Feb 9, 2019, 5:12 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This is an archive thread -- the active thread is United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...
Important Note: these fares became available 21 Feb 2017 for MSP for travel beginning 18 Apr 2017. More markets were added 19 April 2017 for travel starting 9 May 2017.
Related thread: Basic Economy Airport and Plane Experiences (First or Second Hand)
If you booked before the dates above, you did not have a BE fare. If purchased on united.com you will see a warning like:
4. MileagePlus members will earn full Premier qualifying dollars, 50% Premier qualifying miles and 0.5 Premier qualifying segments for each flight, as well as lifetime miles and toward the four-segment minimum.
Link to UA's description of how these fares will work: Basic Economy.
Here are the key facts:
related threads
New UA/*A TATL -LGT Economy fare - no free first bag, no changes/upgrades allowed
Benefit impact of restricted economy fares on UA Elites (Basic Econ, -LGT, Light Econ
Pre-announcement speculation thread (now closed) New "Budget Economy" fares
Important Note: these fares became available 21 Feb 2017 for MSP for travel beginning 18 Apr 2017. More markets were added 19 April 2017 for travel starting 9 May 2017.
Related thread: Basic Economy Airport and Plane Experiences (First or Second Hand)
If you booked before the dates above, you did not have a BE fare. If purchased on united.com you will see a warning like:
4. MileagePlus members will earn full Premier qualifying dollars, 50% Premier qualifying miles and 0.5 Premier qualifying segments for each flight, as well as lifetime miles and toward the four-segment minimum.
Link to UA's description of how these fares will work: Basic Economy.
Here are the key facts:
- No seat assignments until check-in. Seats will be assigned by the system and cannot be changed.*NEW* When purchasing a Basic Economy ticket, you will not receive a complimentary seat assignment but may be able to purchase advance seat assignments during booking and up until check-in opens. If you don’t purchase an advance seat assignment, your seat will be automatically assigned to you prior to boarding, and you won't be able to change your seat once it's been assigned.
- No guarantee of adjacent seats with companions
- No voluntary ticket changes after 24 hour purchase period
- Carry on limited to 1 personal item unless the customer is a MP Premier member, primary cardmember of a qualifying MileagePlus credit card, or Star Alliance *G
- Customers ineligible for carry-on who bring one to the gate will be charged a $25 convenience fee to gate-check in addition to standard baggage fees (source: @united twitter)
- Customers will not be eligible for Economy Plus or premium cabin upgrades. This includes all forms of upgrades (CPU,supported or purchased). Likewise for E+ access (elite or purchased).
- Customers will board in the last boarding group (currently Group 5) unless the customer is a MP Premier member, primary cardmember of a qualifying MileagePlus credit card, or Star Alliance *G
- Companions on same PNR will have same boarding group and carryon if one on the PNR has a waiver
- No combinability with regular economy fares or partner carriers. Interline travel is not permitted.
- Tickets will earn RDMs (based on fare and status), PQMs (50% of distance), PQSs (0.5), PQDs, in addition it will count for minimum 4 segment and lifetime miles (New as of Dec 2018)
- Basic Economy tickets will use booking code 'N'
- Online check-in only with paid checked bag, otherwise need to see a United representative to verify the onboard bag allowance and receive a boarding pass.
related threads
New UA/*A TATL -LGT Economy fare - no free first bag, no changes/upgrades allowed
Benefit impact of restricted economy fares on UA Elites (Basic Econ, -LGT, Light Econ
Pre-announcement speculation thread (now closed) New "Budget Economy" fares
United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ... {Archive}
Jul 25, 2017, 2:58 pm
#2191
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 498
But that would reinforce two things that UA doesn't want to encourage
1- People who want any selection/flexibility would then have reasons to book BE rather than upfaring to the fare UA really wants people to buy.
2- People would get confused and potentially argumentative re: which flight is on BE vs which is "standard" ("But they let me carry my bag on last time!", etc.)
By forcing the entire trip into BE UA is keeping an end-to-end consistent(ly poor, IMO but that's one reason I choose to book above BE) travel experience and avoiding points for surprise/confusion/argument and preserving, clearly, all of the billboards to encourage booking a higher fare class.
