Comfort Basic is Rolling Out
 

https://news.delta.com/introducing-d...ience-unpacked

I suppose the one thing we can be thankful for is that it appears this still earns full MQDs. People may recall that in the survey that was done last year, one of the potential options was that Comfort Basic would only earn half the MQDs.

FWIW I found it being tested on the DCA-MIA route.

From what I can see, currently the fare difference between Basic and Classic on that route is the same for Main cabin and for Comfort ($35 on the date I checked).

I'm sure the general population will prove me wrong, but seriously who is paying a premium for a guaranteed C+ middle :confused:. Relative to Main Basic, it seems like the odds of getting a middle with gate assignment are vastly higher given the tiny C+ cabins and tendency to sell out.

Indeed, it even discloses in the display for the bundle that you are likely to end up in a middle seat.

Let's hope this test goes terribly for Delta and they re-evaluate.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c067923aad.png

What a joke. Note you also earn significantly fewer base miles.. only 2/$ even though you're paying more than normal economy. Why would somebody pay more for a middle seat even if you get a bit more legroom? Can't wait to see couples booking this and expecting to sit together and trying to ask other pax to move into a middle seat so the basic holders can be together.

The only thing I see this resulting in is higher fares for normal Comfort seats. Just like with main cabin... basic will become the previous normal price, and normal prices will go up. Pathetic and confusing.

Hmmmm.

Pay extra for a middle seat.

Yeah, I'm all over that.

David

Are there even booking channels that present "extra legroom" fares or similar? Part of the original premise with BE was to goose the search results and compete with ULCCs by showing unrealistically good sticker prices. Not even sure that applies to C+ unless cross-carrier searches have gotten better than I think.

I wonder what that 'partial e-credit' and 'changes for a fee' means also.

Hope corporate booking tools block/omit these like main basic fares.

It's good Delta is disclosing this will likely be a middle seat but I bet plenty of people will buy this product not realizing this and then be disappointed.

This also continues the long trend of reducing available seats for elite upgrades, especially for Silvers and Golds.

There are two bands of C+ fares corresponding to W and S fare classes (so upfare amount will vary based on W and S class availability on flights). For Comfort+ Classic, these are identified by 'C' and 'I' in second to last position of fare basis code. Comfort+ Basic fares will use '1' and '2' in the second to last position of fare basis codes and continue to book into W and S booking classes. C+ fares, like BE and domestic F fares, are dual-inventory fares. DL has updated it's fare basis code structure document for Comfort+ Basic fares.

https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...structure.html

It looks like they got the ordering reversed in the document. Note that 'C' = W class and 'I' = S class, while '1' = S class and '2' = W class. W class is the pricier fare band for C+ fares.


It's in the T&Cs (also in the Penalties section of the fare rules). Fees are the same as for Basic Economy (er, Main Basic).

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3660e40a99.png

​​​​

Clearly, one of the ultimate goals here is to bring back change fees to all classes of service.

I think that's exactly the point. Just like Main Basic fares, they exist for the 'price comparison' shoppers to click on, then when they realize the restrictions are unfriendly, they choose the upsell.

Old C+ prices will be Comfort Basic, and new C+ prices are higher.

They have little to lose by offering it going forward even if it doesn't sell well itself because for those who buy C+, many will pay more for the non-basic C+ to avoid the likely middle seat and other restrictions. Just by offering it and driving the buy-ups to "C+ Classic", the C+ Basic would be serving a beneficial function for DL's bottom line.

This is probably a stepping stone to First Basic and D1 Basic too. Will be curious to see what restrictions come with those if/when those rollout.

Not probably, but definitely, as DL has already indicated that unbundling of premium cabins is the next step. I believe they had already indicated at investor day last year that the unbundling would start with Comfort in Q4 of 2025, and we're right on track.

Sadly, unbundling of D1 probably makes sense for transatlantic flights (for DL) because with the JV, I believe VS and AF/KLM have been unable to unbundle their own North American transatlantic premium fares the way they do in other markets. Once DL gets on board, they'll all be able to align bundles.

This makes me wondering how the 'Extra' fares are selling. I can't imagine that many/anyone is actually paying the massive upsell for 'Extra' over normal, especially when you can select C+ for less than main extra.

