14 Ways Basis Lowers Your Fare

1. Mileage arbitrage

When the price in points is significantly lower than cash (e.g. a $6,000 ticket but only costs 100,000 miles), we’ll buy points directly from frequent flyer programs that allow the purchase and resale of miles—and pass the savings back to you.

2. Currency arbitrage

We price the same itinerary in different currencies to see if one version costs less. Sometimes a flight priced in Colombian pesos or Japanese yen is hundreds cheaper than the USD version.

3. IP-based fare differences

We simulate searches from different global IP addresses—like Cairo or Amman—because airlines sometimes offer lower fares based on your location.

4. Point-of-sale optimization

We price the same flight using different global distribution system (GDS) “points of sale” (the country where the booking is technically issued). For example, a ticket sold via a GDS in Egypt may be cheaper than one sold in the U.S.

5. Private fares

These are unpublished fares loaded into GDS systems that only travel agents can access. We check them by default for every search.

6. Corporate discounts

With select airlines, we have access to corporate fares that can be applied to eligible bookings. If it lowers your price, we’ll use it.

7. Tour fares

When tour-package fares don’t require a bundled hotel or car, we check them too—they’re often deeply discounted compared to standard fares.

8. Commissionable fares

In the rare cases where we earn a commission from the airline, we pass 80% of it back to you—just as outlined in How Basis Makes Money.

Fare Construction Strategies

9. Mixed-cabin optimization

Sometimes booking a short leg in economy and the rest in business can lower the overall fare significantly. We evaluate all cabin combinations for maximum value.

10. Instant upgrade pricing

We check if booking an economy fare and immediately upgrading it using cash is cheaper than booking business outright.

11. Separate tickets

In some cases, it’s cheaper to split your itinerary into two separate bookings. Basis evaluates this when it results in a lower total cost.

12. Reissuing fares

If the fare drops after you’ve booked, we’ll reissue the ticket to get you the lower price.

13. Cross-border fare classes

Some countries have access to more open fare classes in GDS systems. For example, Canada may show availability not visible to U.S.-based systems.

Airline-Specific Tricks

14. Codeshare pricing

We price all possible marketing carriers. Sometimes the exact same flight costs less when sold by a partner airline (e.g., a United flight sold as Lufthansa).