Articles /Trends & Hacks / Air Travel

The Airline Basic Tickets That Come with the Most Freebies (or the Most Extra Charges)

Which most-flown airlines in North America hit you with the most added fees—and which ones throw in the most perks?

  Published: Dec 17, 2025

  Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Flight attendant sales
Yaroslav Astakhov / Shutterstock

Passengers can’t be expected to keep track of which airlines still include perks once considered standard, such as checked baggage or in-flight refreshments, and which airlines have converted basic aspects of traveling into new additional fees.

“Every airline has different rules for cabin bags, varying luggage size restrictions, and different add-ons and penalty fees,” says Paul Stewart, travel expert and founder of My Baggage. “This creates real confusion. What's free on one airline might cost you on another.”

In an era when it’s all too easy to spend your day trying to figure out if your route covers enough miles for flight attendants to offer you a free packet of chips, whether your luggage allowance means you can pack your supersized coat as well as your favorite hat, or whether choosing to sit next to your love ones (or as far away from them as possible) will come with a price, we’ve got the lowdown on the freebies you can expect when booking entry-level fares with the top airlines serving the U.S. and Canada.

For each airline, we’ve listed the inclusions for the most affordable ticket category so you can figure out the minimum perks (if any) you’ll enjoy even when travelling in the cheapest fare category. If you pay more, you may get more—but these are the minimum perks you’ll enjoy.

Standard perks in basic economy on domestic airlines:

Air Canada Economy

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One personal item (13'' x 17'' x 6'') only on flights within Canada and to/from the U.S, and flights to/from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; on long haul flights, complimentary allowance includes a checked bag, a personal item, and a cabin bag (21.5'' 15.5'' x 9'').

Food and drink?
Only on flights in and out of Canada

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Free (for members of its free loyalty club)

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Alaska Airlines Saver

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on (22'' x 14'' x 9''), one personal item (“purse, briefcase, or laptop bag, and medically necessary items”)

Food and drink?
Drinks: complimentary non-alcoholic drinks; food: only complimentary on international routes between Seattle, Iceland, London, and Rome

Seat selection?
Included (but certain seats come with a charge)

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Allegiant Basic

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on (10'' x 16'' x 22''), one personal item (8'' x 18'' x 14'')

Food and drink?
Pay extra

Seat selection
Included (but certain seats, such as aisle seats, come with a charge)

Wi-Fi?
None available

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

American Airlines Basic Economy

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on (22'' x 14'' x 9''), one personal item (18'' x 14'' x 8'')

Food and drink?
Included

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra.

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Delta Air Lines Economy Light

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on (22'' x 14'' x 9''), one personal item (“purse, briefcase, small backpack, belt bag, fanny pack, laptop bag, camera bag or diaper bag”) and one cabin bag (must fit in overhead bin)

Food and drink?
Non-alcoholic drinks and snacks (Lotus Biscoff Cookies, Cheez-It Original Baked Snack Crackers and SunChips Garden Salsa Flavored Whole Grain Snacks)

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Included on 1,000 planes; to be rolled out to more planes in 2026

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Frontier Airlines Basic

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One personal item (14" x 8" x 8")

Food and drink?
Pay extra

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

JetBlue Blue Basic 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on bag (22" x 14" x 9") and one personal item (17" x 13" x 8")

Food and drink?
Complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and snacks on flights within North America; free meals and drinks (including alcoholic ones) on transatlantic flights

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Included

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Southwest Airlines Basic 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on (24'' x 16'' x 10'') and one personal item (18.5'' x 8.5'' x 13.5'')

Food and drink?
Complimentary snacks on select flights of 251 miles or more, complimentary non-alcoholic drinks on all flights

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Spirit Airlines Value 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One personal item (18" x 14" x 8")

Food and drink?
Pay extra

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

United Airlines Basic Economy 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra, except for flights across the Pacific (one free checked bag)

Cabin baggage?
One personal item (9" x 10" x 17"); carry-on bags (22" x 14" x 9") only included on flights to South America, across the Atlantic, or to international destinations across the Pacific

Food and drink?
Free mid-flight sandwich on flights longer than 12 hours and a free pre-arrival meal

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi
Included

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Westjet Econoflex

Checked baggage?
Included

Cabin baggage?
One cabin bag (22" x 14" x 9") and one personal item (16" x 13" x 6")

Food and drink?
Only on international flights flying in and out of North America

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-fF?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Standard perks in basic economy on international airlines:

Aeromexico Basic 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on bag (10kg max) and one personal item (must fit under seat)

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Air France Economy Standard 

Checked baggage?
Included (23kg)

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on bag (22" x 14" x 10") and one personal item (16" x 12" x 6")

Food and drink?
Currently included on most flights, but Air France is phasing out free refreshments on certain flights and replacing with a buy-on-board menu

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-Fi?
Included for members of its free loyalty club

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Avianca Economy Classic

Checked baggage?
Included (23kg)

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on bag (10kg max) and one personal item (must fit under seat)

Food and drink?
Included, but only in flights to, from, and via Europe

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

British Airways  Economy Basic

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
Included, one cabin bag (22" x 18" x 10") and one personal item (16" x 12" x 6")

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Free for members of its free loyalty club

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Emirates Economy 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One cabin bag (22" x 15" x 8")

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-Fi
Free messaging using apps such as WhatsApp, but that’s it

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

KLM Economy Light 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One personal item (16" x 12" x 6") and one cabin bag (22" x 14" x10")

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-Fi?
Free messaging using apps such as WhatsApp for members its free loyalty club

Free cancellation or refund ?
Free within 24 hours

Lufthansa Economy Light 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One carry-on bag (22" x 16" x 9")

Food and drink?
Included, but only on long-haul.

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-fi?
Pay extra

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Singapore Airlines Economy Value

Checked baggage?
Included (up to 25kg)

Cabin baggage?
One cabin bag; sum of length, width, and height of each piece not to exceed 45 inches

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-Fi?
Included

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Virgin Atlantic Economy Light 

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
Included; one 10kg carry-on bag

Food and drink?
Included, including alcoholic drinks

Seat selection?
Included

Wi-Fi?
Free 20-minute session; Virgin Atlantic announced it will offer free, streaming-quality, fleet-wide Wi-Fi starting in late 2026.

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours

Volaris Zero

Checked baggage?
Pay extra

Cabin baggage?
One personal item only; must fit under seat

Food and drink?
Pay extra

Seat selection?
Pay extra

Wi-Fi?
Not available

Free cancellation or refund?
Free within 24 hours