Flying ‘basic economy’ isn’t always cheaper.
Savings on low-cost tickets on three major airlines depend on the route, study finds.
Delta, American and United airlines, three of the world’s biggest carriers, all launched a bare-bones fare called “basic economy” in the last few years to better compete with ultra-low-cost carriers such as Spirit and Frontier Airlines.
A study by Hipmunk, a travel comparison site, found that f liers who buy basic economy fares save an average of about $35 per oneway route over regular coach fares.
That savings is not much considering that fliers who buy basic economy fares must still pay $25 to check a bag, and they can’t change f lights or select their seats or upgrade to a roomier seat. On American and United, basic economy passengers can’t even bring a carry-on bag unless it fits under the seat.
But the Hipmunk analysis of booking data over six months found that the savings for buying a basic economy fare varies widely depending on the route. On some flights, a bare-bones basic economy fare is actually more expensive than a regular coach seat, which includes the ability to change seats and bring a carry-on bag.
The savings vary because American, Delta and United adjust the prices to be extra cheap on those routes where they have direct competition with low-cost rivals.
For example, a passenger who buys a basic economy fare from Newark Liberty International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport can save up to $131 by booking a basic economy fare over a regular coach seat, the study found.
But on routes where the big three carriers have less competition, basic economy fares offer no savings at all.
On a flight from San Francisco to Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, the basic economy fare is $3.49 more expensive than a regular coach fare. On a flight from Denver International Airport to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, a basic economy seat is $3.31 more expensive than a regular coach seat, the study said.
LAX tests facial recognition
The Transportation Security Administration has launched a three-week test to see if biometrics can help speed up the check-in process at LAX.
But don’t expect to see a big difference yet.
As part of the test, the TSA has installed two new gates at the Tom Bradley International Terminal that require passengers to run their passports and their boarding passes over a scanner before they can proceed. The test began Wednesday.
The technology will confirm that the names on the passports match the names on the boarding passes.
Newer passports are embedded with microchips that include a digital photo of the passport’s owner.
A camera installed in the gates snaps a photo of the traveler and uses “facial matching algorithms” to compare it to the image that is pulled from the microchip, the TSA said.
The two gates are being used only a few hours a day to see how fast and accurate the new technology is.
Travelers who are given the green light to pass through the new gates must have TSA officers verify their identity.
“TSA expects that facial recognition may help reduce dependencies on TSA personnel and expedite security processes, resulting in shorter lines and reduced wait times,” according to a memo from the TSA.
Airports are more germy than planes
You don’t have to be a germophobe to want to slip on rubber gloves when you enter an airplane cabin.
A new study confirms once again that various surfaces in the cabin of a commercial plane have many times the amount of bacteria on an average kitchen counter.
But the latest study found that surfaces in airport terminals can have even higher germ counts than those in the planes.
The highest number of colony-forming units of bacteria per square inch was found on those increasingly popular self-serve ticketing kiosks that are popping up in terminals around the country, including Los Angeles International Airport.
Folks from the website Insurancequotes.com conducted swab tests on the surfaces of three major airports and three airlines and calculated the bacteria or fungal cell counts for several surfaces.
The website declined to disclose the names of the airports and airlines that were tested.
The highest germ counts in the planes were on the flush button on the toilets — 95,145 CFUs, followed by 11,595 CFUs on the tray tables and 1,116 CFUs on the seat buckles, according to the study. The typical kitchen counter measures 361 CFUs, according to the National Science Foundation.
The highest germ counts in the terminals were found on the screens of airport kiosks, 253,857 CFUs, followed by 21,630 CFUs on bench armrests and 19,181 CFUs on drinking fountain buttons, the study said.
Nearly three years ago, a similar study said the buttons on the drinking fountains in airport terminals had the highest germ count. Since then, airlines including American, Southwest and United have added hundreds of new self-serve kiosks to speed up the checkin process.