Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Related thread: Basic Economy Airport and Plane Experiences (First or Second Hand)
If purchased on united.com you will have to accept a warning about choosing Basic Economy and there will be orange "Basic Economy" highlights everywhere during the booking process.
Link to UA's description of how these fares will work: Basic Economy.
Here are the key facts:
To avoid domestic BE fares ITA Matrix ~bc=N . Ignoring them on international flights is much trickier because they do not have a consistent pattern in the fare basis; it appears to change by market / region. (That said, as UA is lifting BE from legacy GDS systems, it may result in them disappearing from ITA Matrix anyway).
Google Flights -- select 1 Carry-on bag
NO UNUSED TICKET MAY BE USED TOWARD THE PURCHASE
OF A BASIC ECONOMY TICKET.
-------
NO RESIDUAL VALUE MAY BE USED TOWARD THE PURCHASE
OF A BASIC ECONOMY TICKET.
How is this different from buying up BE to regular economy?
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}
If purchased on united.com you will have to accept a warning about choosing Basic Economy and there will be orange "Basic Economy" highlights everywhere during the booking process.
Link to UA's description of how these fares will work: Basic Economy.
Here are the key facts:
- No free seat assignments until check-in. Seats will be assigned by the system. Flyers (including elite) have the option to purchase regular economy and preferred economy (white seats with black triangle on seat map) seats after ticket purchase. E+ seats are not available for purchase until check-in. 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 including SDC (occasionally 1K's have successfully used Same Day Standby and received a confirmed seat without penalty)
- Carry on limited to one personal item unless the customer is a MP Premier member, primary cardmember of a qualifying MileagePlus credit card, or Star Alliance *G, or traveling on an international BE product
- 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 are not eligible for premium cabin upgrades either via CPU, mileage upgrade award or PlusPoints
- 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, or traveling on an international BE product
- Companions on same PNR will have same boarding group and carry-on if one on the PNR has a waiver
- No combinability with regular economy fares or partner carriers. Interline travel is not permitted.
- Normal PQPs / RDMs based on fare and elite multipliers
- No PQFs
- Flight(s) do count towards the 4 flight minimum for UA-operated
- Full Lifetime mileage
- Domestic Basic Economy tickets will use booking code 'N'. International BE can be in any class.
- 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
- Canceling a basic economy ticket will receive a flight credit for the price of the ticket, minus a fee. For domestic flights, the fee is $49.50 for one-way tickets and $99 for roundtrip tickets. For international flights, the fee is $99.50 for one-way tickets and $199 for roundtrip tickets
To avoid domestic BE fares ITA Matrix ~bc=N . Ignoring them on international flights is much trickier because they do not have a consistent pattern in the fare basis; it appears to change by market / region. (That said, as UA is lifting BE from legacy GDS systems, it may result in them disappearing from ITA Matrix anyway).
Google Flights -- select 1 Carry-on bag
NO UNUSED TICKET MAY BE USED TOWARD THE PURCHASE
OF A BASIC ECONOMY TICKET.
-------
NO RESIDUAL VALUE MAY BE USED TOWARD THE PURCHASE
OF A BASIC ECONOMY TICKET.
How is this different from buying up BE to regular economy?
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}
United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...Now cancellable for a fee
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,882
Ignore, that has been a problem for some time
Online Itinerary Now Shows Checked Bags Under Seat Number (buggy?)
Online Itinerary Now Shows Checked Bags Under Seat Number (buggy?)
Basic Economy tickets may be booked in various fare classes.
#47
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,783
but it does say
Basic Economy tickets may be booked in various fare classes.
....
for domestic, BE books into N class. For international, it can be various classes, and BE fares are notated by part of the fare basis code. I still think United erred and causes confusion by using the same marketing for fares that have different benefits if flying domestic vs. international. But then again, LH group, etc. has other fares that are called ‘economy basic’ that also aren’t ‘basic economy’, so you have to be very careful to see what you are getting.
for domestic, BE books into N class. For international, it can be various classes, and BE fares are notated by part of the fare basis code. I still think United erred and causes confusion by using the same marketing for fares that have different benefits if flying domestic vs. international. But then again, LH group, etc. has other fares that are called ‘economy basic’ that also aren’t ‘basic economy’, so you have to be very careful to see what you are getting.
Ignore, that has been a problem for some time
Online Itinerary Now Shows Checked Bags Under Seat Number (buggy?)
Online Itinerary Now Shows Checked Bags Under Seat Number (buggy?)
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Mar 20, 2022 at 7:50 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts by same member
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
It absolutely does say that a K fare is not Basic Eco. How do you explain this?
