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In February, American Airlines launched its new low-cost, barebones alternative fare, basic economy. Since the first 10 routes on which AA launched basic economy, the carrier has announced that it plans on expanding basic economy to 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)
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.
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.
Source: thepointsguy.com