American Airlines Just Expanded Basic Economy to More Routes
American Airlines basic economy is expanding again. Since launching in February on just ten routes, American Airlines has only made one large expansion since. Before today, there were only 25 affected routes...
Now there are 44. This afternoon, American Airlines posted an update to its website adding 19 new routes to basic economy.
For the first time, we have a western city added to what was previously an East Coast issue: Los Vegas (LAS) has the honor of getting five basic economy routes. These include the 5-hour flight to Miami (MIA) and the 4.5-hour flight to Charlotte (CLT). And, unfortunately, these include connecting flights as well.
For example, here's what you'll pay for a basic economy fare from Miami to Las Vegas for travel tomorrow:
After this expansion, the most affected cities are now: Amarillo, Texas (AMA/11 routes); Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW/11); Midland, Texas (MAF/10) and Miami, Florida (MIA/9).
Here's the full list of the 44 Basic Economy routes:
- Amarillo (AMA) to/from Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Cincinnati (CVG), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Little Rock (LIT), Miami (MIA), Midland (MAF), Philadelphia (PHL), Tampa (TPA)
- Boston (BOS) to/from Miami (MIA)
- Baltimore-Washington (BWI) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Midland (MAF)
- Charlotte (CLT) to/from Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Miami (MIA), Midland (MAF), Orlando (MCO), Philadelphia (PHL)
- Cincinnati (CVG) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Midland (MAF)
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Cincinnati (CVG), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Las Vegas (LAS), Little Rock (LIT), Miami (MIA), Midland (MAF), Philadelphia (PHL), Tampa (TPA)
- Detroit (DTW) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Midland (MAF)
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Charlotte (CLT), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Midland (MAF), Philadelphia (PHL)
- Las Vegas (LAS) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Charlotte (CLT), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Little Rock (LIT), Miami (MIA)
- Little Rock (LIT) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS), Midland (MAF)
- Midland (MAF) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Charlotte (CLT), Cincinnati (CVG), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Little Rock (LIT), Miami (MIA), Tampa (TPA)
- Miami (MIA) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Boston (BOS), Charlotte (CLT), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS), Midland (MAF), New Orleans (MSY), Philadelphia (PHL), Tampa (TPA)
- New Orleans (MSY) to/from Miami (MIA), Philadelphia (PHL), Tampa (TPA)
- Orlando (MCO) to/from Charlotte (CLT)
- Philadelphia (PHL) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Charlotte (CLT), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA), New Orleans (MSY), Tampa (TPA)
- Tampa (TPA) to/from Amarillo (AMA), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Miami (MIA), Midland (MAF), New Orleans (MSY), Philadelphia (PHL)
It's a bummer that American Airlines is extending basic economy to these 19 routes. However, we're appreciative that AA is continuing to slowly roll out basic economy and that the airline is sharing when and where it's being extended. Meanwhile, United — which started selling basic economy on the exact same day as American — confirmed today that basic economy is now pervasive across all domestic routes.
Remember that you can use credit cards to alleviate much of the pain of basic economy fares. Just by having an American Airlines co-branded credit card — many of which waive the annual fee for the first year — you can board early, carry on a bag and check a bag for free, too.