A week and a half ago American Airlines announced three changes that have a common theme: you’re no longer a valuable, loyal customer when you travel with them when you buy the cheapest fare. Your loyalty doesn’t matter, even if you’re spending $30,000 a year on tickets and putting all of your spending on their credit card.
If you fly expensive tickets for work, and then you’re cost conscious on a weekend trip with your family of four, you will be treated well when you fly those expensive tickets – but not on that trip with your family when it arguably matters most to you.
After eliminating all mileage-earning on the cheapest ‘basic economy’ fares in the fall they will:
- charge customers on basic economy fares $5 more for checked bags than they charge regular customers – and that’s after raising the price of a checked bag $10 for everyone to begin with.
- no longer allow free seat assignments, complimentary domestic upgrades, or the ability to confirm systemwide upgrades on basic economy fares – forget extra legroom as an Executive Platinum member, it’s a middle seat in the back for you.
- and the airline’s boarding order is being changed to de-prioritize AAdvantage members as well. Later this year, regular AAdvantage members will be downgraded from group 6 to group 7 boarding. Higher boarding is reserved for customers paying up.
Eliminating mileage-earning on basic economy fares may save a small amount of money and discourage a few people – who will still buy tickets from American – from buying the cheapest fare. But it’ll also:
- discourage basic economy passengers from joining AAdvantage, discouraging repeat business and eventual credit card adoption, and
- make actually loyal customers feel mistreated when they buy basic, and they take it out on the credit card.
The miles earned on these fares only become useful when mixed with other, more profitable activity. If that never happens, they usually just expire.
American may be reverting to industry mean with this policy, but United and Delta can either do it without being harmed or can better absorb the harm. American is generating billions in profit from Citibank while merely breaking even overall.
Their card used to be number one in the industry in charge volume, now it’s number three. The whole game is the card and layering on new basic economy restrictions – the latest being elimination of elite benefits on these fares – is a distraction.
What’s more, those elite credit card customers are surprised by the change – it comes across as a slap on the face when they find out.
Hey @AmericanAir, where’s your loyalty to me?
– I only ever fly AA
– I book directly through you
– I use your credit card exclusively for everythingIs it true that you won’t give me any miles or loyalty points because I flew economy? Awww, c’mon. You’ve got to be loyal, too. pic.twitter.com/Oh3HXQxLmb
— Kathi Kersznowski ⛵️ (@kerszi) April 19, 2026
American Airlines should be leaning into its loyalty differentiation, not mean-regressing, because they do not have the reputational, operational, or customer service advantages that their competitors do. Why give up what they do have, which also coincides with the place they actually generate the most and highest margin revenue?
Instead, this latest package of changes tells the customers who have continued to stay loyal depsite the airline’s 13 years in the wilderness: you are no longer valuable to us as a customer, you are just your fare.
The experience of flying these days is like riding on a cross-town city bus.
Pathetic.
Agree. It hurts the future of AAdvantage too. Students and young adults out of college are cost conscious. They could also be loyal for life…
No problem – just don’t buy basic economy. End of story. All this hand wringing over nothing.
All airlines should start to subtract miles/points from your account when you buy a Basic Economy ticket and for repeat buyers of this fare, should close their accounts.
I’m shocked and saddened that AAL did not continue Gary’s CK. I would think, even as an honorary, the thot leader would at least get the distinction extended. You’ll always be a top-tier invite-only member on 1990’s hypothetical global airline. *wink*
Thanks for this, Gary. Generally agree with your take – if AA/Citi trying to get more credit cards in major markets (and reward FAs for selling them), these changes are not ideal. And when you’re #3 you have to have better policies to compete with #s 1-2. That said-
Bags – Bag policy is not changing though for status members and card holders, no? Still getting your status bags and first bag free for cardholders? And for all basic still getting a free carry-on? So yes they are charging more but also probably just trying to make the case to basic folks that they should really get that Citi AA credit card…
Domestic upgrades /WFBF – look, occasionally they came through when traveling with the family, but this isn’t exactly the end of the world based on frequency of upgrades to begin with. But if you want domestic first and then actually pay for the ‘tens of dollars’ upgrade I think you still get bags by paying for the upgrade in addition to the seat, etc. And you get miles/LPs on the portion you pay for the upgrade, no? So a good strategy could be (1) buy basic at a cheap price and (2) check within 24 hours for the cost of the paid upgrade. It could still price out cheaper than just buying a domestic first class ticket. And if it doesn’t, can cancel w/in 24 hours and get your refund.
