American Airlines Basic Economy: What to Know - NerdWallet (2024)

As the cheapest tickets offered by American Airlines, basic economy fares can be a tremendous bargain. If you’re someone who travels light and doesn’t anticipate needing to change your travel plans, you can get great value out of basic economy.

But being aware of how to get around the limitations of this fare can help you save even more money. Here is everything you need to know to make the best of American Airlines' basic economy.

Basic economy is the cheapest fare class offered by American Airlines. Booking a basic economy fare entitles you to the same main cabin seat as other economy class passengers. There are just a few differences in the travel experience:

All customers — including those with basic economy fares —can fly standby on the same day for free.

Are the savings worth it? To help, we built the calculator below, which can help you determine the "true cost" of a basic economy ticket. Just input the cost of the ticket you’re considering along with a few other details, and you’ll see whether it’s actually a better deal.

Note that this calculator applies to domestic flights only; international baggage fees are more complex.

Despite the restrictions, booking basic economy on American Airlines doesn’t have to be a bad experience. In fact, you can get around many of its inconveniences with a few tips and tricks.

Being an AAdvantage elite member makes traveling so much better, especially if you’re flying on a basic economy fare.

Elite members who purchase a basic economy fare are able to access elite benefits including:

You’ll also get a better boarding group and free checked bags:

Oneworld elite members also qualify for free checked bags and priority boarding while flying basic economy on American Airlines.

If you’re flying basic economy on American Airlines, you can circumvent many of the fare’s inconveniences with a co-branded credit card.

For example, you can get upgraded to Group 4 or 5 boarding, meaning you can get to your seat faster and snag a convenient overhead spot for your bag.

You can get free checked bags from the AAdvantage co-branded credit cards as well. Here’s how the benefits look for various cards if you just add your AAdvantage number to your reservation:

Paying for checked bags isn’t ideal, but if the basic economy fare is cheap enough, it might make sense to book it and pay for a checked bag rather than booking a fare with free baggage allowance.

But we know this can be hard to figure out, especially if you’re comparing fares among multiple airlines.

The information related to CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.