Basic Economy fares are almost universally loathed due to their restrictive nature — especially as they do not include more than a small item to carry aboard the airplane, more often than not — but that does not always mean that you must purchase up to a more expensive airfare; so read this article to find out how to carry a bag aboard an airplane for a little less money.
How to Carry a Bag Aboard an Airplane For a Little Less Money
Suppose you and a companion want to travel in Ecuador from Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands one way on Monday, September 30, 2025 as passengers of LATAM Airlines.
A choice of two flights is offered on that day. Both of them cost $125.15 per person.
A choice of four fare classes appears once you have selected a flight. The least expensive fare is the Basic fare with the aforementioned $125.15; while the Light fare is $148.15, which includes a carry-on bag weighing up to 12 kilograms at no extra charge.
Notice how LATAM Airlines blatantly highlights the Premium Economy fare in white type on a dark blue background to lure you into purchasing that fare over the others — but unless you can truly justify the options that are included in the Premium Economy fare for an extra $64.40, do not be fooled.
You may automatically be tempted to purchase the Light fare for both passengers, which in this example would cost a total of $296.30. That is $46.00 more than you initially expected to pay for two people to travel. You might be resigned to think that this is the best that you can do in getting the lowest airfare possible — but in this case, that is not true.
If you decide to choose the Basic fare instead, a stern warning awaits you — as most airlines tend to do — asking if you are sure you want to proceed with the Basic fare and the restrictions with which it is fraught. In this example, the only differences between the Basic fare and the Light fare are that the Basic fare does not include a carry-on bag weighing up to 12 kilograms at no extra charge; and the passengers do not get to enjoy elite benefits such as a chance to upgrades with a Basic fare, which is not guaranteed anyway with other fares. This flight is one hour and 58 minutes; so you are not going to miss out on a gourmet meal in a lie-flat seat — and the restriction of “Benefits do not apply for member categories” does not affect anyone who has not earned elite status.
If you click on the button marked Accept restrictions to proceed with purchasing the Basic fare…
…you will eventually be taken to a prompt which gives you the option of purchasing the privilege of carrying one small bag of up to 12 kilograms in addition to one small personal item — in this case, for $19.00 per person…
…which arrives at a total of $288.30 and a modest savings of eight dollars.
You are likely thinking “Pfft. Eight dollars. Who the #*?! cares?!?” Well, this discrepancy adds up for every one-way flight; and round trip flights are usually double the savings — so the savings is $16.00 in this example if this itinerary included a round trip flight…
…but let us use another example: suppose you and a companion want to travel in Australia from Melbourne to Sydney one way on Monday, September 30, 2025 as passengers of Jetstar Airways with which a choice of flights is offered on that day for $81.00 per person, which would cost a total of $162.00.
Similar to LATAM Airlines, Jetstar Airways uses graphics to try to lure you into purchasing its FlexPlus fare over the others — but again, unless you really want or need what is included in the Premium Economy fare to justify almost double the cost for a ticket of the same flight, do not be fooled into purchasing it.
Notice how the difference between the Starter fare at $81.00 per person and the Starter Plus fare at $126.00 per person is $45.00 per person — or a difference of $90.00 total — on this one-way fare. If you want a voucher of ten dollars off the purchase of food and drink; a checked bag of up to 20 kilograms; and the ability to select a standard seat as you book the ticket, you might think that is worth the extra money for two people for a flight. Do you really need these options on a flight whose duration is only one hour and 30 minutes?
If you only want to be able to carry a bag aboard the airplane, that costs an extra $32.00 per person — so the total for two passengers is $226.00 instead of $252.00, which is a savings of $26.00.
Even if you purchase a seat assignment for seven dollars per person, you still save twelve dollars.
Final Boarding Call
Notice that neither of the aforementioned examples alerts you that if you choose to move forward with purchasing Basic Economy fares, you will still have the option later in the process to purchase an allowance for carrying a bag aboard the airplane — along with other options to purchase. I would not be surprised if many customers purchased the more expensive fare thinking that once the process to purchase a Basic Economy fare starts, other options are no longer available.
Some of the amounts that you can save in this article may seem trivial — but they do add up rather quickly: double the savings for round-trip flights instead of one-way flights; increase the savings on longer flights; and do away with options that you may not need for the savings to further add up. For every person that says “Oh, what is an extra $20.00 anyway?” and purchases the more expensive option is more profit for the airline which can add up to tens of thousands of dollars per year. No wonder airlines are loathe to clearly disclose Basic Economy fares when advertising or eliminating ancillary fees.
Some Basic Economy fares do include a bag which you can carry aboard the airplane along with a personal item — such as those offered by Delta Air Lines — but be prepared for surrendering the benefits that are otherwise included with your elite status or some other tradeoff.
I vehemently dislike when airlines advertise their lowest fares — but do not immediately reveal that they are Basic Economy fares with significant restrictions and policies — on sites such as Google Flights or on some online travel agencies. I find that misleading to customers — especially when the flights are transoceanic and traveling without a carry-on bag or a checked bag is virtually impossible.
Furthermore, the setup of displaying fares is meant to psychologically get you to pay more for your trip when you likely can save money. Do not be fooled by this. Always try booking the lowest fare to get more information. As long as you do not purchase the ticket — as by then, it is usually too late with the exception of the 24-hour refund guarantee in the United States — you are not bound by the non-refundable policy.
As with most anything else, your savings will vary…
Photograph ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
