I have often wondered if Basic Economy is an elusive booking class as I have not seen them on any bookings that I have made. I am not saying that it does not exist but perhaps its one of those hidden gems out there. I would love to hear people get upset when they found out they booked this Basic Economy without seat assignments and can't pay for Comfort+ or First Class etc. So far I have a SJC-YVR-SJC trip, SJC-LAX-SJC trip in September and one in Nov SJC-LAX-SJC to connect with a flight at LAX. All of them are booked in Comfort +.

My question is are you really saving money in Basic Economy with no seat assignment, no possible way to pay for an upgrade to W+ etc. For instance I was booked with my Father in Comfort Plus as part of a Voucher as the original trip that we were delayed on was booked in Comfort Plus and by the time we used the voucher the agent put us in Comfort + going by the original class we were booked in when it was Economy Comfort.

So we booked my Mother in regular Economy and about two weeks later Comfort+ was only a $5 difference. Had we booked in Basic Economy we would all perhaps be stuck in different rows. Luckily the RJ's only have 2x2 seats.

So if Basic Economy was only $10-$20 less I would much rather book into regular Economy and even into Comfort+. On a SJC-LAX-SJC flight the $20 difference between regular Economy and Comfort+ is not that bad. So if paying $175 vs $155 is not bad as sometimes I paid $176 on the same routing in regular Y.

To me it seems like Basic Economy is for the cheapest of the cheapest traveler who does not understand the restrictions and who is not part of FlyerTalk. If a flight from SFO-JFK was $190 in Basic Economy vs $290 in regular Y then of course I would book Basic Economy if my goal was to save $$$ and did not need Comfort Plus. But if Basic Economy was $202 and regular Y was $220 or $250 I would go with the regular Economy and if Comfort Plus was $300 I would consider it or even take the First Class offer.

My point is how do people really decide to book Basic Economy.I'll admit I have never seen this as a fare in my dealings with Delta. I can see Delta offloading this Basic Economy to punish those booking on third party websites and to only let those booking with Delta to get assigned seats, upgrade to Comfort+ and First/Business Class.

Honestly I think it would be great to punish those people using third party websites with a lower booking code, lower MQMs no upgrades etc. Sorry life is not fare if you wanted to pay the extra $$$ to book on Delta then welcome to those benefits for booking direct and with no agent fee using Delta's 1800 number won't cost you a dime. I would love to see airlines charge a booking fee for those using a third party website.

What are your thoughts?