I don’t think this will surprise anyone, but United Airlines executives have essentially confirmed plans to introduce a “basic” Polaris business class experience…
In this post:
United wants to segment business class revenue more
Yesterday, United announced its Q2 2025 financial results, and there were some interesting comments during the earnings call. Dawn Gilbertson from The Wall Street Journal asked about the concept of United introducing a “bare bones” Polaris business class experience:
“I’m wondering, you guys talked a lot recently about making Polaris even more premium. Are you weighing, like your new favorite brand loyal competitor, are you also weighing bare bones business class tickets? And if so, can you walk us through that and talk about any timeline? If not, why not?”
Here’s how United Chief Customer Officer Andrew Nocella responded:
“Look, what I would say is over time, over the last seven or eight years, we’ve leaned heavily into segmentation of our revenues, which is really an articulate way of saying, providing more and more choices to our customers so they can pick the experience they would like, from premium to basic economy. And we have learned through that time period that our customers really appreciate this.”
“Not everybody wants the full experience. Some people want other experiences. And so the value to United as an airline and to that of our customers has been proven by the segmentation of revenues that we’ve done. And we look forward to continuing to diversify our revenue base and segment it in the appropriate way, and I’ll leave it at that.”
I think it’s safe to say that these basic business class fares will become common at all of the “big three” US carriers sooner rather than later. Delta executives have openly admitted to working on introducing these, and I’m sure we’ll see American executives confirm something similar in the near future.
Will customers benefit from basic business class fares?
Over time, we’ve seen the concept of basic economy become pretty widespread, whereby the cheapest economy fares include the fewest perks. The purpose of this is twofold — to expand a carrier’s potential customer base, and to get existing customers to “buy up” to a higher fare, in order to avoid punitive restrictions.
I’d expect the concept of basic business class to be similar. It’s anyone’s guess what kind of restrictions we’ll see, but they could include less flexibility, lounge access restrictions, reduced mileage earning, fees for seat assignments, etc.
These basic fares are always framed as being good for customers, and giving them more choice, and allowing them to only pay for the services that they want. But make no mistake, that’s not actually how the implementation of these fares typically works.
I wouldn’t expect basic business class fares to be materially cheaper than existing business class fares. Instead, I suspect that more often than not, the current cheapest fares will be made the basic fares, in an effort to get people to buy up to more expensive fares. I wouldn’t consider that to be good for consumers.
At the same time, I’m not surprised to see the trend. Premium leisure demand is strong, while business travel hasn’t fully recovered. Leisure travelers are often willing to pay a lot for business class, but they’re typically not willing to pay $10K+, as some corporate customers previously may have. So it’s not surprising to see airlines using whatever strategies they can to get people to part with more of their money when flying business class.
The thing to keep in mind is that adding basic business class fares in long haul markets requires a bit more coordination, given the joint ventures that the major airlines belong to, which create metal neutrality.
Bottom line
United executive are hinting at how the airline plans to introduce basic Polaris business class at some point, in order to further segment the market. Delta executives have previously confirmed the same, so I don’t think this is much of a surprise.
I suspect that within the next year, we’ll see this be standard at all of the “big three” US carriers. It remains to be seen how punitive the restrictions get…
What do you make of United introducing a basic Polaris business class product?
On some routes they are still using that pathetic 2-4-2 configuration in business IAD-SFO hour example. I can't wait to see what's more basic than that. And I'm sure ual's ceo discussed this with delta which is why they both said practically at the same time hey our business class passengers want crappier service at a temporarily lower price for about a year or two before we raise prices back. This is why I fear...
On some routes they are still using that pathetic 2-4-2 configuration in business IAD-SFO hour example. I can't wait to see what's more basic than that. And I'm sure ual's ceo discussed this with delta which is why they both said practically at the same time hey our business class passengers want crappier service at a temporarily lower price for about a year or two before we raise prices back. This is why I fear when jetblue goes away or gets absorbed there will be no more competition in that space.
Are you saying Polaris isn't basic ENUF?
Would this be characterized as Basic Basic? Sub-Basic?
United’s Polaris food is pretty basic. Maybe they should fix that so people would be willing to pay a premium?
