American Airlines completes nerfing of basic economy for elite members

This week, American Airlines was one of a plethora of US carriers that raised fees for checked bags by 10%-33%. But that wasn’t all it did to make flying worse for its customers; it also completely nerfed benefits for elite members flying basic economy fares.

In a press release yesterday, American announced multiple changes to basic economy fares:

• Checked bags will cost an additional $5 versus the charges when flying regular economy
• Starting 5/18/26, basic economy tickets will no longer be eligible for systemwide upgrades, cash upgrades, upgrades using miles, or complimentary elite upgrades
• Also beginning 5/18/26, basic economy tickets will no longer be eligible for complimentary seat selection
• These restrictions will also apply to elite members from other oneworld airlines

Quick Thoughts

As a reminder, basic economy ticket fares were already restricted from earning Loyalty Points or redeemable miles. Now, they’re also excluded from any upgrades or seat selection, and checked bags are more expensive to boot.

This more or less makes AA’s basic economy fare policies equivalent to United’s and Delta’s, though ironically even more punitive than what we usually think of as “low-cost” carriers like Frontier and Spirit.

These changes stink for American elites, as purchasing a basic economy ticket now voids most status benefits. AA wants to reward you for your loyalty, but more than that, it wants you to buy higher-priced main economy tickets. Once you’ve spent enough or flown enough to generate elite status, you still have to spend more on future flights in order to enjoy the benefits that status generates.

I’ll be interested to see what the effect of this is going forward for American and the other large carriers. Increasingly, the benefits that apply to your experience in the air have less to do with the status you have and are more closely tied to the fare that you pay or the credit card you have. Will elite status, and the effort it takes to earn it, remain the behavior-driving carrot that it’s historically been?

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