Airlines might have the widest variety of pricing of any category that people regularly buy from. You can purchase a full-fare ticket which includes a seat assignment, checked bags, and a c carry-on, or you could opt for a bargain economy seat that comes with none of those things.
The challenge for passengers is that while you have airlines like Spirit (SAVE) and Frontier (ULCC) which are discounters where all fares start from a no-frills base, most airlines offer pretty much every option. If you fly Delta Airlines (DAL), for example, you could opt for a traditional "full" fare ticket or you could opt for Basic Economy.
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Basic Economy, which American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) also offer, works a lot like Spirit and Frontier fares. Your Basic Economy ticket gets you a seat in the main cabin and nothing else. You won't even find out your seat assignment until you get to the airport terminal.
It's confusing and varies from airline to airline. That can make it hard for consumers to know exactly what they're getting because even products with similar names might be a little bit different from company to company.
When it comes to loyalty programs, however, the airline industry has uniformly made a change that passengers won't like. That has become official as American Airlines has officially become the last airline to adopt the unpopular practice.
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American Airlines Drops Saver Award Charts
Saver award charts were a simple way to operate a loyalty program. Essentially, a certain amount of miles could be redeemed for a select set of flights. It varied by airline, but it worked roughly like this: you could get a certain length flight for a specific amount of points while longer ones (or international flights) might cost more.
It was a cleat system for customers that made their rewards more valuable. Now, American Airlines has become the last U.S. carrier to drop those charts and move to dynamic pricing for reward redemptions.
"Going forward, AAdvantage redemptions for travel on American will be exclusively priced dynamically, allowing the airline to adjust the award rate for any given flight" The Points Guy reported. "While that may be good news for American's bottom line, it certainly stings for flyers who like to maximize their points and miles and enjoy the predictability of an award chart."
American Essentially Raises Reward Pricing
The previous flight awards chart charged AAdvantage members 7,500 miles for a flight in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America flights cost 10,000 while a So
uth America "short haul" flight would cost 15,000 miles. Flights to and from Europe, Alaska, and Hawaii came with even higher price tags.
Under the new dynamic pricing system, American Airlines can offer deals, it calls them "Web Specials," to entice people to fly on certain flights. Maybe a redeye from Los Angeles to New York will have a lower price for reward redemption than one leaving at a more advantageous part of the day.
American Airlines also allows rewards members to upgrade their flights using miles.
"Use your AAdvantage miles to upgrade on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle for yourself or anyone you designate," the airlines shared on its website. "Upgrades are valid to the next cabin of service and are valid for a single one-way trip with a maximum of three segments. Upgrades are subject to capacity controls."
The airline still uses set charges for upgrades with some requiring a mix of miles and dollars.
