Originally Posted by
danielonn
But the question here is why would an Elite save a few $$$$ and may not get their benefits? Basic Economy is really for infrequent fliers who don't care about checking their bags or where they seat.
This was the reasoning given for the implementation of basic evening as well as to offer competition to lie cost carriers, but the actual reality of basic economy is that it is implemented across nearly all markets, regardless of competition, and the old main cabin price that was usually pretty close to competitor fares is now the new basic economy price. There is now a premium to be in main cabin .
Basic economy hurt frequent flyers. The fares were basically raised for any frequent flyer that wants to use any of their benefits or a shot at "gambling" for an upgrade.