Fly it as ticketed or lose it. If it's the return you could fly the outbound and just pick up a one-way ticket. Although throw-away ticketing is a prohibited ticketing practice, UA doesn't give you a whole lot of room aside from throwing it away on BE. The $15-30 difference is, among other things, an idiot insurance premium. (And I am always terrified of making exactly that mistake)
[And there's a certain irony that I'm commenting on a BE thread from the relative opulence of the ORD Polaris lounge, but I digress]
1- People who want any selection/flexibility would then have reasons to book BE rather than upfaring to the fare UA really wants people to buy.
2- People would get confused and potentially argumentative re: which flight is on BE vs which is "standard" ("But they let me carry my bag on last time!", etc.)
By forcing the entire trip into BE UA is keeping an end-to-end consistent(ly poor, IMO but that's one reason I choose to book above BE) travel experience and avoiding points for surprise/confusion/argument and preserving, clearly, all of the billboards to encourage booking a higher fare class.
Fly it as ticketed or lose it. If it's the return you could fly the outbound and just pick up a one-way ticket. Although throw-away ticketing is a prohibited ticketing practice, UA doesn't give you a whole lot of room aside from throwing it away on BE. The $15-30 difference is, among other things, an idiot insurance premium. (And I am always terrified of making exactly that mistake)
[And there's a certain irony that I'm commenting on a BE thread from the relative opulence of the ORD Polaris lounge, but I digress]
Jul 25, 2017, 3:07 pm
#2192
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 498
Basic Economy flights cannot be changed except in case of IRROPS (flight cancellation, weather, etc.). I don't know how they're handing weather waivers for BE -- for a regular economy flight, the advice is often to wait and see if your itinerary happens to get affected by one.
So, yes, your best bet is to book a separate one-way flight home.
So, yes, your best bet is to book a separate one-way flight home.
Jul 25, 2017, 3:31 pm
#2193
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,884
IME, if you select a regular on the outbound, the BE fare won't be an option for the return (i.e., it doesn't work the other way around).
hi all
Hoping you guys can offer insight into a booking error my dad did. He booked a RT ticket in the basic economy. He realized at the 40 hr mark that he made a mistake and booked the wrong dates (I always fear this even on refundable fares.) Anyway, he has reached out and despite having an explorer card, etc. they have no interest in changing anything.
Has anyone had any luck with a similar problem or will have to learn his lesson? The return flight is the wrong date, we will be on a cruise then
edit: he booked with his new chase ink NOT miles explorer
Hoping you guys can offer insight into a booking error my dad did. He booked a RT ticket in the basic economy. He realized at the 40 hr mark that he made a mistake and booked the wrong dates (I always fear this even on refundable fares.) Anyway, he has reached out and despite having an explorer card, etc. they have no interest in changing anything.
Has anyone had any luck with a similar problem or will have to learn his lesson? The return flight is the wrong date, we will be on a cruise then
edit: he booked with his new chase ink NOT miles explorer
Jul 25, 2017, 3:33 pm
#2194
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 498
BE fares are not combinable with regular fares. However, my experience when I was looking (not booking), even if selecting BE, it will offer regular on the return, but will upfare the outbound when you do that. IME, the engine is even smart enough to do the upfrare for the whole itinerary for the return. For example, CVG to ORD on random dates shows $49 BE on outbound, and $58 for return, for total of $106.40. Regular on the same flights are $69 and $78 for a total of $146.40. If you select the $49 BE on the outbound, the regular on the return displays $98, to get the correct $146.40 for regular both ways.
IME, if you select a regular on the outbound, the BE fare won't be an option for the return (i.e., it doesn't work the other way around).
CC used, and status for that matter, is irrelevant. Having an explorer card gets you a free bag, premier access, etc, but that is irrelevant when dealing with fare rules - either it allows the change, or it doesn't. For BE, there is no changes allowed.
IME, if you select a regular on the outbound, the BE fare won't be an option for the return (i.e., it doesn't work the other way around).
CC used, and status for that matter, is irrelevant. Having an explorer card gets you a free bag, premier access, etc, but that is irrelevant when dealing with fare rules - either it allows the change, or it doesn't. For BE, there is no changes allowed.