Not sure that is necessarily going to be the case, since we aren't seeing evidence that Comfort Basic is going to be cheaper than what regular Comfort was yesterday. If anything, the additional uncharge to avoid a middle seat might make buying up to Comfort less appealing.

Well, I just did a test booking on the route mentioned by a poster above - and in this case it was clear that it was actually cheaper.

In fact, the pricing positioning was.. interesting. DCA-MIA round trip December 9 to December 16th (by order of price):

* Main Basic - $137
* Comfort Basic - $197
* Main Classic - $207
* Comfort Classic - $267
* Main Extra - $375
* Comfort Extra - $447
* First Classic - $1253
* First Extra - $1613

Comfort Basic was actually priced less than Main Classic. It wouldn't surprise me if Delta is actually trying to convince people to buy up from Basic Economy rather than buy up from Main Classic. I'm sure it will be route and supply/demand specific, but Delta probably views the middle C+ seats as "slack revenue" right now - outside of business traveler edge cases (packed plane, only middle seats available anyways).

The mileage earning and ineligible upgrades is interesting - psychologically I think they are trying to get elites to keep buying Main Extra (although giving MQDs eats into that slightly). If they can get even a few Basic Economy passengers to upgrade to Basic Comfort, they are coming out on top. In my experience, on full flights with a lot of Basic Economy passengers, a lot of Basic Economy passengers get upgraded into middle C+ seats anyways.

At a minimum, this is consumer psychology crap to try to extract additional revenue. They get to advertise a reasonable looking C+ price to get people to look at the offering, and then anchor people to try to buy the middle option because it looks "reasonable" in terms of what you get versus the opposite ends (Basic and Extra). Even if it only gets average revenue up 1 or 2%, that goes straight to the bottom line.

Personally as a consumer the complexity is getting too much for me. Not seeing the actual prices (regular Main Cabin / Comfort+) on the buying screen annoys me to no end. At this point with what will end up being 9 total sales options (Basic/Classic/Extra for each tier, even if the Extra doesn't really ever count as one - it is again just used as price anchoring) is ridiculous. At that point you're basically just in ULCC carrier pricing models except with a menu of 9 bundle options rather than 7-8 al a carte add-ons. Absolutely ridiculous.

With MC Basic Economy I cannot use SC with my Reserve card. How about if I buy Comfort Basic?

Yes you do (a Reserve card is considered "eligible membership"):

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...48a46ddd62.png

It's answered in the FAQs at link at the top of the thread. The Comfort Basic fares are still Sky Club access eligible.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...21c2460ed2.png

I think this would be a good seller for routes that are on regional jets since you are not going to end up in a middle.

An interesting consequence, be it unintended or not, will be frustrations for PMs and DMs who may well see open C+ seats on a seatmap but won't be able to select them via their complimentary C+ access benefit because C+ will actually be sold out with those empty seats being held for assignment at check-in or at the gate for those who bought C+ Basic. I wonder if DL will account for this and just grey out C+ seats if C+ becomes sold out so as not to create a false impression of available seats.

I'm sure it will be priced accordingly. No value will be left to the customer's benefits. Although in fairness if you are a higher medallion you're probably giving up your decent chance for an upgrade given the high ratio of F to Y seats.

More “basic” nonsense…. Ugh. Just a money grab and a way to make the “classic/normal” fares higher while detracting from customer experience and adding confusion along the way.

I’m waiting for the first carrier out there to finally say enough is enough with the confusing tiers. Simple straightforward pricing if you want coach, premium economy, or first/business. Consumers are getting tired of having a multitude of options to choose from and having to select a high tier just to get what was once the norm.

I look at someone like my father, who was once all over basic when it first came out to save a few bucks. He’s been burned on middle seats and essentially no flexibility so he’s done with it. Lesson learned. He started booking C+ or F to avoid any possibility of selecting basic in Main (he’s not very airline fare literate). I’ll need to warn him of this new “enhancement.”

90+% of the people who book this fare will do so by mistake.
Doubt the phone and CS agents are going to like the feedback they get from people who don't read what they are buying.

