Airlines use frequent flyer miles – quite successfully, in fact – as an incentive for passengers to fly on their planes rather than on another carrier.
But now, Delta is tossing that aside for one category, its lowest-fare Basic Economy. Any tickets booked in that class will not come with FF miles or count toward Medallion miles.
This is a real bummer. A punch in the gut. It feels as if the airline is turning its back to its previously loyal flyers. Pulling rug out from under us.
What it means is that many budget travelers – which often includes myself – won’t be glued to Delta when booking a flight. After all, why stick to Delta? Check other airlines and go with the best fare – and also one that continues to provide miles. If it works, tho, expect other carriers to do the same; after all, this is one the biggest copycat businesses in the world.
When booking flights, I don’t do any upgrades (which often takes about 10 minutes when doing it on line) and take what they give me. I’m now used to this shoved-to-the-back-of-the-plane mentally. But it doesn’t mean I like it.
Oh, and to add salt to that wound, Basic Economy passengers can’t change flights or dates. They can cancel, however, for partial credit.
Southwest’s New Fare Category
In other airline news, Southwest is adding a new fare category, tho details are not yet available.
In a investor meeting, Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Waterson described it this way according to the Dallas Morning News: “I would encourage you to think about this as being above Wanna Get Away. That’d ben an upsell.”
Translation: expect higher fares.
As frequent SWA flyers know the airline currently has three fare tiers listed here as cheapest to most expensive: Wanna Get Away, Anytime and Business Select.
On the plus side, Waterson said those levels will still be available to passengers.
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