Flying - basic fare vs economy or "plus"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Airlines have to seat you with your kids. Don’t pay more to do that.

No they don't.

They'll ask around, but they can't insist passengers who paid EXTRA for their seats move to less desirable seats so that economy fare passengers who paid LESS can sit together. OP, if it's important to you that you sit with your kid(s), pay for the fares that allow you to pre-select your seats. If you are content sitting anywhere and apart from each other, and paying to check any bags that don't fit under the seat, then economy is ok.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

[Anonymous]

If I'm flying by myself, I'll book basic, unless you have to pay for a carry-on; I never check a bag if I can avoid it, and I don't care if I'm in the window/middle/aisle or whatever if it's just me.

If I'm traveling with my family, I only book fares where you can pick seats in advance, though they're a little more expensive. $50 or $60 per seat seems worth not having to worry about whether you'll be seated with your kids, but obviously others might feel differently about the cost.

[Anonymous]

For me, it depends on the situation.

I have little kids and I've flown AA basic at least ten times. We've ALWAYS been assigned seats together. And AA lets you bring carryons aboard for free. United basic does not permit carryons. I've only flown United BE without kids and when I could get everything into a school-sized backpack. It's fine for short flights/trips.

Lately, my calculation has been based on the delta between the basic and main prices, how likely I am to need to adjust my plans, and the ticket prices. For example, this fall, I'm flying with my family on AA basic because the basic tickets were $180 and main were $250. I decided paying $70/ticket wasn't worth it as "insurance" in case I needed to change my plans or cancel. We're planning to go on the trip. I booked the tickets and got good seats assigned by AA quickly. We'll bring carryons.

Alternatively, we're flying to Asia next spring break. While the flights are on ANA, I purchased through United because ANA credits would be harder to use than United. And I paid about $100 more for main so that we can adjust if needed. It's so far away and the tickets are so expensive that I didn't want to risk needed to change. Plus, I wanted to be able to pick my own seats on 13 hour flights.

[Anonymous]

I've bought lots of basic tickets over the last few years with and without kids (flying internationally so a bit different). The airlines I flew with either let us pick our seats out for free (right when we booked) OR we called and confirmed that we would be seated with at least 1 child (we didn't care where in the plane we sat).

The flights I've flown, it's always an option to buy your seat, except for one shorter connecting flight (but that airline always sits you with your kids). Even buying the seats separately, the cost would be much less for us. We intentionally travel carry-on only for a multitude of reasons. We have saved thousands on flights this way and it has opened up travel opportunities for us. Instead of traveling abroad maybe once a year, we are able to travel several times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've bought lots of basic tickets over the last few years with and without kids (flying internationally so a bit different). The airlines I flew with either let us pick our seats out for free (right when we booked) OR we called and confirmed that we would be seated with at least 1 child (we didn't care where in the plane we sat).

The flights I've flown, it's always an option to buy your seat, except for one shorter connecting flight (but that airline always sits you with your kids). Even buying the seats separately, the cost would be much less for us. We intentionally travel carry-on only for a multitude of reasons. We have saved thousands on flights this way and it has opened up travel opportunities for us. Instead of traveling abroad maybe once a year, we are able to travel several times.

oh and I'll also add that with flight prices rising quite a bit over the past 1.5 years, it is harder to find a good basic economy flight BUT I do fly budget airlines too and they have options for "packages" where you upgrade to basic economy, but tbh we don't do all of that. If I'm solo with my kids we'll go with the allotted personal items each and I'll pay for one carry-on each way. I'm flying this summer solo and am doing personal item only there and bought a carry-on for the return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

Meant I wouldn’t book basic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

No one wants a middle seat, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

+1. Not complicated at all. Airlines are clear about what you get/don't get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

lol fair. Thanks for the synopsis, genuinely this is helpful.

-op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

The bold is not true. That’s a function of who gets in line first or who gets though on the phone first.

[Anonymous]

We often book basic and then pay for the seats. Still turns out to be cheaper. Usually a carry-on is fine. We don't regularly check luggage.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I ended up booking economy on American, it was $100 less per person and it allows seat selection at booking and a carry on. The main difference is that it is not refundable. Jet Blue had a much smaller price difference ($30), and much bigger differential (basic had no seat selection and no carryon) so on Jet Blue I would have gone mid tier. Thank you all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you all! Ugh, I do not want a middle seat. I hate that the airlines have made buying plane tickets so complicated.

It is not complicated at all. Basic is the lowest tier ticket. You don’t get to pick your seat and you will likely get an undesirable middle seat. You board last. You get bumped if it is an overbooked flight and last to rebook if your flight gets cancelled.

I would never book economy unless I was a poor college student.

The bold is not true. That’s a function of who gets in line first or who gets though on the phone first.

NP here. Most airlines’ apps allow this function, so I usually don’t have to fight a line or call a number. Always also check the app.