Basic economy tickets do not always include a carry on.

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/basic-econo...

> Carry-on bags are only free on flights* to South America, across the Atlantic or to international destinations across the Pacific.

> On all other flights, you must pay to check your bags in the airport lobby. The bag fee starts at $35.

Until 3 years ago, we flew out of ATL and only occasionally and only domestically. So our default choice was of course - just fly Delta.

After all of the stars aligned around mid 2021, we moved to Orlando and started flying more.

Our default choice is still to fly Delta domestically because of familiarity, status, lounge access and we don’t mind a layover in ATL since it is our former home, familiarity and lounge access - Delta has nine lounges in ATL.

If we really just want to get somewhere without layover. I will look on flights from -

https://flightsfrom.com/{Airport code}

And see what airline has a non stop flight. The only airline I refuse to fly domestically is Southwest because of non reserve seating until next year.

But it’s rare that we will choose an airline that’s not Delta.

Internationally, we prefer Delta or SkyTeam airlines like Virgin or AirFrance.

We don’t shop based on price, the only time we compare flights is for convenience, we don’t fly first class or anything. But we just don’t like the hassle of flying airlines besides Delta.

Of course if we lived in an AA or United hub, it would be different. So substitute Delta for airline where you have status and/or a cobranded credit card that gives you some minor convenience.

I encountered this for the first time this year. Bought the cheapest ticket, didn't think they'd exclude carry-on. Ended up having to WhatsApp (in Spanish) then to add it on for $250 round trip. Insane.