Delta No-Frills Fares and Online Booking

In the wake of Delta’s announcement this week about the further expansion of its Basic Economy fares, please remember that these fares are rarely appropriate for business travelers and cannot be booked online. Aimed primarily at cost-conscious leisure travelers, these fares range from $20-40 less than traditional coach and come with stiff penalties/restrictions, regardless of the traveler’s frequent flyer status:

• non-refundable
• non-changeable – even for a penalty
• no seat assignments until passenger checks in
• no comp or paid preferred seats, even at time of check-in
• no comp or paid upgrades
• no comp or paid Economy Comfort
• no same-day stand-by or confirmed travel
• no comp or paid priority boarding – board with the last group, when overhead bins are limited or unavailable

Corporate travel today is all about using status to increase comfort with upgrades, better seats, and priority boarding making these fares unsuitable for the vast majority of business travelers. Therefore, Basic Economy has been blocked from our clients’ Deem and Concur sites. NOTE: American and United have announced plans to offer their own versions of a “no frills” product in the second half of 2016. Travel-On will evaluate these offerings as more information becomes available.