Halloween’s almost here, and American and United brought a real trick for anyone flying alone: higher fares. A year after the solo-passenger penalty story blew up, Kyle took a fresh look and found American sticking solo travelers with higher prices on about a third of its routes. Also today: a no-annual-fee Chase bonus ending next week, and a glimmer of hope for Christmas flight deals.
- 😤 2 Major U.S. Airlines Are Penalizing Solo Flyers with Higher Fares
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Fly to Sarasota, Florida from $166 RT This Winter!
- 💰 This No-Annual-Fee Bonus Offer is Better Than You Think
- 📡 On Our Radar: A Glimmer of Hope for Xmas Flight Deals
- 🎙️ On the Pod: Basic Fares are Getting Worse + Other News
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
😤 2 Major U.S. Airlines Are Penalizing Solo Flyers with Higher Fares
Last year, we broke the news that the nation’s three largest airlines – American, Delta, and United – were quietly charging solo and business travelers significantly higher fares than groups of two or more.
It’s the biggest story we’ve ever published, period. And it turned into national news – on CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and more – fueling an uproar that eventually forced all but one carrier to ditch this questionable pricing tactic.
So a year and change later, I wondered: Which airlines are still penalizing solo travelers? And has it gotten worse?
Earlier this week, we collected and analyzed 5,000 flights from the nation’s five biggest airlines (1,000 apiece on Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, and United) … and the results weren’t pretty:
- American was the worst by far, with higher fares for solo flyers on 33.5% of flights … and over 60% from major hubs like Philadelphia (PHL) and especially Charlotte (CLT)
- On United, that was 10.6%
- Delta seemingly learned its lesson: Despite engaging in these shady shenanigans last year, it isn’t penalizing solo travelers anymore
- We also didn’t find a single fare with higher fares booking solo on both Alaska and Southwest
Read our full story on these shady pricing tactics!
United declined to comment on our story. American just ignored us. Airlines don’t want to talk about this … and it’s no wonder why.
The penalties for booking solo on American and United range from mild to egregious. Here’s an ugly one: Flying from Miami (MIA) to Charlotte in December, American was charging $496 for a nonstop one-way for one passenger.
But add a second passenger to that search, and the price for that exact same main cabin economy fare drops to just $155 apiece – plus, a $100 basic economy ticket also appears, something that wasn’t available to solo travelers.
Some quick math here on just how absurd this is: You could buy three main cabin tickets for less than the price of one.
So let me address this head on, because I can already hear the pushback. I’ve been hearing it for the last 16 months.
This isn’t a discount for booking for two passengers or more. Airlines aren’t like Costco: They don’t do “volume” discounts … and plane seats aren’t like gallons of milk, anyway.
This is a penalty for solo and especially business travelers, plain and simple.
The airlines won’t say that. They don’t need to.
American and United have made a calculated bet that travelers booking solo are more likely to be business travelers – they’re willing to pay more because it’s their employers who are ultimately footing the bill.
That’s the name of the game in the airline industry: Find a way to charge passengers different amounts – the highest amount they can get away with – while still getting them to click “purchase” and fill up planes.
Back when we first broke this story, this pricing tactic was clearly troubling but fairly rare and random.
This makes it clear: It’s becoming far more widespread.
– Kyle Potter, executive editor.
🤝 Deal of the Day: Fly to Sarasota, Florida from $166 RT This Winter!
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥
Why we love it: Skip the busy airports and book your trip to Florida’s Gulf Coast to Sarasota this winter!
Get cheap fares from 10 U.S. airports on the East Coast and in the Midwest with the best availability through February.
Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.
Already a member? Log in to see all your deals.
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
💰 This No-Annual-Fee Bonus Offer is Better Than You Think
If adding the *Freedom Flex* to your wallet has been on your to-do list, it’s time to get it done.
For a limited time, you can earn $250 (25,000 points) after spending $500 in the first three months. That’s $50 more than the usual offer for the same amount of spending – a pretty solid haul for a card with no annual fee.
But Chase just announced that this bigger bonus will end next Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 a.m. EST. That means you’ve got less than a week to take advantage!
The real value of the Freedom Flex (and its bonus offer) comes when you pair it with a Sapphire card (or the Ink Business Preferred®). Chase markets it as a cashback card, but it actually earns Ultimate Rewards points. With a Sapphire in your wallet, that $250 becomes 25,000 points you can transfer to partners like United, Flying Blue, and Hyatt.
This quarter’s rotating list of 5x bonus categories makes the timing of this offer even better.
Through Dec. 31, you’ll earn 5x on dining, groceries (excluding Target and Walmart), and donations to the American Red Cross, on up to $1,500 in combined spending.
Dining is the real standout here because it already earns 3x year-round, and the two bonuses stack: 1x base + 2x dining + 4x quarterly bonus = a whopping 7x on restaurants through the end of the year! Once you hit the $1,500 cap, dining drops back to 3x points per dollar spent.