Since the “extra” fares rolled out I’ve purchased two of them: the first was an international D1 ticket that had a fair amount of uncertainty, and extra was only $500 more to make things fully refundable. I did that so as to not have a massive e-credit should I need to cancel. The second was also an international fare, though in PS where the extra gave me F on the domestic segments for only about $400 more (I honestly didn’t know that was a new perk of the extra fare for PS, as in the past it was super annoying it only booked into C+). Anyway a small sample size, and only for some personal international leisure travel. Definitely not booking them for my standard domestic tickets whether in F, C+, or Y when I can just take a credit if needed without giving DL a massive loan.

Now I understand why they added all these extra rows..

Tall people will pay for extra leg room.

I think, the motive behind Comfort Basic: Delta loses too many C+ seats to upgrades for Platinums and Diamonds who clear those seats right after ticketing. If a few more are sold the revenue impact is significant, because in addition it forces some of the top medallion customers pay for F seats in the absence of C+ ones

Yes. The domestic leg in F would have been same price as the extra - regular fare difference for international PS with the domestic in C+ for me so I’ll take the extra miles and refund ability for free.
January flight booked 8 months in advance. Was able to re-fare three times to a lower price (2 fare class improvements on one leg and 1 on the other) for refunds instead of credits.
Fun fact … when PS debuted in 2017 on the new A350 all domestic legs were in F and SkyClub was included. How things change.

Gotta love all these premium enhancements :)

DL is telling you that a (middle) C+ seat is worth $10 less than a regular main seat 4-5 weeks out during shoulder season on a leisure route... Ooh "value"!
Or look at it as a steep $60 upgrade over main basic for the "basic" customer... Ooh "rip-off"!
I don't see any parties of two or more booking this.

Basic travelers, due to the inflexibility of the ticket, are not booking as far in advance as DM's and PM's who get the comp upgrades either, so not sure that matters much.
Still would be crazy in some situations to see a C+ seat map with 7 seats open including some windows and aisles, with 6 C+ basic secretly sold in the background, only to have the entire map get "X"ed out when the 7th C+ basic seat is sold. But I think DL will limit the number of basic C+ seats sold in advance to prevent high-school or small college basketball teams from booking up 12-18 seats for less than the cost of main.

Perhaps the average height and weight of middle C+ seat occupants increase slightly once this is rolled out system-wide. I can see the FT thread on that subject coming in 2026.

That's interesting; I was not aware of that. However, that does correspond with what I've seen on a few Asian carriers like CX and CI- if you book the higher fare classes for PE, it will put you into J for your regional connecting flight.

I could see myself buying this on a long haul domestic. A likely-middle is easier to stomach with a little extra legroom, a few drinks (2 services), some pistachios, and a higher likelihood of bin space via early boarding so I don't have to wait at baggage claim after a long flight.

No - they're going to buy the fare purposely and then think they have a reason after the fact that the restrictions they had to deliberately acknowledge and agree to before advancing through the booking process now shouldn't apply to them and their "unique" situation.

Not that I would consider it, but where I could see some savior people considering it is on domestic flights with a PS cabin that is sold as C+ and where a middle seat is at least more tolerable and bearable, or on a 767 with no middle seats to get stuck into. If your group is large enough, you may even exceed the number of C+ middle seats in this scenario (e.g. on the A330-300, there are only 3 middle seats in PS so if you book C+ Basic for 4 or more people, at least 1 person is guaranteed a non-middle).

While PS fares originally booked into F cabin on domestic segments, they never provided for Sky Club access on their own.

I am waiting for the Delta One Ultra Basic fare to launch. No pre-assigned seat, you must check in with the app (counter extra), no checked bag allowance ($299 per bag), no lounge access, one bag of Bischoff cookies for Diamond members with eligible credit card, 1 miles per $10 earned,

"Nobody wants to pay for or be upgraded into a Comfort Plus middle seat, as it is inferior to a Main aisle and window seats. How can we monetize these seats and market it to idiots into thinking they are getting a deal?"

Delta has been beyond disappointing. Always finding ways to charge more without providing any value.

Shame on them. I hope people do NOT pay.

Sadly history is not on your side...

• Delta SimpliFares
• American More Room Throughout Coach
• BA J seat fees, followed by other carriers "unbundling" (eg: AFKL, etc)
• Pretty much everything jetBlue has done since David Neeleman left

I think we can safely call "Comfort Basic" by its other name: "Comfort+ Seat Fees".