You're equating WN's "basic" fare with other carriers' BE and thus falling right into WN's trap. Remember, this is just the rebranding of a fare product that used to be priced to compete with other carriers non-BE fares. What WN has done is maintained exactly the same fare structure, while reducing the benefits on the base fare, which includes imposing an industry-trailing six month credit expiration.

It's truly despicable. Going forward, my WN flying will be limited to (a) redeeming my remaining points, and (b) routes where there is no other credible option. For an upcoming trip to Long Beach, I will fly into SNA and out of LAX in order to avoid WN.