Premier qualifying miles (PQM) | Premier qualifying segments (PQS)
Basic Economy 50% | 0.5
K Fare 100% | 1
Premier qualifying miles (PQM) | Premier qualifying segments (PQS)
Basic Economy 50% | 0.5
K Fare 100% | 1
#49
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,783
Basic Economy tickets may be booked in various fare classes.
Is it confusing, yes but is it documented, yes. It is what it is.
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
But thanks, I do get the reality and now know not to accept united.com as an accurate source of information.
#51
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,783
Suspect you found a zombie page - an expired link -- via a "google" search. It had the right information for want you were querying -- can K be Basic Economy, which it can for some cases, such as TATL, but it had the older elite earning information. It is always a risk with a browser search to get a zombie page -- UA should delete that old page but UA is far from the on organization with this issue.
If you go to UA.com and follow the links on earning miles from flights, you get the present day version on the zombie page
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...es/united.html
Which has footnote 5
and present day status earning rules
If you go to UA.com and follow the links on earning miles from flights, you get the present day version on the zombie page
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...es/united.html
Which has footnote 5
Basic Economy tickets may be booked in various fare classes.
#52
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 358
Hi all, I have a BE booking for 3 adults.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
#53
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: TOA
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott LTPP/Platinum Premier, Hyatt Lame-ist, UA !K
Posts: 20,061
Hi all, I have a BE booking for 3 adults.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
Here are the key facts:
- 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
#55
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 1
I absolutely hate UA.
#56
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,882
Hi all, I have a BE booking for 3 adults.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
Website says:
Complimentary seat selection is not available
Group and family seating is not available
Does this mean all 3 of us will get random seats like ryanair?
If yes, can we still after random seats have been assigned, change and buy seats to sit together?
Or can we request this at the gate?
Thanks in advance.
UA (AFAIK), is not like some other carriers that will allocate minors and parents on a booking without free advance seat assignments. Airlines might take a tack like making sure a minor is sitting with at least one of the adults (ie, AC - but you don’t get to pick - they do), or BA, which will allocate seats a few days before departure to ensure that a minor is with 1 adult.
we are flying today and I have had to deal with this piece of trash BE for weeks, flying to Venice Italy, we were booked economy class last year then UA cancels segments and rebooks us as BE. after 10 plus phone conversations and emails it was never sorted and now I'm paying 400 usd extra for baggage and seats for US. Trust me unless congress does something about how bad we are treated, The US public will continue to be the bottom of world Airline service.
I absolutely hate UA.
I absolutely hate UA.
id call and find out what is going on. Maybe you were on a BE fare when you booked and didn’t realize it. If you booked via Brussels, I beleive ‘light’ fares are the equivalent of BE, so maybe that’s what was originally booked?
#57
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 8
Hi there,
I made the huge mistake of buying a BE fare with United for a trip from the US to Europe. Due to some family matters, I'm considering changing the trip to later this year but trying not to lose hundreds of dollars.
I know this is part of the game, and that's why those tickets are cheaper, but is there any workaround to avoid this "use it or lose it" situation?
I heard of cases where people can upgrade the ticket to economy before changing it, but apparently it only works for domestic flights.
Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
I made the huge mistake of buying a BE fare with United for a trip from the US to Europe. Due to some family matters, I'm considering changing the trip to later this year but trying not to lose hundreds of dollars.
I know this is part of the game, and that's why those tickets are cheaper, but is there any workaround to avoid this "use it or lose it" situation?
I heard of cases where people can upgrade the ticket to economy before changing it, but apparently it only works for domestic flights.
Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
#58
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,846
Hi there,
I made the huge mistake of buying a BE fare with United for a trip from the US to Europe. Due to some family matters, I'm considering changing the trip to later this year but trying not to lose hundreds of dollars.
I know this is part of the game, and that's why those tickets are cheaper, but is there any workaround to avoid this "use it or lose it" situation?
I heard of cases where people can upgrade the ticket to economy before changing it, but apparently it only works for domestic flights.
Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
I made the huge mistake of buying a BE fare with United for a trip from the US to Europe. Due to some family matters, I'm considering changing the trip to later this year but trying not to lose hundreds of dollars.
I know this is part of the game, and that's why those tickets are cheaper, but is there any workaround to avoid this "use it or lose it" situation?
I heard of cases where people can upgrade the ticket to economy before changing it, but apparently it only works for domestic flights.
Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
#59
#60
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,882
Again, as I’ve mentioned umpteen times, the marketing of BE for both domestic and international fares that have different features is pretty confusing.