I haven’t paid cash for Polaris since 2021. Product is only worth it if getting a discount via low-price award or upgrade. My max is $1250 per segment, including value of miles spent
$1250 per segment doesn't seem very cheap to me. BA regularly have fare sales for their underwhelming F product from Germany to N. America and back for that sort of price (e.g. €2100 all-in return)- and you'll also get a fair few miles for your troubles. Admittedly you did say 'max', so it may well be that you normally spend e.g. $800 but are prepared to go higher if you need to.
The real kicker will be what will points/miles redemptions book into. We've already seen huge devaluations across the board in recent years. Having business class award tickets book into basic will be yet another one.
The mantra 'these won't make fares any cheaper' is simply an indication of whoever says it being unable to understand basic economics.
There are only two possibilities here: either airlines have unlimited pricing power and for whatever reason are pricing things too low at the moment, or alternatively prices will fall as a result of this move.
It's been 33 years since the deregulation of air travel in the EU, and just over...
The mantra 'these won't make fares any cheaper' is simply an indication of whoever says it being unable to understand basic economics.
There are only two possibilities here: either airlines have unlimited pricing power and for whatever reason are pricing things too low at the moment, or alternatively prices will fall as a result of this move.
It's been 33 years since the deregulation of air travel in the EU, and just over 25 since easyJet started having a serious go at unbundling fares. You only need to spend a few minutes on Google to find the prices being charged for intra-Europe travel by the likes of BA and LH, particularly in business class, back in the early noughties and compare them with what's being charged today. I was around back in 2007 and I can tell you for a fact that the sub-€500 return business class ticket wasn't a thing back then... and that's before you factor in 20 years' worth of inflation.
The 'no change fee' policy is paid by everyone who doesn't need unlimited flexibility, introducing a fare category which comes with restrictions will absolutely be beneficial in the medium term for passengers who don't need that level of flexibility.
It goes without saying that the change will also have losers, and those are the people who currently get the costs of the flexibility they need spread across their fellow pax.
No numnuts people that book business (and pay for business) want the full experience. If they wanted the "basic economy experience" they would have paid $89 for a cheap ass basic economy fare.
Unfortunately this will be a stable of the US3 probably by next year.
As someone who's actually flown on Basic Business fares offered by Qatar and Saudia, I found them to be substantially lower than the regular Biz fares offered by competitors. And yes, there is reason to believe Basic Biz fares will be cheaper generally -- with likely advance purchase restrictions, and some restriction on refundability, airlines can absolutely get more aggressive on pricing without fear of cannibalizing higher fare business travelers.
And more to the...
As someone who's actually flown on Basic Business fares offered by Qatar and Saudia, I found them to be substantially lower than the regular Biz fares offered by competitors. And yes, there is reason to believe Basic Biz fares will be cheaper generally -- with likely advance purchase restrictions, and some restriction on refundability, airlines can absolutely get more aggressive on pricing without fear of cannibalizing higher fare business travelers.
And more to the point -- I'll take Basic Biz fares over the sh!t sandwiches of upgrading and award redemptions anytime. #MoneyTalks
This sucks man
It does
increasingly the comment section here seems a bit lost talking about RASM and CASM and profitability and yields but the reason most of us are here is to talk about points
unfortunately this change will likely eventually lead to saver fares being set to the basic business class, and not including lounge access or seat selection which sucks
I couldn't care less about seat selection in an all-aisle-access cabin, but l certainly don't look forward to the possibility of luggage restrictions in premium awards.
Delta didn't start this to those very uninformed people below. In fact, Delta doesn't even do this right now.
Its airlines like QR and Finnair that currently have business basic fare bundles.
It's clearly just a broader industry trend. Not sure why you'd attribute it to Delta specifically, when it's not something they're even doing today.
My comment was intended to indicate that Delta started this amongst the big US airlines, and I clearly could have made that more clear. It is attributable to Delta within the US airline space, as other airlines overseas have been doing it for years without it happening here until Delta kicked off the US trend.
Your nitpicking has been noted and clarifications have been made.
What if too many people buy basic biz and then the yields aren't there like they used to be? I'm sure their answer would be to price and allocate the cabin with AI. But will it work?
@ micstatic -- Since basic business class fares are unlikely to be less expensive than existing standard business class fares, I assume the answer would be the same as it is for business class demand today.
Sounds great to me. I don't eat the food, rarely visit the lounge, and just want a decent place to sleep on the 10 hour flight. If you're into the rest of the pizzazz its still available for you to purchase.