Seat assignments – Obviously I’m not a fan of AA’s paltry MCE offerings to begin with. I do understand that they want to try and monetize that portion of the cabin more and it’s impossible to do so because they don’t have enough MCE seats and status members just take them before they can sell them (hello 787-9P with all of 18 MCE seats, only 12 of which are family friendly non-exit row – whomever made that choice should be fired). So I could see them restricting selecting MCE seats for status members, even perhaps preferred seats, but to not allow regular seat assignments at all – that’s really brutal and the worst of all the changes.
Mile/LP earning – The lack of any miles/LPs on basic tickets – look, it wasn’t much to begin with, but it was something. Just have to do the math between basic and main. And so many good ways to earn AA miles/LPs (hello AA Hotels folks) it’s hard for me to care too much.
Award Tickets – The best thing that AA has going for it is that unlike Delta, it does not have “basic” award tickets. While we can all anticipate that being the next shoe to drop, for now, book your family travel with AA miles. You can often find excellent economy rates including on international travel. And then you’ll get your MCE seat benefits where the difference between basic and main is the most (usually $100 o/w pp upcharge).
@ Gary — Customers’ loyalty never mattered to American, or any other airline.
I have said all he same things. American obviously no longer values all their loyal customers. I can spend my money with anyone, once my current miles are spent I no reason to show loyalty.
@Retired Gambler and Matthew…. Trolls that you are….. when booking with miles the only 2 choices are Econony or Business and business only has a limited amount of seats. So your comment has no merit.
@Retired Gambler and Matthew…. Trolls that you are….. when booking with miles the only 2 choices are Econony or Business and business only has a limited amount of seats. So your comment has no merit.
@Retired Gambler and Matthew…. Trolls that you are….. when booking with miles the only 2 choices are Econony or Business and business only has a limited amount of seats. So your comment has no merit.
Book with points. Rely on partners. Visit Canada.
in fairness loyalty never mattered to American, and they have always treated everyone poorly. I’m embarrassed by how long I was loyal to them, Delta is so much less painful
Gary, do you have any recent news to report? This has been going on for a few weeks now.
Looks like a smart move, one of the few AA has made lately. Giving away the store on super-cheap fares made no sense.
It’s no longer about patronage, it’s about profits. If you don’t make the airlines money (not just AA) there will be little to no rewards. The game has changed. Maybe you can show the nurse on the doll where the airline hurt you.
As the saying goes, “Want ‘treated well’, buy ‘treated well'”
@Gene – It’s amazing how you manage to be wrong about so many things, so very often. Of course airlines once cared about loyalty. Why the f**k do you think American started AAdvantage in the first place, you moron? What an inane comment.
Really do not understand WHY all the hullabaloo over the changes…………if you purchase the CHEAP/Low Fare Option the benefits need to adjusted accordingly. There is No Free Ride for Anyone, Money talks and BS walks. Loyalty…………..lol………they know exactly just how “Loyal” you really are. These changes should have been implimented long ago and the Biggest complainers are the one’s that click CHEAP and are awaiting their movement on the Upgrade List.
Was about time. Get the riffraff and their hideous kids out of my seats….
@Lori – huh? Award tickets in coach on AA are NOT basic economy so your comment is related to this story. This is ONLY an issue on purchased basic economy tickets.
Man the lack of comprehension is amazing!
@McGee – actually the changes were previously announced but not yet implemented
Yo… is @Lori (aka @Glashorse) off her meds? Bah!
@Peter — Excellent take. Well said. 10/10.
It’s perfectly rational for American to segment its customers and charge prices appropriate to the service provided.
If you want seat assignments and extra legroom seating, or mileage earning, then buy the regular economy fare instead of the bare bones basic fare. AA doesn’t have to give all the bells and whistles for the people purchasing the lowest fare.