Still, maxing out this quarter’s bonus would earn 10,000-plus points from dining alone. Add in the current, limited-time welcome bonus, and you’re looking at more than 35,000 Ultimate Rewards points from a no-annual-fee card before the year is out.
Check out our full review of the Chase Freedom Flex®
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
📡 On Our Radar: A Glimmer of Hope for Xmas Flight Deals
Welcome to On Our Radar – a weekly look at the news and trends we’re watching lately!
Here’s the most common question we get this time of year: Is it too late to get a good deal on holiday flights?
Here’s the best – and kind of surprising – answer for 2026: For Thanksgiving, it’s too late. For Christmas and New Year’s, there’s hope!
I’ll start with the usual disclaimer: Airfare is not a monolith. Just because I’m seeing some cheap fares doesn’t mean every fare you see will be cheap.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I booked flights to Chicago to see my family for Christmas. Prices had fallen about $100 overnight, which I caught thanks to some Google Flights Price Alerts. I booked quickly, and as I always do, I put the booking into our free FareTracker tool to get price drop alerts and rebooking instructions.
I was surprised to see that the fares dropped even further a few days later.
Thrifty Tip: One of the best ways to get the best deal on holiday travel is to travel on the holiday itself, as I did here, flying home on Christmas morning.
Now, $335 for a roundtrip to Chicago (ORD) isn’t going to make anyone blush, nor is just $31 in savings. That’s not quite a deal worthy of a Thrifty Traveler Premium alert. But for holiday flights, it’s about as good as it gets … or so I thought.
But in the past week, we’ve found two actually awesome flight deals for travel over Christmas and New Year’s: One to Chicago and one to Nashville.
The Chicago deal included Christmas and/or New Year’s availability from Cleveland (CLE), Eau Claire (EAU), Minneapolis (MSP), St. Louis (STL), Denver (DEN), and more.
For Nashville, we saw similar fares over Christmas and New Year’s. The Nashville fares have come up a few dollars since we sent the deal on Monday, but they’re still under $300 from dozens of U.S. cities.
Bottom Line: It’s not too late to book your Christmas or New Year’s flights, but time is running out. Get booking, set your FareTracker alerts, and don’t miss out!
– Gunnar Olson, travel reporter and flight deal analyst
🎙️ On the Pod: Basic Fares are Getting Worse + Other News
📻 Kyle and Gunnar break down all the news that’s fit to podcast in this week’s episode, touching on main cabin upgrade prices, Southwest’s latest changes, plus big switch-ups at Amex and Bilt, among other things.
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment next week!
See What Members Are Saying in Our Premium Slack Community
A helpful recommendation or a new points strategy could make all the difference for your next trip!
Our Thrifty Traveler Premium Slack Community connects you with fellow travelers to ask questions, share advice and strategy, and learn from each other’s travel experiences.
Thrifty Traveler team members join in, too!
Take a peek at the conversations happening in the Premium Slack to see what members are sharing! Access is included with your Premium membership: Join Here.
Not a Premium member? Start getting flight deals straight to your inbox and join us on Slack today!
– Kat Erdahl, Thrifty Traveler community marketing manager
🐻 See us in Chicago Next Weekend for the Chicago Seminars!
Want to learn more about earning and redeeming points from some of the brightest minds in this crazy game? And also from me?
See what I did there?
Anyway, I’m speaking at this year’s Chicago Seminars in – you guessed it – Chicago next weekend, Nov. 6 to Nov. 8. And I’m one of a few dozen experts spitting facts about all things award travel throughout the weekend.
Planning to go? We’re organizing a small happy hour nearby on Saturday, Nov. 7 – RSVP here!
I’ll be at my most presidential with a special address: “The State of the Union Award Travel,” an overarching look at the (increasingly sad) state of award availability, the trends driving devaluations and loyalty program changes, how airlines’ loyalty priorities have shifted, and what that means for redeeming points and miles in 2027 and beyond.
Trust me: It’s not all doom and gloom. Thrifty Traveler Premium members know better than just about anyone that there are still stellar deals out there … and there always will be.
See you next weekend!
Get your tickets – use promo code THRIFTY for $10 off!
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 🇺🇸 United is now selling “Base” first class fares on domestic flights. They’re nonrefundable, cost $199 to change, don’t include free seat selection, and earn zero redeemable miles. (Live and Let’s Fly)
- 💳 Delta’s elevated SkyMiles card offers end Wednesday, Nov. 4. The headliner is the Delta Reserve Card’s 50,000 SkyMiles plus two roundtrip Delta Comfort certificates after spending $10,000 in six months.
- 🏦 Amex cash back cards can now deposit straight into savings. If you have a Blue Cash Everyday or Blue Cash Preferred card and an Amex High Yield Savings Account, you can redeem Reward Dollars 1:1 as deposits into that account, which currently pays 3.2% APY. (American Express)
- 🏡 Wyndham Rewards has a new vacation rental partner to replace Vacasa. Homes & Havens launches with about 800 properties bookable for 15,000 to 45,000 points per bedroom, per night. (Wyndham)
