First Class too fancy? Tired of Business Class? Economy has too many frills? Try 'Filthy Pig Class'!

[P. K. Qu'est Que Ce]

It's not really called that. It's actually called "Basic Economy". Think of it as the Freemium model, but for your real life.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2016/02/bottom-class

So what is basic economy? For frugal travellers, it?s shorthand for giving up some of the few remaining comforts of flying economy. The biggest sacrifice is losing the ability to reserve a seat when booking a flight (so be prepared for a middle seat in the back row). If you are travelling with family or colleagues, forget about sitting together. Passengers flying basic economy also forfeit their right to upgrade their seats and to change or cancel their reservations more than 24 hours after booking.
...
But some people suspect a more nefarious motive: Delta and its rivals are making basic economy so unpleasant that people will pay extra to ?upgrade? to standard economy. Indeed, when you try to book a reservation on Delta?s basic economy, a screen pops up warning you of all the downsides and requiring you to check a box stating ?I agree to the restrictions? before you can proceed.

So would you? Ever? Are you happy or angry that this exists? Indifferent?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Indifferent bordering on incredulous. Like, I'm not a classist, but if you can't afford Basic Economy, a category that covers the base cost of the flight itself, then you probably can't afford to fly.

To me it sounds like a taxi service that charges you half off if you lay down in the trunk and promise not to piss yourself. At that point, just skip your cousin's wedding and buy her something from Williams Sonoma. Go with the Cajun cook book and some spices.

 

[DoPo]

I read the OP then the article linked. I don't get it - how is this different to low cost flying companies? As far as I can see, it's the same thing, only a non-low-cost company offers the low-cost company experience. The only real difference is that EasyJet and others would do it to sell you the extras on a piece by piece basis, while Delta does it in order for you to get the more expensive package.

This doesn't really seem like news or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[elvor0]

Indifferent bordering on incredulous. Like, I'm not a classist, but if you can't afford Basic Economy, a category that covers the base cost of the flight itself, then you probably can't afford to fly.

To me it sounds like a taxi service that charges you half off if you lay down in the trunk and promise not to piss yourself. At that point, just skip your cousin's wedding and buy her something from Williams Sonoma. Go with the Cajun cook book and some spices.

I dunno, I'd make use of it. For instance, in Finland, it costs three or 4 times as much to take the 45 minute flight from Kuopio to Helsinki than it does to make the flight from Helsinki to London. You are right, that in most cases, if you can't afford basic, don't fucking do it, but ?300 return for a 45M flight, makes my blood boil. Seeing as they're unlikely to reduce the cost, this scum class could actually be useful for me. As my only choice to go visit the UK is a 20 hour trip each way.

Actually in Europe, you don't get the ability to cancel for free in Basic Economy by default anyway, you need to pay a charge to get the opportunity to get a refund. So if you flew solo, this is a great option.

 

[MrFalconfly]

I can barely fit into the seats of Air Berlin's economy seats (which are probably even bigger than any of the economy seat in any US regional flight).

No way in f**cking hell I'm going to buy any kind of "Scum class".

 

[Keoul]

Well is it cheaper than current economy tickets?

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Meh, I sleep a shit ton so the quality of the airline I'm flying doesn't matter too much to me.

And unless the basic economy is the same price as regular old economy, then won't all this do is force people to go with regular economy, which they would always have done, and give less unfortunate people a cheaper option?

In other words, unless they are replacing standard economy with basic, then I don't see a problem with this.

 

[DEAD34345]

Don't see a problem with it personally. If it was noticeably cheaper, I'd go for it.

Indifferent bordering on incredulous. Like, I'm not a classist, but if you can't afford Basic Economy, a category that covers the base cost of the flight itself, then you probably can't afford to fly.

To me it sounds like a taxi service that charges you half off if you lay down in the trunk and promise not to piss yourself. At that point, just skip your cousin's wedding and buy her something from Williams Sonoma. Go with the Cajun cook book and some spices.

I don't really understand this reasoning. If you can afford the flight with this cheaper fare, then you can by definition afford to fly. Why do you draw the line at this new category, and not between Business and Economy, or First Class and Business?

Why is this particular downgrade in exchange for a cheaper fare any different to the others that have always been there?

 

[zidine100]

Um unless its going to be physically dangerous to my health and they start installing random daggers to fly at your face and it wasnt a really Really long flight then hell yeah i would take them up on that. Why wouldnt I, it would just be like riding a freaking bus for a few hours. I mean come on its not like being stuck to some middle seat for a few hours is going to kill me and i'd have extra spending money to spend on things id actually enjoy.