Looks like Delta has started their expansion of the Basic Economy E fares. As of this morning I am seeing E fares available for ATL/TUS which I haven't seen on this route before. Anyone seeing others? Might be helpful/interesting to start a wiki including the Basic Economy routes.

Also does anyone know of an easy way to exclude E fares from an ITA search?

/f ~bc=E

20 dollars to change the fare to get it off E. Are there people that cheap that wouldn't pay that?

Look at some of the audience you are addressing now. FT is filled with stories of absurd efforts to save $20.

If you don't particularly care where you sit and/or the flight is short (so choosing a seat isn't important), don't fly much (so no chance for an upgrade, and you don't care about earning the miles since you'll never use them anyway), then why not book E?

I would add "and you are definitely going to take this exact flight", because E fares are NOT changeable.

Yes, true.
But those here on FT that try to save $20, also expect to get to:
a. Choose their EC seats
b. Possibility of an UG to 1st class
c. The RDMs, MQMs, and MQDs that go along with the BIS/ Butt-in-seat travel.

The E Fares are targeted at a different market segment of holiday travelers, for whom saving $20 per person when traveling as a family of 6 or more can add up to significant savings for their holiday.

Would I do that on a work trip - hell no!
Or even with my wife and me on a vacation trip ... No.

If:

then yes, the E fare is for you.

I know someone has confirmed that there are people on FT that are trying to save $20 but I haven't seen that. Would you please provide a link to an example(s) of that?

I've seen them on routes that I wouldn't consider leisure-focused (ATL-GNV) and on routes where DL has no non-stop LCC competition. I don't think a Wiki is going to be useful because I anticipate that E fares are going to show up virtually everywhere... it's part of DL's monetary test to see how people accept paying for seat assignments and working with throw-away tickets, an innovation US Airways tried (and quickly abandoned) way back in 2002.

http://www.businesstravelnews.com/ar...Airlines&a=btn

Shop on delta.com and the E fare and its benefit limitations are clearly noted, along with the opportunity to buy a higher fare class & higher cabin. On Orbitz it's not so clear at the initial selection screen - Web fare is highlighted - but the Basic Economy name and fare class limitations get listed along with buy-up options at the next screen.

As discussed in other threads, many people's employers require purchase of the lowest available fare.

Mine requires lowest logical with-in $100. However that measn for a flight that is comparable by the same departure(within 15 min), same arrival(within 15 min.) and same number of stops. However, because of the use it or lose it provision, my company has also excluded the ability to purchase E fares .

Not marketed to the average flyertalk member, but to to the suburban family who flies down to Florida once a year for Vacay and chooses the cheapest flight that pops up. They don't care about airlines, redeem miles, or even know about upgrades, economy comfort etc.

I think this is the part that will cause the most consternation. In a sense, that's not Delta's issue to fix, but if it causes business travelers to fly another airline to avoid the E restrictions, it could become DL's problem.

I fly almost exclusively on my own dime, and I can say with near-certainty that I will not be buying E fares. We'll see if DL domestic basically becomes Spirit aft of C+. By which I mean that I could see DL eventually stripping routine coach-class features from V, then later from X, then T...

Which may just happen over time. If it does, I'll be dusting off my SWA gate-fu. For now, 20 bucks or so to book V & up is worth it.

This, compounded by...

...not all employers allow the flexibility, nor do they let employees book their own travel.

I previously worked somewhere where all travel was required to be booked by the corporate travel department, who "knew best." This department was comprised of a bunch of very nice ladies who did not travel much themselves, and certainly not for work as they were always in the travel office booking things for others. Luckily, I didn't have to travel more than a few times a year for that job, but every time I did, I somehow ended up with some a 2-stop nightmare routing with a 3-hour layover and terminal transfer to a K5 flight, followed by a few nights at the Drury Inn. (Actually, the K5 flights were kind of fun.)

From the folks I keep in touch with, not much has changed there, and I can imagine that some of them will end up on E fares by no choosing of their own.