After Delta, United, JetBlue, and even Southwest raised checked bag fees, American Airlines has now followed suit…while also making its most restrictive basic economy fares even worse.
American Airlines Raises Bag Fees, Adds Basic Economy Surcharge And New Restrictions
American Airlines is increasing checked baggage fees, becoming the last major U.S. carrier to join the latest round of price hikes. But wait, there’s more…
For domestic and short-haul international flights, the airline is raising fees by $10, bringing the cost to $50 for a first checked bag and $60 for a second. A third checked bag will now cost $200.
That alone is not surprising. I predicted this morning American Airlines would Delta, United, and Southwest in lock step and it has done so. But American is not just raising prices…it is also going placing more punitive restrictions on basic economy tickets.
Basic Economy Just Got Worse
Starting May 18, 2026, passengers booking basic economy tickets will face an additional $5 surcharge on checked bags, pushing the cost even higher than standard economy fares. For trips to South America, basic economy baggage fees rise to $70 for the first bag and $100 for the second. In instituting this change, AA becomes the first carrier to differentiate baggage fees between economy and basic economy passengers.
American is also tightening restrictions on basic economy fares by:
- AAdvantage elites will no longer be eligible for complimentary upgrades or systemwide upgrades on basic economy tickets
- AAdvantage elites will no longer be able to select complimentary seats in advance on basic economy fares, including Main Cabin Extra seats
This move transforms AA basic economy tickets from the industry’s most generous to one of the most least generous, though it appears (at least for now) that a full-size carry-on bag will still be permitted on domestic basic economy tickets (unlike United Airlines).
We see that AA is actively trying to discourage is “brand loyal” passengers from booking basic economy fares by making them unbearably restrictive.
Here’s a chart reflecting the updated baggage fees on domestic U.S. and Canada flights:
| Airline | First Bag (Old) | First Bag (New) | Second Bag (Old) | Second Bag (New) | Basic Economy Surcharge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | $40 | $50 | $45 | $60 | +$5 per bag |
American Airlines says, “These changes are the result of the airline’s continuing evaluation of pricing and in light of the current operating environment.”
CONCLUSION
American Airlines was the last holdout on baggage fee increases…but not anymore. The airline is now charging more for checked bags, adding new surcharges for basic economy passengers, and further restricting what those tickets include.
Thus, AA has gone further than any other carrier now in terms of baggage fees (though I expect others will match its higher fees for basic economy passengers, especially considering how much Frontier and Spirit charge for carry-on and checked bags).
As for the new restrictions on basic economy tickets, I cannot say that I’m surprised…we already see such restrictions on United and Delta.
As always, it’s a race to the bottom…
Indeed.
Same goes with the whole surcharge/increase on checked bags… one does it, the rest follow. So, expect a similar change at Delta and United incoming, if they haven’t already.
What about non-AAdvantage elites, will they still get free seat assignments? (As an Alaska OWE that’s what matters to me most. Exit row across the country via DFW for $69 each way was a staple of my 2025 effort to visit all remaining US states out of the 50!)
That sounds like a hole AA should plug!
Absolutely not! I also got my money’s worth out of my CapitalOne VentureX for that reason last year
BYOP — “bring your own “plug”, please” .for that ‘AA-hole’ !
Who writes these headlines?
American Airlines Strips Basic Economy Perks From Elites
There are perks in Basic Economy?
Shouldn’t it be
American Airlines Strips Elite Perks from Basic Economy tickets
I do…seems clear to me? YMMV.
Isn’t advance seat reservation an alliance-wide benefit at Oneworld? Does that mean that AA joining DL in treating their own elites worse than those of partner airlines?
If the major airlines keep this going, I am going to start flying Frontier!
I just looked up a domestic flight. $104 on Frontier. $227 for basic economy for 2 major airlines. Why not fly Frontier, pay either for a checked bag or cabin bag and it’s cheaper than $227. The major airlines don’t give frequent flyer miles anyway. (For this flight, I decided to redeem frequent flyer miles, 15,200 miles for a round trip in basic economy).
I struggle to see the philosophy underpinning such an approach. If those airlines are making a lot of money through their loyalty schemes, you’d expect them to focus on adding value through those schemes in order to keep people on the hamster wheel and capture more of their non-flight spending.
The easiest way of doing that is by giving away things which are neither included in the cheaper fares nor costly to provide, such as seat reservations. Instead of doing that, however, they’re introducing made-up fees and artificial barriers for their own elites, reducing the incentive for large cohorts of pax to engage with their FFPs and pushing them towards free agency.
When I travelled back to England from FAO in the winter, I had the option of catching a direct flight on Jet2 for €60. Despite not needing to check any hold luggage, the fact that TAP would honour my *G benefits (including, unlike Lufthansa, the free bag so that I could stuff my cabin case with wine and other bits I fancied bringing home and check it in at an impressive 16 kg) on the cheapest fare meant that I spent €120 to fly them with a connection (and probably also got them another €30 in lounge income from my home airline) on two flights which didn’t come anywhere near selling out. They’ll probably also get a business class fare out of me next month, again on a trip which can also be flown on a cheaper competitor, or indeed Lufthansa.
Well, maybe not ‘Luftwaffe’ or ‘Strikehansa’, due to their labor discord ! Or is it their perverse way of celebrating their 100th anniversary as well as introducing their Project FOX scheme ! … lol
Time to get that AA card if you don’t have status. Somehow JAL was able to check 5 bags for me on a F ticket from HND-SFO-LAX even though SFO-LAX was on a separate ticket with me sitting in Y. Impressive.
It was high time!