E fare pax cannot use overhead bins?
 

Hello, I have a friend who wants to buy an E fare ticket. i told him the pitfalls, like not choosing a seat ahead of time and being the last to board. He wanted to know if there was anything else so I went to the DL website and saw that E fare pax cannot use overhead bins; they have to store their stuff under the seat in front of them.

My question is this: How does DL prevent E fare pax from storing their stuff in the overhead bin? Do they actually have someone watching to make sure they don't? I would be interested in hearing how they can prevent someone from using the overhead bin. Thanks!

Where did you see that? That's new to me. I also checked the basic economy page and FAQs and didn't see mention of overhead bins. In all likelihood the bin space will be gone by the time they board anyway, but I didn't think there was an outright prohibition on it (unlike United, which is doing so).

I didn't think that was a restriction on E fares? However, unless the friend has status, they will board in the last group and there's a good chance all overheads could be full.

https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...c-economy.html

United prohibits carryon bags, not Delta.

You didn't see that on Delta's website. However, by the time your friend boards, they will more than likely have to gate check their carryon. My advice to anyone on an E fare is to pack very lightly and keep your fingers crossed that no issues requiring Delta's attention come up. Your friend will be at the back of the line in pretty much every aspect of the trip.

In my experience, it wasn't the last boarding group that forced to check-in roller bags. Gate agents estimate the number of bags to be sent down and tag of those in the beginning of general boarding (group 2, I think). If the bags of very last passengers are sent down, it will delay the departure because ground workers won't have enough time to move the bags.

It won't be the same for different airports or GAs, but bags of E passengers were occasionally safer than group 2 in my limited experience (mostly ABQ).

There is no mention of restricted overhead use on basic economy here: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...c-economy.html

I believe that is a United policy on their equivalent fare.

However, as noted, boarding last will often mean having to check a bag as the overheads fill up. There's nothing wrong with these fares as long as the purchaser is fully aware of the downsides to them and finds that acceptable. That may, on a full flight, involve a middle seat in the back of the plane, which means that one should be cautious booking short connections on these fares.

I just clicked on an E-Fare from DTW/CHI as if I was gonna purchase it. The following pop-uo box opens up as a warning:

<copy & pasted>

You have selected a basic economy fare. It includes:

Complimentary premium entertainment
Complimentary snacks, soft drinks and Starbucks® coffee
Available Wi-Fi
Award-winning service

Basic Economy comes with these restrictions:

No seat assignment is available until after check-in
Refunds and any ticket changes, including same-day changes, are not permitted
No paid or complimentary access or upgrades to premium seats or products, including Delta Comfort+™ or Preferred Seats, and no paid access to Priority Boarding

Terms apply to all customers including but not limited to Medallion® members and SkyTeam® elites

I agree to the restrictions
Do you want to continue with your selection?

NO mention of bin usage.

I hope Delta follows United. They are chasing NK, F9, and G4 passengers with this fare type...the restrictions should be the same. None of those allow free carry on either. Delta shouldn't.

Spirit and Frontier DO allow a free carry-on, if it fits under the seat. If it has to go in the bin, you hafto pay thru the nose! - - BUT - - if there's bin space open after boarding is finished, you can put your bag up there - no problem.

That said - - Sounds like you want to make Delta an Elitist's airline.

there are so many complications with that policy. It slows down boarding while the gate agent determines each customer's fare. Gate agents would have to take time to explain why the customer isn't allowed to carryon and everyone else is. (Gate agents already have to waste time explaining how the customer agreed to no voluntary changes or seat assignments as it is currently.) And what if the customer has an assistive device in the carryon? Lots of complications when it's not that much extra cost.

Meanwhile B6, WN, and SY all allow a free carry-on and personal item, and WN also offers free checked bags.

Besides, why do you care? I'm guessing you would never buy an E fare and would pretty much always board before passengers on E fares. It's not like they're taking up your overhead bin space and any efficiency that might be gained from checking bags in advance would likely be lost due to passenger confusion.

I always thought the policy of charging for all checked bags and allowing carry-ons free was a mistake. This has led to today's chaos of boarding when passengers bring on too much to save $25. The airlines failed to realize that the real premium is to have your bags with you to avoid waiting for checked luggage and to avoid losing your luggage (or having things pilfered). You charge for premiums, not the other way around. I suggest the first checked bag free for everyone and charge $50 for each piece in the overhead. With this policy, the cost will be waived for elites, giving them another valuable perk for their loyalty. Boarding will be quick and you are pretty much assured of ample space for your carry ons. The other advantage is that it will reduce injuries to FA and passengers alike.

I can't see that working. If you start to have to check who can carry on and who can't, you will show boarding down even more. It remains to be seen how United will deal with their new basic economy. It would be easy if they actually monitored boarding, but they don't. Flew first class the other day. Among the first to board (or I thought) and there was already 20 people sitting in coach (and they had only called pre-board, premium and "those who needed special assistance"). They have to get a system where the scanners reject people who have not been called, but that won't happen. Maybe "shame" the people who try to board before their zone is called!

If all Basic Economy is Zone 99 then it would be easy to enforce -- anybody at that point cannot have bags too big to fit under the seat. If you are a late boarder with a regular fare it is just a matter of the GA checking your boarding pass.

The loophole is that Medallions with Basic Economy would board earlier and would skip this check -- but maybe not a bad thing anyway.