I flew basic economy on both Delta and United within 72 hours - and the cheap seats aren't nearly as bad as people say
When I booked the tickets, both airlines confirmed multiple times that I wouldn't be allowed carry-on bags.
After reading a review of United's basic economy class that pointed out you couldn't check in online, I repeatedly warned my boyfriend that we should get to the airport early and that we wouldn't have seats before we arrived. The trip to Atlanta was with Delta, but I was still taking precautions.
Source: Business Insider
We arrived at LGA Terminal D at about 6:30 p.m. for a 9 p.m. flight and checked in with the curbside agent outside, who gave me my boarding pass but sent us to the indoor kiosks to print my boyfriend's. We breezed through security and arrived at our (unmanned) gate at 7 p.m., where the agent told us to return at 8.
To kill time, we headed over to Terminal C, where there's an elaborate food court that belies LGA's less-than-stellar reputation. After some pre-flight ramen, we moseyed back over to our gate to find a line waiting for the agent's attention.
The agent announced over the loudspeaker that everyone had been assigned a seat, and parties booked together would sit together, so there was no need to approach the desk for a seat assignment. He was very adamant on this last point. Anyone who'd been assigned seats at the gate — there were about 15 — would board with Group 1, the first regular boarding group.
Usually when boarding I wait until almost everyone is on the plane, but I decided to follow the instructions and board with Zone 1. I don't recommend it: When the first person in line hesitated after the boarding announcement, people started yelling "Zone 1!" and pushing around him to bulldoze through to their assigned seats.
As we boarded, the gate agent took my boarding pass and swapped it for a piece of paper with my seat assignment on it.
My boyfriend and I ended up not only next to each other, but in an exit row only about half a dozen rows behind first class, so pretty near the front of the plane. I'm only 5'3", so I was swimming in legroom. My boyfriend, who is 6'2", was extremely happy.
Delta's policy for basic economy is that you must put your "personal item" under the seat in front of you. We did, but no one ever checked or confirmed. The plane itself was clearly new: fancy lighting, TVs in the seat backs, generally shiny and clean. I looked it up later and it was an A320.
It was one of the best flights I've taken in a while. The flight attendants handed out the usual drinks and cookies/pretzels/snack mix options, while I watched movies. My boyfriend's new iPhone headphones didn't fit in the jack next to the screen and the crew didn't offer headphones to use or purchase, so he read a book. We landed early. Basic economy was pretty great so far.
I got the email from United to check in on Sunday, and followed the link as usual. As I'd expected, it couldn't complete my check-in process and required us to redo it at the airport.
United's baggage policy for basic economy is different than Delta's: It gives you specific dimensions for what's considered a personal item versus a carry-on.
Without a tape measure and warned that trying to get a carry-on onto the plane could cost us another $50 each, I was getting nervous.
We arrived at ATL's north terminal in the rain around 7 a.m. for a 9:30 a.m. flight. Good thing we did: The first thing we saw was a huge line of tired travelers waiting to check in. We joined the crowd.
The line was extremely slow-moving because of the strange setup: The check-in kiosks were right next to bag-checking stations, so you couldn't tell which people had finished checking in and were checking bags, leaving the kiosk technically available.
The bag-checking stations were equipped with a little box to measure your personal item and another one for your carry-on. Our personal items didn't quite fit in the personal item box ...
We started checking in only to hit a bright yellow screen that told us to summon an agent to approve our bags. There were very few agents, but once we got someone's attention she barely gave our bags a glance and affixed bright stickers designating them as personal items not allowed in the overhead storage. Those stickers alleviated my anxiety immediately. We were approved!
We were given seats immediately right on our boarding passes. They weren't together, and they were at the very back of the plane, rows 37 and 38. Win some, lose some, I guess.
Security was also packed and slow-moving, but we eventually made it through Terminal T (not worth discussing) and onto the plane, which was a screen and fancy-lighting-less older model. Even with the tags on our bags, the flight attendants told us we could put them above if there was space near our seats (there wasn't).
We took off on time and had an uneventful trip home, with free beverages, packaged stroopwafels, and snacks available for purchase.
Bottom line: Basic economy is no big deal.
Admittedly, I wasn't traveling with children, I wasn't going on a business trip or to a wedding that might require more luggage, I'm not big enough for regular seats to be very uncomfortable, and I could generally be pretty flexible about the details in a way many people can't.
Most of what differentiated Delta's basic economy from United's had nothing to do with the fare itself: The Delta experience was much better overall because of the shiny new plane, the seamless airport experience, and our luck getting exit-row seats. None of those are a given the next time I fly.
The only real difference came down to how each airline approached luggage. The more flexible as-long-as-it-fits-under-the-seat policy from Delta was a winner that made things simple.
The "personal item" stickers from United alleviated a lot of worry — but they're a direct result of the specific dimensions assigned to each type of luggage and require an in-person check-in with a gate agent. It would probably be easier for travelers if United chose to adopt the under-the-seat policy that made things easy with Delta. I understand why they might be worried about people abusing that policy, however, so perhaps that's why they've stuck with measurements.
Before flying, I'd really only heard bad things about basic economy. In the future, I won't be scared away.
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