What bothers me more is the stiff price increases if you don’t purchase in advance. When a flight is empty it doesn’t seem productive to insist on very high fares. I’m redeeming miles when a flight is 7,500 miles or $600.
If I fly Spirit, I don’t get treated special by AA on that flight. If I buy the “Spirit” fare on AA, why should I be treated better than Spirit? I know Gary thinks a big annual spender should be treated like a king even when they buy the cheapest fare. I think if you want good treatment, don’t buy BE. BE is a way to compete against (U)LCCs. I’m not surprised they remove benefits.
@This comes to mind — ‘Thank you, sir, may I have another…’ Yeesh. Way to cuck for corporate.
@ Mike Hunt — Happy Saturday to you, too! 🙂
@1990 – I really think the take away from this is book basic economy, wait a few minutes, see what the buy-up to first offer is. (Would be fascinating to run this experiment with and without putting your FF number in – I honestly wonder whether the buy up offer would be cheaper if you did not have status…)
A couple other things to note-
– Buying basic still does not impact EP/PPro ability to have same day confirmed flight changes.
– American actually has the best family seating policy out of the Big 3 – they guarantee that you will sit next to your child (15 or under). Delta and United do not. So actually, for families, this may not have such a big impact.
– What Gary correctly points out is that sometimes it’s when you are traveling with your family when you want your status to mean the most. And if you’re a status member sitting in the last few rows of the airplane because you booked basic, would not be crazy for your spouse to exclaim “and this is an airline you have status with?” Turns a moment when you are “showing something off” into “meh”. One can quibble about whether or not this is the thing that you are “showing off” that is meaningful, but loyalty is a psychology game after all…
sounds fair to me
It’s no longer what have you done for me lately. It’s what have you done for me TODAY.
So AA matched DL, no points for BE, United only gives points in BE for its highest status members, but no one else. This is a nothing burger.
@Gary might have lost his CK for constantly shi*&ing all over AA on this blog.
@Peter — Family sitting together shouldn’t be a benefit for status-only; it really should be a baseline expectation, for all airlines, classes, where possible. I thought the prior administration tried to ensure this was a rule. Alas, the current administration would rather separate families out of spite.
It’s the management team that simply can’t comprehend anything but the ULCC mentality. American needs competent leadership rather than inept management, leadership who actually understand loyalty and what people want. That’s been missing at AA since the last merger.
Gary I agree and I also wrote about this on my site. It’s very short sited short term thinking , and when the pendulum swings , as it always does they will want us back. How many times can they dis us before re realize and don’t go back. The thing is they are all actively trying to consolidate so we don’t have a choice and have to go along because there will eventually be no competition….
@1990 – it’s not status only for family seating on American. It’s all families. (The DOT family seating dashboard actually still exists…)
So my point is for most folks they will not care about these changes. They still get a carry on bag and they get family seating. This just impacts status members that want to have their loyalty rewarded while buying basic economy.
Come to think of it AA should offer some kind of non-basic SWU for status members as a choice reward. An NBU. So for your family trip your basic economy trip is treated as normal economy and can earn status etc. If they offered 4x NBUs or 2x SWUs at 175k I bet a lot of folks would take the NBUs.
After moving away from Dallas a couple years ago to another airline’s hub (Alaska/Seattle), but with regular travel obligations between WA & TX, I’ve been working off a couple million earned AA miles by booking BE with miles. That has been a fantastic deal, imo, for a good while now, what with MCE seat selection, priority boarding & status luggage checking when needed, the once-in-a-blue moon FC upgrade, and – most importantly to me – the ability to cancel a BE miles-purchased fare at any time for a full (miles) “refund” with no penalty. I have commented before that this “hack” seemed too good to be true, so it doesn’t shock me that AA is largely nixing it. The only big surprise in all of this to me (so far as Gary’s posts reveal) is that one key component remains – I haven’t heard anything about AA making BE fares purchased with miles non-refundable or subject to some type of onerous penalty upon cancellation or change.