@ Chris -- The problem is, I wouldn't assume that the new basic business class fares will actually be cheaper than the existing standard business class fares. Airlines introduce these fares because they want people to spend more for the same product. Also keep in mind that lack of ticket flexibility will likely be another aspect of basic business class.
Exactly, Ben. Bad for customers.
So while not exactly the same, a friend of mine who goes to Japan a lot and can afford anything just discovered the Zip Air product. He doesnt care about food, doesnt care about lounges, just wants a flat seat to sleep in. The excitement of the "perks" just dont appeal to him. He could have afforded the $6k fare on Delta which he usually pays when he goes to Japan, but figured that the...
So while not exactly the same, a friend of mine who goes to Japan a lot and can afford anything just discovered the Zip Air product. He doesnt care about food, doesnt care about lounges, just wants a flat seat to sleep in. The excitement of the "perks" just dont appeal to him. He could have afforded the $6k fare on Delta which he usually pays when he goes to Japan, but figured that the $2K fare on Zip Air was something worth checking out. He did it, loved it, and sees no reason to go back to paying $6-$8k as he normally does.
Sounds great only if they lower the price for basic, rather than just charging more for the add-ons that used to be included. Is there any reason to believe they'll actually do that?
@ben There are some low-cost Asian carriers that provide a business class seat and nothing more as the base product (i.e zipair, AirAsia)
So in theory if Delta United or whoever else is competing on the same routes as those Airlines then that could drive down pricing
Especially zipair Who currently flies to the US and has reverse herringbone seat.
@ Al -- You're absolutely right that some ultra low cost carriers offer such a product, but we have no reason to believe that this is what United is planning. Just look at the current implementation of basic business class at carriers like Finnair, Qatar Airways, etc.
Their goal with introducing basic business class is to improve yields, not worsen them. It's not like carriers like United struggle to fill their premium cabins.
@ Richard_ -- Based on how we've seen this implemented at full service carriers so far, the latter seems much more likely than the former.
No
Nocella is a tool. Everyone wants the full experience when buying business class with the possible exception of checking a bag. He and United are an Emperor without any clothes. Why anyone would ever fly a US carrier internationally is beyond me. Foreign flag carriers destroy UA, DL, AA easily.
Much in line with partner Lufthansa.
Ah yes, Lufthansa. Where they treat the paying customers like inmates being shipped to a remote high security detention center - and they'd better like it too!
Deeply disappointing but predictable. Delta started this and United is following suit, repackaging service degradation as "customer choice." They're taking decades-old business class services—lounge access, priority boarding, baggage—and holding them hostage for additional fees.
This especially hurts middle-class travelers for whom business class was an occasionally affordable splurge. Now they're forced into a stripped-down version or priced out entirely. It's also a backdoor way to reinstitute change fees.
United's claim that "customers really appreciate this"...
Deeply disappointing but predictable. Delta started this and United is following suit, repackaging service degradation as "customer choice." They're taking decades-old business class services—lounge access, priority boarding, baggage—and holding them hostage for additional fees.
This especially hurts middle-class travelers for whom business class was an occasionally affordable splurge. Now they're forced into a stripped-down version or priced out entirely. It's also a backdoor way to reinstitute change fees.
United's claim that "customers really appreciate this" rings hollow when full-service is no longer available at the previous price. Corporate doublespeak about "segmentation" while passengers pay more for the same experience.
I have no issue with measures that keep the average traveler out of lounges, premium cabins, or priority boarding lanes. Frankly, that’s the entire point. Premium pricing should come with exclusivity and the erosion of that exclusivity in the U.S. has been long overdue for correction. Most of the world understands and accepts this basic premise. You can dress it up however you like, but democratizing premium travel dilutes its value.
*buys business class seat...expects to sit alone on 350-passenger plane*
Hey TrumpGambit. You're missing the fundamental issue here. This isn't about "democratizing premium travel"—it's about airlines charging the same premium prices while delivering fewer services. If you pay $3,000 for business class, you should get the full business class experience, not a stripped-down version because the airline decided to repackage standard services as expensive add-ons.
True exclusivity would mean maintaining high prices for comprehensive service, not creating artificial scarcity by removing amenities that were included...
Hey TrumpGambit. You're missing the fundamental issue here. This isn't about "democratizing premium travel"—it's about airlines charging the same premium prices while delivering fewer services. If you pay $3,000 for business class, you should get the full business class experience, not a stripped-down version because the airline decided to repackage standard services as expensive add-ons.
