How Not to Get Stuck With United Basic Economy Tickets
If you use third-party travel sites like Expedia or Priceline to find low prices for flights, you might not want to jump for the lowest price you see. No-frills United Basic Economy tickets are sometimes more difficult to find than regular tickets.
What is “basic economics”?
Basic Economy is the next tier of air travel that United began offering late last year. The name is a bit confusing, however, as it is actually lower than a regular economy class ticket, which used to be the lowest tier for an airline. Unless you’re seriously skimping on pennies, or just not flying out for the day, you probably don’t need one of these tickets . That’s why:
- You probably won’t be able to sit with your group if you are traveling with people.
- You are the last to board the plane unless you are a MileagePlus Premier member, primary eligible credit card holder, or Star Alliance Gold member.
- You will not be eligible for an upgrade.
- You cannot change flights or receive refunds, except as specified in United’s flexible 24-hour booking policy .
- And worst of all, you will not be allowed to carry your full-sized carry-on baggage unless you are a MileagePlus Premier member. If you bring it with you, you will have to pay to check your bag, plus an additional $ 25 surcharge for the boarding gate.
Considering that many of these basic economy tickets are only $ 15-25 cheaper than regular economy tickets, they just aren’t worth it.
How to find them when searching for air tickets
While United does its best to make the difference between Basic Economy and Economy clear on its website, other sites don’t do such a good job. According to Business Insider , there has been a growing trend in the number of United customers who didn’t realize they were buying tickets at a lower rate because they had used sites such as Expedia, Priceline, Kayak and Orbitz to book them. Most of these sites show the cheapest tickets first, so it makes sense for people to see the price and only book based on that. But it’s worth taking a few extra seconds to see what you are getting yourself into.
Here’s how to tell the difference on each site:
Expedia
Expedia makes it pretty easy to discover if you either know what the underlying economy entails or take an extra second to click on the info link.
Orbit
Orbitz works the same way as Expedia. Just pay attention and you will be fine.
Priceline
The Priceline site is a little more complex. At first, you won’t see that the flight is Basic Economy. You must first click “Select”. Then you will see …
Make sure you click “Select” and double check before purchasing.
Kayak
The kayak also does everything in its own way. Most likely, you will be shown a trade with the underlying economy, and then you will see the “+ $ [money] economy” update button. If you see this button, then you are dealing with an underlying economy. You can click “What is this?” link to see the differences too.
However, Kayak will actually link you to United’s website to buy tickets, so at least you’ll get another warning there.