Delta is changing how it displays and brands fares on its website for travel as of 10/1.
They claim this will add “clarity,” though I’m not sure how combining main cabin and basic economy fares to make it harder to compare the fares that you want provides added clarity?
You’ll have to click through Delta Main to see the pricing breakdown. Basic Economy is now Main Basic, Main Cabin is now Main Classic, and you can now buy up to Main Extra, which is refundable, boards in Zone 5, provides 2 extra miles per dollar spent, and elites will have higher upgrade priority.
Delta Comfort+ becomes Delta Comfort, and you can opt for Comfort Classic or Comfort Extra, which is refundable, provides 2 extra miles per dollar spent, and elites will have higher upgrade priority.
You can opt for Delta Premium Select Classic or Premium Select Extra, which is refundable, provides 2 extra miles per dollar spent, and elites will have higher upgrade priority.
You can opt for Delta One Classic or Delta One Extra, which is refundable and provides 2 extra miles per dollar spent.
Delta isn’t the first to combine basic economy and main cabin fares, requiring more clicks and making it harder to compare pricing for the fare you want. American does it too:
For now, United still breaks it out:
And while American and United are still avoiding selling basic mileage tickets, Delta is more than happy to penalize their loyalists with a restricted mileage ticket:
However, the real reason for Delta’s new fare displays is that it wants to have Basic Comfort, Basic Premium Select, and Basic Delta One fares. The airline previously announced its desire to sell basic premium cabin fares, and this is surely a step in that direction.
Expect those to come with no changes, no miles, no elite qualifying spending, no assigned seats, late boarding, and no lounge access.
Will you buy an Extra fare or a basic premium cabin fare?
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24 Comments On "Race To The Bottom: Delta’s New Fare Display Hides Non-Basic Pricing, Prepares For Basic Premium Cabin Fares"
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Yep – have seen it already, Very Annoying.
Thank you for all the posts.
This is so confusing even after yur breakdown..it’s just becoming spirit plus
This should be not a thing for elites
So many classes that are all bad…….
I used to be loyal to delta and sometime a paid more to fly with them. Now that they have these more restrictive fares, I fly with whoever is the cheapest . No loyalty anymore
Delta getting lots of screen time today
A bit off topic but I was told by 5 different delta agents that they are not putting delta passengers on elal flights , only on delta klm or air France due to passengers being denied boarding at elal gate when they had made this change in the past . Can you write a post about this and clarify if this is legit happening to people . Thank you
I was told the same thing. But ended up being rebooked for the outbound flight on ElAl( with a stopover) with a different agent. Was allowed boarding. Returning in several days on ElAl as well iyh.
@dan please address this . Happened to me a dozen times yesterday HUCA not helping
Try chatting in the app?
yes same answer. do you know if this has really happened to people ??@dan
+1
Premium select extra for $1,084 (not even first class!) vs. a basic seat for $129. For that price you should get a tax deductible receipt.
So what give you a better chance of an upgrade, being a gold (or higher) elite medallion member with a classic ticket, or a silver elite with a “coveted” extra fare?
22 footnotes
Holy cow
This is worse than signing a mortgage
JetBlue does this, as do some international airlines, if memory serves.
This actually makes sense if you know that whatever price you see at the top level is the “minus”/basic price rather than the “normal”/classic price, with the clarity advantage of not having to scroll through like 8 columns.
For the last few years, I’ve been booking Delta Basic flights using mileage and despite this fare being marked as non-refundable, I’ve still been consistently receiving full refunds when cancelling (miles redeposit and $5.60 refunded), even right up to departure time.
Is there any indication if this will change with the new fare structure?
Is it harder to compare? in a sense it is “all in one place”.
But @dan what do they gain from selling basic premium fares? I mean for economy i get it they can compete with the low costs, fine. But for premium cabins?! If anything they would lose loyalty no? I mean I guess it makes them more money¿. Unless thats the whole point so they can charge more for basic stuff and ppl would pay to not feel like spirit in business class!!
It’s disappointing that you now have to choose between overpaying for “perks” (aka, a normal coach airline experience) or live without basic services. There is little value is buying anything above basic economy, but it’s a bit annoying flying basic economy. The rest of the world still doesn’t do this: I recently upgraded my coach seat on a 1500 mile intra-South America flight to an emergency exit row for a whopping $5. Super valuable because their regular economy seats have Spirit-like legroom. On Delta, it’s not “worth it” to pay 5000 extra miles for economy over basic economy, but you will be annoyed if you don’t.
studies show that when consumers are given too many choices, they don’t make a decision. Picking between first class and coach is easy. Having to choose between 9 different classes of service, will likely send consumers to an airline that actually gives fewer choices and makes it easier to decide.
The trader joe’s model is one where you basically have one of each item to choose from. unlike a traditional supermarket which has 18 different salts, TJ’s has one salt. And consumers actually enjoy not having to make a choice.
I read in a book ( I think Dan Ariely) that a classic sales move is to have three options with the goal to drive the customer away from the cheapest by saving “at least it’s much cheaper than than that…”
Looks to me like the “ most popular option “ isn’t basic because it’s not the most expensive
@last2comments
Dunkin and 711 gave been doing this for years the price difference between a M and a L is so insignificant that yiu always go for the L and feel like you got a bargain, delta will have to make sire its the case with these fares and not send customers into an indecisive battle!
Yes! correct. I think this is what Sy Sims was referring to. The medium is only there to get you to buy the large instead of the small.
Many people dont look at prices or fare type they just want refundable or changeable and are willing to pay extra for that peace of mind.. especially in a world of delays cancellations etc…