jk88usa

Based on my recent experiences, I think DL has basically gone to a UA system of Basic Economy: it will (nearly) always be offered at $20-$50 less round-trip than the lowest available fare bucket in Main Cabin. You're correct in that I used to only see it when X/V, perhaps maybe U/T were offered, but now I'm seeing it on everything I've booked up to L or even H.

So far I'm 100% on buying up, but if it goes over $50 I'll probably stop (or take business elsewhere). I've seen United up to $80 more RT, if DL takes that route I won't be biting when that's required

bkamdg

Trying not to frustrate the FT pros who say, "isn't there a thread about this..." So let's revive this one!

I'm foolishly trying out basic economy and it looks like I'm without a seat assignment on a full flight. I know they will ask for volunteers before denied boarding. But what are the TOC for basic? Same as everyone else? I'm not well versed in legalese (or FT jargon for that matter). Suggestions and stories welcome.

xliioper

Do you mean you have checked-in for your flight and didn't get a seat assignment or are you looking at a flight further out in the future? If the latter, it's schedule change Saturday, so seatmaps can't really be relied upon for "fullness". Priority order for denied boarding is defined in the contract of carriage in Rule 245, Section C:

https://www.delta.com/content/dam/de...rriage_dom.pdf

Basically people in the F/J cabin, DL Medallions, Skyteam elite will have priority and time of check-in acts as the final tie-breaker.

"Within each of the foregoing groups, passengers are prioritized first by class of service and then by time of check-in."

I don't believe Basic Economy in actually considered a separate class of service, so you should be grouped with any regular economy pax without seat assignments and it will come down to time of check-in.

sevastras

Also, if you check the standby list you should be near the top. They have blocked out a good portion of seats for BE fares that were purchased. In your app, how many seats are remaining and how many on standby?

ethernal

As far as I know, it is only offered up to Q (and not H). But it is possible they have now expanded it to H. I expect it to ultimately be expanded up to everything except B and Y fares (which are usually - although not always - indicative of overbooked environments).

bkamdg

It is for a flight today. I didn't realize they blocked out seats in the seat map for BE. So I'm #1 of 15 on standby with 20 seats open. So no sweat.

I grew up flying standby so I know those lists all too well. But the peace of mind in having a seat is worth the money on this trip...well maybe not BE money. Pay the $50 and sleep easy .

btonkid12345

I think you are getting the emotion of standby of the past get to you here...you are confirmed on the flight, not standby. You are just on standby for a seat assignment, grouped in the same pax-facing list as all standbys in total.

I don't think its worth paying $50 just to confirm any seat - maybe to be upgrade eligible - otherwise, I know that they will definitely assign me a seat at the gate...and the later the better because often better seats end up leftover at the last minute.

Weekend Away

You've got a ticket, just not a seat assignment. I fly BE all the time and this happens a lot. It's often because the only remaining seats unassigned are preferred seats which BE passengers can't pick even after check-in. You bought a ticket, you have a seat, somewhere, on the flight. Just breathe.

xliioper

I checked a bunch of domestic routes a few days ago on EF and none had BE fares corresponding to YBMH main cabin fares. They did all have them for Q fares though. Fares to/from cities in the eastern markets pretty much all seem to have a $25 each-way fare difference for two-week advance or more fares (typically T/X/V fares). For higher fare classes (Q/K/L/U) there were many cases where the difference was $35, and for some routes, $45. West coast routes from/to SEA/LAX hubs had differences lower than $25 on a number of routes. It seems DL's competition with AS out there is holding down the fare differentials. On international routes, the BE fares still seem mostly limited to X/V fares and don't go higher than that.