News of United Airline’s new Basic Economy fare have been circulating for little while now. For those of you not yet familiar with this fare, United’s Basic Economy will be the lowest available fare. It will be similar to Spirit Airline’s fare, and will not come with mileage earnings, elite benefits, advanced seat selections, or even a carry-on bag. And while this fare is meant to compete with Ultra Low Cost Carriers (ULCCs), I’m not entirely convinced… It is United, after all. So here’s my thoughts on United’s Basic Economy.
Being the smallest and, financially, the weakest of the big three legacy carriers, I find United’s announcement of its new Basic Economy (BE) fare to be a bit surprising and puzzling. United’s BE is similar to Delta’s BE fare, which excludes complimentary upgrades to elites, doesn’t allow advanced seat selection, and puts the passenger in the last boarding group. But as stated earlier, United’s BE goes farther by eliminating mileage accrual and carry-on bags. And while United has made significant improvements recently, its service levels and on-time performance still lag behind Delta. Now, I know the intent is to have these BE fares compete with ULCCs like Spirit, but without pricing details yet, it’s hard to say that’s exactly what’s going on here. If some prediction are correct in say that BE fares amongst the legacies will simply replace the existing lowest fare, then United’s BE fare is an awful idea.
I for one, don’t think United would be naive enough to simply move its current lowest fare over to BE and call it a day. Doing so would be an immense gamble. In order for such a strategy to work, American and Delta would also have to move their current lowest fares to BE and eliminate mileage accrual and carry-on bag allowances too. Is this possible? Yes, but it’s also an immense risk if this is in-fact what United is trying to do. But again, I don’t think that is the case. Realistically, I think United is (finally) playing first mover here and will see how the other two react. If the other two move to match United’s BE fares, then I believe we’ll see legacy BE fares rise overtime and eventually become equivalent to the current lowest fare for standard economy. Its the way things work in today’s airline industry, in my opinion.
Me? I’d probably never book a basic economy fare. I value earning miles and can’t fathom traveling with just a personal item, unless I was simply on a day trip. Then again, I do travel heavier than most, as my personal item is almost always my camera bag.
This fare baffles me too! No carry-on, no miles, no upgrade, no….well no nothing… I’d never book this fare either. BUT I do have the United CC… so would I at least get my free bag for paying with my card? Guess we will have to see. I am thinking no.
The one personal item would need to go under the seat. The only thing I can think of would be a business traveler with a laptop bag, but what biz traveler is going to fly this very basic fair?
I can put my backpack under the seat… I wonder if they would let that pass for my one personal item.
I am interested in seeing how much it cost. :)
Seatexan, yes! I do believe it’s a conspiracy to raise airfare even more! I’m crossing my fingers AA and DL don’t bite… But only time will tell.
I’m sure a backpack would be just fine, heck I always put my camera + laptop backpack under the seat AND a carry-on in the bin. But my carry-on is a 20″ so it’s a little smaller than a maximum allowed size ? Of course my strategy also means I have zero space to stretch out my legs ?