With most airlines, there’s no difference between the actual seats in the main cabin versus basic economy. But the policies outside of your seats — like how much luggage you can bring and how easy (and cheaply) you can change your flights — can be significantly different. And you’ll find that often, when it comes down to deciding between basic economy versus main cabin, the most noticeable difference is cost.

Basic economy fares are cheaper than main cabin. However, you lose out on flexibility for flight changes and/or cancellations, seat selection options and the ability to earn miles at a high rate.

Love them or hate them, basic economy fares are here to stay. These fares, which major airlines introduced to compete with low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier, carry significant limitations to flexibility and creature comforts.

Beyond this simple tradeoff, each airline handles its basic economy fares differently. Some even have different names for them, such as “Saver” fares. A few airlines let flyers earn miles on these low-cost fares, while others don’t, and some charge far more than others for the price markup between its basic economy and main cabin seats.

Price differences between basic economy and economy tickets

Is it worth it to pay for the price difference between basic economy and main cabin fares? That depends on a bunch of factors, including whatever is important to you for a given flight experience. It also depends on the cost difference between the two.

Airlines don’t charge the same amount for the markup between its basic economy and main cabin tickets. We compared data for 10 similar round-trip routes in 2023 for each of the following airlines to determine an average price difference between the two fares.

Overall, Alaska Airlines charged the lowest average markup between basic economy versus main cabin for a round-trip ticket ($53), while United Airlines charged the most ($60). That might not seem like a big difference at first glance, but these fees add up.

Interestingly, Hawaiian Airlines offered almost no basic economy fares on any routes when we searched last summer. So we were unable to determine an average price on Hawaiian routes that were comparable to other airlines.

Basic economy rules by airline

Seeing an overview of the restrictions and allowances that differ between airlines can help paint a picture of the varied landscape of basic economy tickets. We’ll dive deeper into these differences in the next section.

Major differences between basic economy and economy inclusions

Let's look closer at the differences related to changes and cancellations, seat selection, carry-on bag allowance, and the ability for travelers to earn miles or qualify for elite status.

Trip modifications

Among U.S. airlines, only JetBlue allows any changes or cancellations on basic economy fares, though it charges a fee to make these adjustments. Other airlines simply do not allow changes on these fares, which means you’ll have to buy a completely new ticket if your plans change.

Now that most airlines have eliminated change fees altogether, this is a huge difference from main cabin fares.

If you do need to change your basic economy fare, some airlines offer a workaround: upgrading your basic economy fare to economy. For example, United lets you upgrade your Basic Economy ticket to a United Economy fare for an additional charge, unlocking the ability to change or cancel your flight without paying a change fee.

Of course, it’ll still cost money to upgrade your trip (typically starting at $30 each direction), so it would be better to book a standard economy fare upfront if it’s likely you’ll need to make a change. But in a bind, that can save you money.

Seat selection

All U.S. airlines, except American Airlines, have strict restrictions on seat selection for basic economy fares. The rules and wording of these restrictions differ from airline to airline, but amount to the same thing: You can’t choose your seat ahead of time, and you will get your seat assigned at check-in.

This indicates two realities for basic economy tickets:

You are more likely to get stuck in a middle seat, near the back of the plane.

It might be difficult to sit with other members of your party (though gate agents are sometimes accommodating for families).

One notable exception is American Airlines, which does allow seat selection ahead of time on basic economy fares, but it typically charges a fee. (The fee is waived in some situations, such as holding higher tiers of AAdvantage elite status). That said, if you don’t have elite status and find yourself paying the seat selection fee anyway, you may as well upgrade to the main cabin, since they roughly amount to the same thing.

Carry-on bags

Basic economy luggage rules can be particularly confusing since airlines have inconsistent policies. Many have changed their rules since rolling out basic economy fares.

JetBlue and United don’t allow overhead carry-on bags for basic economy passengers and could charge a hefty fee if you try to bring one. When you fly either airline, you can still bring a bag that fits underneath the seat, but you will not have access to the overhead bin. Pack light, or prepare to check your luggage (which also typically entails a separate baggage fee).

All other airlines allow overhead carry-on bags for basic economy fares.

Earning miles

This is yet another area where airline rules differ significantly and where some airlines have changed their own rules in recent years.

This differentiator breaks down to two key questions:

Do passengers earn redeemable frequent flyer miles on basic economy fares?

Do these flights count toward earning elite status?

Within these, some airlines offer the same rate of earning miles and elite status for both basic economy and main cabin fares, while others offer lower earning rates for basic economy.

The best basic economy airline

Winner: American Airlines

After reviewing the full breakdown of restrictions and allowances, we’ve determined that American Airlines offers the best basic economy tickets for travelers.

We compared all of the full-service U.S.-based airlines across the basic economy-related categories outlined above and created a five-point score for each.

American wins for a few reasons: It allows seat selection (for a fee), elite upgrades and standby travel. Basic economy fares provide a significant cost savings over standard economy. Plus, you still get that comfortable main cabin seat, free snacks, soft drinks and in-flight entertainment that generally make American Airlines one of the better onboard experiences out there anyway.

Alaska’s Saver fares are a close second.

Delta and United trail the pack, in large part due to their restrictions on making changes to your flight and choosing a seat. Both of these airlines also offer reduced mile earning for basic economy fares. United annoyingly doesn’t allow you to bring a carry-on for the overhead bin (under seat only).

When to choose basic economy

The logic of basic economy is simple from the airlines’ perspective: They want to entice you with low fares in search results and then bump up the price by making basic economy seem very unappealing.

Some airlines even make it quite difficult to book a basic economy fare at all.

This creates an opportunity — and dilemma — for any budget-conscious traveler. Should you save the money on the raw airfare cost and lose some privileges, like seat selection? Or pony up the cost to “upgrade” your ticket to the main cabin?

Here’s a good rule of thumb for when to choose basic economy:

Your plans are absolutely firm.

You are traveling alone.

You don’t care about earning points and elite status.

You don’t mind where you sit (or at least, you’re willing to deal with the middle seat if it means saving money).

If that doesn’t sound like you, consider booking a main cabin fare.

The bottom line

Overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. Airlines have made the world of basic economy a complicated mess, but the logic is fairly straightforward: You should choose these ultracheap tickets when the benefits outweigh the costs. If you don’t care about seat selection, earning miles and bringing an overhead carry-on (in some cases), you can truly take advantage of basic economy fares.

“Basic economy” does not mean the same thing across all airlines. American and Alaska Airlines offer comparatively generous basic economy fares, while United and JetBlue are more like budget airlines in this regard.