Jul 25, 2017, 7:54 pm
#2195
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: SEA
Programs: UA Gold, DL GM, AS; Marriott and SPG Gold, Hyatt
Posts: 51
UA offering BE when no other fares available?
So I was looking at a quick weekend trip SEA-ORD and found this craziness. I thought basic economy was priced based off other economy buckets just like most domestic F fares, but here UA seems to be doing something else. Not that I would buy BE on this route, but thought it was interesting.
Should I just chalk it up to classic United IT or is rev management trying something else out here by not filling the fares for the route?
Should I just chalk it up to classic United IT or is rev management trying something else out here by not filling the fares for the route?
Jul 25, 2017, 7:57 pm
#2196
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: San Fransisco, CA
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 172
What does expert mode say about fare class availability?
Jul 25, 2017, 8:05 pm
#2197
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: SEA
Programs: UA Gold, DL GM, AS; Marriott and SPG Gold, Hyatt
Posts: 51
ZN6 P5 in first, Q8 V6 in economy, so the buckets are available, just (presumably) no valid fares. This was connecting through IAH, but also some others showing same behavior connecting through LAX and DEN.
Jul 25, 2017, 8:27 pm
#2198
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,400
So I was looking at a quick weekend trip SEA-ORD and found this craziness. I thought basic economy was priced based off other economy buckets just like most domestic F fares, but here UA seems to be doing something else. Not that I would buy BE on this route, but thought it was interesting.
Should I just chalk it up to classic United IT or is rev management trying something else out here by not filling the fares for the route?
Should I just chalk it up to classic United IT or is rev management trying something else out here by not filling the fares for the route?
Using ITA, I can get the same flights to price without BE for $880. However, the outbound fares are SAA7AKEN and UAA7AKEN. The T fare doesn't seem to come up, even though it exists. The combination language is different between the BE and regular economy fares, which is presumably causing the issue, but I can't tell which specific clause is causing the issue.
Anyway, it looks like united.com is suppressing the display of the regular economy fare if it's not using the same underlying fare components that the BE fare is linked to. They might even be doing it on purpose, so that they don't show a $220 regular economy upcharge. But I have to imagine that one or the other set of fare rules is incorrect, leading to the discrepancy in the first place.
Jul 26, 2017, 2:20 pm
#2199
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: EWR
Programs: UA 1K MM, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 46
Question: If I am travelling with an individual who is booked on a Basic Economy Fare on a separate PNR, can they board with me or are they only allowed to board in group 5?
Jul 26, 2017, 3:43 pm
#2200
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago
Programs: World of Hyatt Explorist; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 280
Sorry if this has already been answered, but if I bring a backpack on the plane with me, can I store it in the overhead bin? It will fit under the seat too if overhead isn't permitted. I am a MileagePlus Explorer credit card holder, so I believe I am still entitled to a carry on?
Last edited by touringuy; Jul 26, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Jul 26, 2017, 3:59 pm
#2201
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Florida
Programs: United 1K, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Gold
Posts: 673
Sorry if this has already been answered, but if I bring a backpack on the plane with me, can I store it in the overhead bin? It will fit under the seat too if overhead isn't permitted. I am a MileagePlus Explorer credit card holder, so I believe I am still entitled to a carry on?
Although I guess you could technically put it up there since you are G2, you aren't supposed to given the rules of BE which states 1 personal item only, that must fit underneath the seat in front of you.
Hope that helps!
Jul 26, 2017, 4:08 pm
#2202
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
Sorry if this has already been answered, but if I bring a backpack on the plane with me, can I store it in the overhead bin? It will fit under the seat too if overhead isn't permitted. I am a MileagePlus Explorer credit card holder, so I believe I am still entitled to a carry on?
Jul 26, 2017, 4:21 pm
#2203
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago
Programs: World of Hyatt Explorist; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 280
Thank you both for the speedy replies! It sounds like a Basic Economy ticket isn't as bad if you purchase it as a Mileage Plus Explorer Card member.
Jul 26, 2017, 4:23 pm
#2204
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, UA Gold, WN, Global Entry; +others wherever miles/points are found
Posts: 14,410
Jul 26, 2017, 4:25 pm
#2205
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,453