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American Airlines Adds Basic Economy to New International Routes

Emily McNutt
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Emily McNutt is The Points Guy's Global News Editor and is based in London.
Aug. 22, 2017
•
3 min read
American Airlines Adds Basic Economy to New International Routes
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In all of its domestic routes by the end of September. In addition, it's added basic economy on some international routes to Canada. Now, it's expanding internationally even further — this time, to the south.

An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed that the carrier will offer basic economy on the following Caribbean routes, effective immediately:

  • Philadelphia (PHL) — Punta Cana (PUJ)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) — St Maarten (SXM)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) — Bermuda (BDA)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) — Montego Bay (MBJ)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) — Nassau (NAS)
  • Philadelphia (PHL) — Aruba (AUA)
Screen Shot 2017-08-22 at 3.36.41 PM

In addition to the six new routes to the Caribbean from PHL, American is also launching basic economy on a few routes to Mexico. These routes now offer basic economy for AA travelers:

  • Dallas (DFW) — Cancun (CUN)
  • Amarillo (AMA) — Cancun (CUN)
  • Midland (MAF) — Cancun (CUN)

These additions are interesting for American. It seems that while it plans to introduce basic economy to all of its domestic routes by the end of September, it's expanding to its international routes more quickly. Now, AA offers basic economy on select flights to many of its North American destinations.

Screen Shot 2017-08-22 at 11.25.05 AM

As a reminder for those who are unaware, travelers who book American Airlines basic economy fares don't get seat assignments, board in the last group (Group 9), aren't allowed to bring a carry-on bag, earn a reduced amount of elite-qualifying miles (EQMs), can't get upgrades and can't change their flights.

With that said, you can jump to boarding Group 5, earn back your carry-on bag and get a free checked bag on these basic economy fares just by having a co-branded card such as the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard or the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard.

The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Featured image by JT Genter

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  • Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
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  • New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
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