About Delta NOT Shaming: I Said This Back in April…

I  am not sure as to what is up with all of the media attention pertaining to Delta Air Lines supposedly shaming customers into purchasing Main Cabin economy airfares instead of those for Basic Economy; but in this article back on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, I posted the following content which argues against what I believe is a widespread illogical conclusion:

When you select a Basic Economy class fare for your ticket to travel as a passenger on a flight operated by Delta Air Lines at its official Internet web site, you get a warning — to which you must answer whether or not you agree before continuing with your purchase — as follows:

You selected a Basic Economy fare, which includes the following restrictions:

• Last to board and last to access overhead bin space except Medallion® members and other Priority Boarding eligible customers
• Other restrictions apply to all customers including but not limited to Medallion® members and SkyTeam® elites
• No seat assignment until check-in
• No refunds
• No ticket changes
• No paid or complimentary upgrades to Delta One™, First Class, Business Class, Delta Comfort+™ or Preferred Seats
• No Priority Boarding for purchase
• No same-day confirmed or same-day standby travel changes

 

“Delta is now warning you about the evils of BASIC economy seating (and making you sign off on them)!” is the title of this article written by René de Lambert of Delta Points — and I actually believe that that is a good thing.

Think about it: you are clearly being warned by Delta Air Lines that you are purchasing a highly-restricted airfare which excludes certain benefits afforded with other airfares.

By the indication of an additional column with grey buttons solely dedicated to Basic Economy airfares as seen in the screen shot shown above, I personally thought that customers already were clearly informed which airfares were Basic Economy — even clearer than the differences between the economy class and premium class columns…

…but I know of at least one person who was surprised as a passenger on a recent flight operated by Delta Air Lines that he could not choose a seat or board sooner. “I must have purchased one of those Basic Economy fares,” he lamented to me in what sounded like a tone of disgust when he called via the telephone as he was at the gate awaiting his flight — and I could tell that he was disappointed…

…so in my opinion, the idea of this blatantly clear warning which no one can ignore pertaining to purchasing a Basic Economy fare is great; and I applaud Delta Air Lines for implementing such a clear warning. I only wish that lodging companies would have a similar warning when customers are about to reserve a room of which resort fees cost extra money but are mandatory — but that will be the day when pigs fly.

Oh, yeah — that’s right: here is proof that pigs do fly. I will have to search for another clichéd analogy…

In other words, I never did believe that this was a way for Delta Air Lines to purposely shame its customers into purchasing a more expensive ticket, as many in the media seem to want for you to believe. Rather, it is simply a way to clearly convey to the customer what purchasing a Basic Economy ticket entails — and by doing this, I have always believed that Delta Air Lines is doing the right thing.

All those in the media had to do was read that aforementioned article which I wrote for what I believe is the truth.

Just sayin’…

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.