Audie

I tried to do a quick search but did not see a current answer. Never considered Basic Economy fare before but with tickets at $500 for Dec. travel I am taking a look. I have the basic AMEX card which gives one checked bag for free. Does that still hold if the ticket is Basic Economy?

FabCW

yes I believe it does.

ATLflyer2017

Yep. There is no reason to purchase a Main Cabin ticket until after December. Free changes are allowed until then. The only thing you're missing is the ability to choose your seat.

Never been stuck in a middle with BE. I just change it as soon as I check in online, or I ask the gate agent.

Zorak

I can't seem to find an explicit reference on the DL or Amex web sites, but on searching

Delta Amex "First Checked Bag Free" Consolidated Thread

and

How terrible is Basic Economy? Seat Assignments/Boarding/Etc (Consolidated Thread)

signs point to yes, that the first bag is still free.

Also per the Delta policy website linked to in the wiki of the latter thread, you still theoretically get the "priority" boarding benefit as well (I say "theoretically" because I'm not sure if they are still boarding main cabin row by row starting from the back)

DLASflyer

Unlike other airlines, there are no bag implications for Delta Basic economy. You get the same number of free checked backs as you would with a Main Cabin fare. Medallion/credit card free bags are still free.

sydneyracquelle

Bag allowance with Amex is independent of class of ticket you purchase.

OHDL1

Does the "basic" (blue) AMEX SkyMiles card now give a free bag. I thought it had to be Gold or higher.

EAJuggalo

You are correct, the Delta Blue does not include a free checked bag.

VFR

There are for transatlantic -- Basic Economy pays $75 for the first bag, whereas it is free for Main Cabin.

pfreet

For some of us, that's the most important thing., Would never buy a BE ticket for myself.

Audie

If BE seats are listed as sold out for a flight today does that mean there will not be some available at a later date? I am looking to purchase a ticket in Dec. and today it shows only one flight left on the date that has seats in BE. Might more open up if a wait a few days/weeks?

xliioper

BE fares only seem to go as high as U class these days (and I'm seeing on some routes, they only go up to T). I'm guessing you are looking at a higher demand date and there is no U/T/X/V bucket availability on the flights which means there are no BE fares available for sale even though there is likely E bucket open. This is because there are simply no BE fare filings for L and higher fare classes and thus there are only main cabin fares available for purchase. Whether or not U/T/X/V bucket inventory will open up on more flights at some point (providing access to BE fares) is likely dependent on how much demand DL sees for the date/route you are looking at.

I'm afraid "December" doesn't really give us much to go on. Generally, there's not much demand for flights in early to mid December, but then holiday demands starts to really pick up around the 16th or 17th of December. After that, Christmas day tends to be about the only day you will find limited travel demand.

findark

Yes, more inventory that permits Basic Economy bookings may open up in the future. It also might not. Inventory is always a gamble.

sydneyracquelle

If you are worried about buying BE but not getting a seat rest assured a lot of seats are held back and not shown in the seatmap. If you have a confirmed seat on a flight you will get a seat as they would have to offer compensation to someone before denying you. These days with no change fees you can always buy MC today and then downgrade to BE later if space opens up.

sydneyracquelle

To each his own. For my family of 5 that travels frequently on flights less than 1.5 hours we save a lot on 10 one-way tickets every time we travel. And we always get decent seats together. And these days they are fully cancellable/changeable.