Tag Archives for economy.
When American Airlines introduced Basic Economy fares — new restrictions on the cheapest tickets that prevented customers from upgrading, making itinerary changes, or even getting a seat assignment at booking — they offered the ability to ‘buy up’ to the regular economy fare.
That way if someone realized they had purchased such a restrictive fare in error, they still had a do-over possibility by giving the airline more money.
Unlike Delta which no longer publishes award charts at all, and unlike United which doesn’t publish premium economy award pricing American has added premium economy to its published award chart pricing.
What’s more, unlike United which doesn’t seem to make premium economy saver awards available, American has made saver space for premium economy available at the get go.
Two weeks ago I reported that American would launch award redemption for premium economy this month. Awards go live tomorrow (Thursday, January 24).
We will not see any change to upgrades at this time, or upgrade awards for premium economy. This new redemption option will be for American miles on American flights only — they will not enable redemption of premium economy seats on partners, and American’s partners won’t have access to premium economy awards either.
American Airlines should be close to introducing premium economy awards. They’ve retrofitted much of their widebody fleet of Boeing 777s, 787-9s, and now some 787-8s to offer a premium economy cabin. However they have not had an option to redeem premium economy seats for miles.
I expect to see premium economy awards introduced this month, at least that’s what’s been confirmed to me by two well-placed sources at American.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is increasing mileage prices for business and first class awards effective January 24, most US routes see an increase of 7000 miles each way for business class and 12,000 for first class.
They’re also making several other changes to the program.
You can fly Delta premium economy on their new Airbus A350 for $879 roundtrip to Asia. Premium economy is like first class on domestic flights, plus a foot rest and extra perks. It makes the long journey to Asia much for palatable.
Flying to China right now is one of the best deals in air travel because there are simply too many flights from the U.S..
I’ve been meaning to blog this but Upgrade Travel beats me to the punch: United is no longer allowing its partner Star Alliance Gold members to access economy plus seating (they’re not allowing full fare passengers access to these seats either, which is bizarre). Now economy plus is available only to United elites and those who ‘buy up’ at the airport. Economy plus is the same seat as coach with no additional services, just a few extra inches of legroom. It isn’t “premium economy” as the rest of the world understands it. But United sees the ability, presumably, to upcharge. Doesn’t make me happy one bit, even though it’s a seemingly small change.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
