basic economy

Tag Archives for basic economy.

Wow: Delta Eliminates Mileage-Earning On Its Cheapest Tickets

by Gary Leff on December 9, 2021

Dec 09 2021

Delta devalued SkyMiles awards twice during the pandemic and now calls it a sale when they offer 350,000 and even 400,000 mile-plus business class roundtrips to Europe. They’ve also gutted international upgrades with top elites getting confirmed from coach to premium economy only and no longer business class.

The other shoe has dropped at the reverse end of the spectrum, mileage-earning on the cheapest fares. For new tickets purchased (as of December 9, 2021) and travel starting January 1, 2022, Delta’s basic economy fares will no longer earn miles or elite status credit. Period.

Why The Cheapest Airline Fares May Make You Sick

by Gary Leff on October 9, 2021

Oct 09 2021

Both United and American Airlines sell basic economy tickets which are non-changeable. If you get sick and do not fly you lose all value of your ticket. That’s a huge incentive to fly sick. (Delta makes basic economy tickets changeable through December 31, 2021.)

Alaska Airlines Elites Lose Benefits On Cheapest American Airlines Tickets

by Gary Leff on September 24, 2021

Sep 24 2021

Alaska Airlines elites no longer receive some of their elite benefits while flying American Airlines on Basic Economy tickets. This change is being made even though American Airlines elite members receive full benefits on basic economy tickets.

JetBlue Introduces Bag Ban For Basic Economy Passengers, Diminishes Value Of Elite Status

by Gary Leff on February 16, 2021

Feb 16 2021

JetBlue will ban basic economy customers from bringing full-sized carry on bags on board, and will finally eliminate change fees on other ticket types, which their competitors did last summer.

Elites used to get waived change fees, but the airline says they aren’t contemplating any new elite benefits in exchange – what they do for members is already enough.

United Is Selling Upgrades From Basic Economy To Regular Economy

by Gary Leff on February 4, 2021

Feb 04 2021

In a move perhaps akin to selling upgrades from United Cargo to Economy, United is offering customers who buy basic economy tickets the ability to pay up after purchase to convert their ticket to regular economy.

With basic economy now a tool to segment business travelers from leisure travelers, and with virtually no business travelers, there’s little downside and only incremental revenue in offering passengers the ability to ‘buy out’ of the restrictions on the tickets they’ve purchased.

Andaz Singapore Testing New Basic Economy Room Rate

by Gary Leff on December 12, 2020

Dec 12 2020

The Andaz Singapore is taking a page from airline Basic Economy fares, offering a new ‘room only’ rate. When you think of room only, you may assume that it simply excludes breakfast or other inclusions. In this case they mean it literally: you can stay in the room, but have no access to the hotel’s gym or pool.

This also lets them sell rooms for less on third party websites without running afoul of best rate guarantees, since the restriction doesn’t apply to Hyatt direct booking rates.

Thanks To Expedia, Most Customers Don’t Even Know What A Horrible Value United Basic Economy Is

by Gary Leff on October 19, 2020

Oct 19 2020

The cheapest tickets on United are a worse value than similar fares on Delta and Southwest (especially) but even American too. Right now most passengers aren’t well-informed and disproportionately book through sites like Expedia – and as a result don’t know that they’re getting less value, because these sites don’t tell them. Online booking sites don’t serve the people who are ostensibly their customers.

American Airlines Wants To Attract Younger, Infrequent Flyers

by Gary Leff on September 5, 2020

Sep 05 2020

Ultimately basic economy isn’t how American and other airlines will attract more of the travelers that are out there – it is how they will give those travelers less than they used to, in order to charge more money to people that aren’t as price sensitive.

The Real Reason Airlines Eliminated Domestic Change Fees

by Gary Leff on September 4, 2020

Sep 04 2020

The change isn’t about being ‘customer friendly’ and it wasn’t about share shift – which won’t happen, because major airlines quickly matched each other on this – it’s about modernizing the pricing model and getting rid of a tool that wasn’t relevant anymore, while at the same time making those non-basic economy fares more attractive to less price-sensitive buyers.

How Eliminating Change Fees Makes Airline Elite Status Harder To Earn

by Gary Leff on September 1, 2020

Sep 01 2020

Airlines have been working to use their loyalty programs to shift customers to higher fares, and to make status a benefit for only those flying on those high fares. Eliminating change fees on the one hand, while doubling down on using Basic Economy as the tool to segment customers, is the latest attempt at doing this.