at the top of the BP (INTL, PREMIER ACCESS, printing terminal SITA address, PNR, flight and sequence numbers, etc.) really the only place left for consistent and prominent branding is the "GLOBAL SERVICES"/"PREMIER 1K" (or "WEDDING GUEST"/"RECEPTION GUEST" in my case ) branding.

Plato90s

Hence the question about whether training has percolated down to the GA's.

I'm only a lowly premier silver with United, but as I understand it - that should still get me past the carry-on limit.

jsloan

Based on what I've heard, the training appears to have consisted of "nobody in Group 5 may have a carry-on bag." That is the announcement that they make, more or less verbatim, during boarding, and it appears to be the way that flights are being handled.

If you line up with Group 2 and get on the plane, you should be fine. If you line up in Group 5 -- or, more realistically, if you are late to the flight and arrive while Group 5 is boarding -- you may need to point out your boarding group. Either way, I don't anticipate it being a big problem.

If you are forced to pay a gate check fee, and a short argument doesn't resolve the issue ("I'm silver; I'm not in group 5, so I'm allowed a carry-on,") just keep the receipt and file for a refund afterwards. My guess is that, in addition to the refund, you might just get an ETC for your trouble.