Basic Economy is horrible,. I want to get that out there now. Why? Because I want to select my seat. I don’t want to get on the plane last. I don’t want a ticket I cannot change no matter what. Not even with a crazy fee. Even without kids and the need to be sure we are sitting together (not next to the toilet in the back row) I want to select my seat ahead of time.
What Basic Economy does well is make you happy to have Regular Economy. I have read analysts say this before. As I was doing the happy dance that we got 4 checked luggage on our flight to NY in July I realized how right that analyst was. It’s an international flight. I used to have 2 checked luggage per person. Now I get one and I am happy about it. Why because the ticket we had in June had none. I thought I would have to pay for checking some bags till I realized it’s included.
Well played airlines. Well played indeed.