When Gary’s original post came out, I used the generous advance notice of the coming BE changes (THANKS GARY!) to go ahead and book my future regular WA-TX travel with miles in MCE in my cherished 11A exit row seat on the 321s for as far out (March 2027) as the AA website allowed. I will get my MCE seating for those 12-14 upcoming booked flights over the coming year, but I suppose (starting when ???) I’ll be losing priority boarding. I can live with that, and will next burn the rest of my AA miles on main cabin or FC travel, then sell my soul, or at least my wallet, to Alaska.
For myself personally, the package deal on miles-purchased BE (upgrade eligibility, MCE, “regular” AAdvantage checked bag eligibility, priority group boarding, and full refund optionality) made this a compelling choice for burning through my AA miles before fully shifting alliance to the Alaska ecosphere. With these AA BE changes, the party’s over, and this will accelerate my move away from flying AA and chasing AA status with credit card spend. I’m not mad about it in the slightest because it always felt like a too-good-to-true cheat code for my personal situation, and I’m glad I wrung several years of routine “free” domestic travel in MCE and occasionally first out of the airline in exchange for 2 decades of AA loyalty.
A question I haven’t seen anyone address: going forward, will AA offer MCE upgrades alongside FC upgrade option to travelers with BE tickets? Traditionally, when FC was not sold out, I would get an offer from the airline to buy up from my MCE BE seat to first. A couple of flights ago (maybe 6 weeks?) I started seeing an option pop up on those invites for either a MCE upgrade OR bump up to first class. Of course, since I was already in MCE on a BE ticket, the price for me showed as “0” for the MCE upgrade option. I presume this was AA putting in place the functionality to upsell BE ticket holders to MCE OR first class once these new changes were implemented. But I haven’t seen any discussion here or elsewhere about what upgrade pitches AA plans to make to those who bought BE under the new rules. I’m curious what pricing may look like on that type of BE to MCE upgrade.
Finally, a couple of commenters here have mentioned the option of buying BE then immediately or shortly after the purchase, checking what AA will charge you to upgrade to MCE. With first class upgrades under the previous regime of BE tickets, I’ve always believed / understood that the upgrade would cost you more upon BE purchase than in the 3-5 day window pre-flight, when the airline is looking to sell any remaining unbooked 1st class seats for whatever they can get for them. Is that not so ?
PS – at least afa the no MCE seating on BE fares & priority boarding parts, these changes to BE seem not yet to be in place. I just looked at booking a ticket at the far end of the available reservation window (late March 2027) and most the usual AAdvantage benefits are still advertised as being present for a BE ticket. And I got the same result whether searching by fare or miles. Here’s a cut and paste of the website details I saw for what is being offered as of today:
Basic Economy
$292 per person
Check 2 bags free (based on status)
Choose an extra legroom seat
Priority check-in and boarding access (Group 1-3)
No changes allowed
No miles earned
So when are the changes afa no MCE on BE fare and no priority boarding supposed to be taking effect?
Answering one of my own questions – per AA these changes go into effect May 18. It remains unclear to me whether MCE seat selection will remain available on award travel after that date. I think the answer is “yes” but we shall see. Maybe after May 18 when you’re looking to book, there will be more offerings than currently is the case? Currently award offerings on domestic AA are just “main” or “first”. Maybe after May 18 there will be two type of main cabin mileage award offers plus an offering for first… ?
@Karl – American award tickets in economy are just main cabin, not basic economy. So none of this applies to award tickets. That’s different from Delta which does have ‘main basic’ and ‘main classic’ award tickets. Enjoy using your miles.
@Peter — Pretty lame of Delta to do that… (if you ask me.)
@Peter – thanks. Do you think it stays that way much longer, though ? If this is “industry matching” by AA and the genius idea is to drive revenue with everyone in MCE (or for that matter every PAX anywhere in coach other than a middle seat in the back of the plane) paying more than the BE fare, wouldn’t AA’s logical next step be to parse awards pricing accordingly ? Something like this on a one way domestic : Basic Economy 9000 mi. Main Cabin 12,000 mi. Main Cabin Extra 15,000 mi. First 35,000 mi. I don’t fly Delta, so I’m not familiar with the awards layout, but from your reply it sounds like they’re already doing something along those very lines.
I would hope that isn’t the next step for AA, but it seems like a very short leap from here to there.