The Guide to American Airlines Basic Economy

AA basic economy has some restrictions, but provides a solid budget-friendly experience compared to other airlines.

Ariana Arghandewal

Ariana is a travel rewards expert who has been covering points, miles and free travel for over seven years. She previously served as managing editor for FlyerTalk and Frugal Travel Guy. When she's not contributing to NerdWallet, she runs her own travel hacking blog, PointChaser.com.

Mary Flory leads NerdWallet's growing team of assigning editors at large. Before joining NerdWallet's content team, she had spent more than 12 years developing content strategies, managing newsrooms and mentoring writers and editors. Her previous experience includes being an executive editor at the American Marketing Association and an editor at news and feature syndicate Content That Works.

Sally French
Lead Writer/Spokesperson | Travel, credit cards

Sally French is a travel rewards expert who joined NerdWallet in 2020. She previously wrote about travel and credit cards for The New York Times and its sibling site, Wirecutter.

Outside of work, she loves fitness, and she competes in both powerlifting and weightlifting (she can deadlift more than triple bodyweight). Naturally, her travels always involve a fitness component, including a week of cycling up the coastline of Vietnam and a camping trip to the Arctic Circle, where she biked over the sea ice. Other adventures have included hiking 25 miles in one day through Italy's Cinque Terre and climbing the 1,260 steps to Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi, Thailand.

Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

As the cheapest tickets offered by American Airlines, basic economy fares can be a tremendous bargain. If you’re someone who travels light and doesn’t anticipate needing to change your travel plans, you can get great value out of basic economy.

But being aware of how to get around the limitations of this fare can help you save even more money. Here is everything you need to know to make the best of American Airlines' basic economy.

What is American Airlines' basic economy?

Basic economy is the cheapest fare class offered by American Airlines. Booking a basic economy fare entitles you to the same main cabin seat as other economy class passengers. There are just a few differences in the travel experience:

Basic economy fares do not earn Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs), Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) and Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) toward future status.

No ticket changes or cancellations after 24 hours of booking (except on flights to Europe, where a fee applies).

All customers — including those with basic economy fares —can fly standby on the same day for free.

Are the savings worth it? To help, we built the calculator below, which can help you determine the "true cost" of a basic economy ticket. Just input the cost of the ticket you’re considering along with a few other details, and you’ll see whether it’s actually a better deal.

Note that this calculator applies to domestic flights only; international baggage fees are more complex.

Despite the restrictions, booking basic economy on American Airlines doesn’t have to be a bad experience. In fact, you can get around many of its inconveniences with a few tips and tricks.

Check out our nerdy picks for the best American Airlines credit cards and find the right card for you.

Flying basic economy with elite status

Being an AAdvantage elite member makes traveling so much better, especially if you’re flying on a basic economy fare.

Elite members who purchase a basic economy fare are able to access elite benefits including:

You’ll also get a better boarding group and free checked bags:

Oneworld elite members also qualify for free checked bags and priority boarding while flying basic economy on American Airlines.

Using credit cards to fly basic economy

If you’re flying basic economy on American Airlines, you can circumvent many of the fare’s inconveniences with a co-branded credit card.

For example, you can get upgraded to Group 4 or 5 boarding, meaning you can get to your seat faster and snag a convenient overhead spot for your bag.

You can get free checked bags from the AAdvantage co-branded credit cards as well. Here’s how the benefits look for various cards if you just add your AAdvantage number to your reservation:

AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to four companions traveling on the same domestic itinerary.

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Silver Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to eight companions on the same domestic itinerary.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to four companions traveling on the same domestic itinerary.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to eight companions on the same domestic itinerary.

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to four companions traveling on the same domestic itinerary.

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® : One free checked bag for the primary cardholder and up to four companions traveling on the same domestic itinerary.

Basic economy across U.S. airlines

In NerdWallet's annual analysis of the best airlines, we compared the basic economy experience across the major U.S. airlines currently offering a basic economy fare.

We looked at restrictions and allowances, including baggage, miles earning and trip modification policies. Here's how they stacked up:

AA basic economy, recapped

Paying for checked bags isn’t ideal, but if the basic economy fare is cheap enough, it might make sense to book it and pay for a checked bag rather than booking a fare with free baggage allowance.

But we know this can be hard to figure out, especially if you’re comparing fares among multiple airlines.

The information related to CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

You’re following Ariana Arghandewal
Visit your My NerdWallet Settings page to see all the writers you're following.

Ariana is a travel rewards expert whose work has been featured by U.S. News Travel, Frommer's and The Huffington Post. See full bio.

You’re following Sally French
Visit your My NerdWallet Settings page to see all the writers you're following.

Sally French is a travel rewards expert who joined NerdWallet in 2020. She previously wrote about travel and credit cards for The New York Times and its sibling site, Wirecutter. She also has worked for MarketWatch and The Orange County Register. She loves fitness, and her travels have included cycling up the coastline of Vietnam and over the sea ice in the Arctic Circle. Sally studied journalism at the University of Missouri. Twitter: @SAFmedia. See full bio.

on Capital One's website

NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options

Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel.

on Citibank's application

NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.

Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.

on Chase's website

NerdWallet's ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account the type of card being reviewed (such as cash back, travel or balance transfer) and the card's rates, fees, rewards and other features.

5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Download the app

Disclaimer: NerdWallet strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. This information may be different than what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider or specific product’s site. All financial products, shopping products and services are presented without warranty. When evaluating offers, please review the financial institution’s Terms and Conditions. Pre-qualified offers are not binding. If you find discrepancies with your credit score or information from your credit report, please contact TransUnion® directly.

NerdUp by NerdWallet credit card: NerdWallet is not a bank. Bank services provided by Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC. The NerdUp by NerdWallet Credit Card is issued by Evolve Bank & Trust pursuant to a license from MasterCard International Inc.

Impact on your credit may vary, as credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations.

NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS ID# 1617539

California: California Finance Lender loans arranged pursuant to Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Finance Lenders License #60DBO-74812

Insurance Services offered through NerdWallet Insurance Services, Inc. (CA resident license no.OK92033) Insurance Licenses

NerdWallet™ | 55 Hawthorne St. - 10th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105