True exclusivity would mean maintaining high prices for comprehensive service, not creating artificial scarcity by removing amenities that were included for decades. What we're seeing is airlines taking advantage of customers who've already paid premium prices, not preserving some noble concept of exclusivity.
Middle class travelers for whom business class was an occasional splurge?? Very strange take. If anything, it will make the seat itself, usually the core reason someone flies business, more accessible. I don't think you'll find many other than say, Elizabeth Warren, who think that creating a less-frills product is anti-middle class. And to be clear, I don't think airlines have a role in social engineering or reducing inequality. They have an obligation to safety,...
Middle class travelers for whom business class was an occasional splurge?? Very strange take. If anything, it will make the seat itself, usually the core reason someone flies business, more accessible. I don't think you'll find many other than say, Elizabeth Warren, who think that creating a less-frills product is anti-middle class. And to be clear, I don't think airlines have a role in social engineering or reducing inequality. They have an obligation to safety, their employees, customers and shareholders
BC,
Please don't bring me into the conversation.
You're fundamentally misunderstanding the pricing dynamics. Airlines aren't making the seat "more accessible"—they're keeping prices roughly the same while removing services that were standard for decades. The "less-frills product" isn't priced significantly lower; it's the same cost with fewer benefits.
This isn't about social engineering or reducing inequality. It's about basic consumer protection: when you pay premium prices, you should receive premium service. Airlines are effectively conducting a bait-and-switch, using the familiar "business class" label...
You're fundamentally misunderstanding the pricing dynamics. Airlines aren't making the seat "more accessible"—they're keeping prices roughly the same while removing services that were standard for decades. The "less-frills product" isn't priced significantly lower; it's the same cost with fewer benefits.
This isn't about social engineering or reducing inequality. It's about basic consumer protection: when you pay premium prices, you should receive premium service. Airlines are effectively conducting a bait-and-switch, using the familiar "business class" label while gutting what that product traditionally included. That's not innovation—it's deceptive marketing.
It's especially annoying when searching for a flight on, for example Google Flights, and it shows a business fare that looks better than competing fares, but when you click through to book you find out it's much more expensive when you add back in the services other airlines have bundled.
"Airlines aren't making the seat "more accessible"—they're keeping prices roughly the same while removing services that were standard for decades. The "less-frills product" isn't priced significantly lower; it's the same cost with fewer benefits."
Nailed it.
It's a price increase in "greater customer choice" clothing. No fares will be reduced. Current fares are the floor, and if you want the service package you've had for years, you'll need to pay for it à la carte....
"Airlines aren't making the seat "more accessible"—they're keeping prices roughly the same while removing services that were standard for decades. The "less-frills product" isn't priced significantly lower; it's the same cost with fewer benefits."
Nailed it.
It's a price increase in "greater customer choice" clothing. No fares will be reduced. Current fares are the floor, and if you want the service package you've had for years, you'll need to pay for it à la carte. Meaning pay more.
Why not just hike the prices, and then say "remove lounge access and save $25?" "Remove priority boarding and save $20?"
The reason they don't is because the price hikes will be more obvious.
Premium pricing is a function of the market. If masses are willing to pay it, it’s not “premium.” If they are unable to sell the scaled-down product, they’ll adjust pricing or change the benefits.
Lounge access is not a “consumer protection” that should be dictated by anything other than traditional market economics. People can pay for it or not pay for it. Airlines can include it or not include it. There’s hardly a need...
Premium pricing is a function of the market. If masses are willing to pay it, it’s not “premium.” If they are unable to sell the scaled-down product, they’ll adjust pricing or change the benefits.
Lounge access is not a “consumer protection” that should be dictated by anything other than traditional market economics. People can pay for it or not pay for it. Airlines can include it or not include it. There’s hardly a need to think that government has some kind of role to play.
A bag of chips is more expensive than it used to be and contains less volume of product. It can still say “family size,” as it’s phrase of marketing rather than law. A business class seat does not have to come with anything else. If people don’t like it, they can travel on a different carrier, in a different class of service or nothing at all.
CorporateSpeak is funny. These people act like consultants. any normal person knows they are gaslighting us
What's equally funny are the number of presumably normal people who are willing to hop onto these comments to shill for the corporations that are trying to bleed them dry