BE is a boon for DL. Margins on individual MC discount fares are razor-thin. All it takes is a single no-show to give that seat to a standby, and that BE revenue adds up to the profit margin on the next 20 MC pax.

It really is that big of a deal. All the terms are stacked
in the airline’s favor, and you’ve pissed away any rights
or claims you might have to save 10%.

No thanks. I pay enough $200 change fees annually, as a relatively high-rev DM no less, to pay cash for a RT PS fare from DTW>HND.

BE ain’t for me. Ever.

BE can be quite a material savings for a family of 4 or 5 traveling together who otherwise might not be able to afford to travel. Non-BE main cabin flights with a cost of $200 or less are worthless for a credit towards future travel anyways.

I personally could not do BE, but agree if you are traveling in a group that it may become necessary and beneficial for a family to do so.

The real problem is most people when they book do not understand what they are buying. And when things go bad, they will tell everyone how awful Delta is.

Basic Economy isn’t a discount for leisure travelers - it’s a tax on elite benefits. The new Basic Economy price is largely equivalent to the old Main Cabin fare when introduced. And Delta has a demonstrated history of continuing to increase the difference between Basic and Main over time, while excluding Main fares from discounts and sales. What was $25 two years ago is now $60-110, and I expect that gap to continue to increase. We’re now basically required to pay almost a full buyup price for seat assignments and upgrade eligibility on every ticket we buy.

Basic restrictions don’t affect leisure travelers who never could cancel anyway and who were probably stuck in a middle seat regardless. They only really affect elite travelers, by taking away the promised benefits.

Marketing these fares as something that only affects leisure travelers was sheer genius, as was pretending they represented a “discount”. There may be a few markets where the introductory fares are a thousand or two miles lower than the old fares, but there are many where the new BE is equal to or greater than the old Main fare. And in almost all cases the new Main fare is higher than the old one.

This insipid concept may have started as a away to compete with Spirit/Frontier, but they’ve gone far from that original purpose now - and that argument holds zero weight in award tickets, when there’s no competitive comparison to make.

Make no mistake: one of the few valuable redemptions you could make with SkyMiles was for domestic tickets where you needed flexibility, and that is now yet another case where Delta has turned the screws.

Disagree about leisure travelers. I would say most family vacations are booked in advance. Families want to sit together, and they used to just choose seats together. Now they have to pay extra to do that.

As for competing with the like of F9, NK and the like, I don’t believe that was ever the main intention, despite what was claimed. E- fares hardly ever reach the cheap fare levels of those carriers, and in general, really weren’t a discount over the coach fares that were being offered.

I think you mean “savings”.