When Basic Economy Works For Me

When basic economy works for me may not work for everyone; but as the least expensive fare that is offered by many airlines around the world these days, I try to use this restrictive fare to my advantage whenever possible — with minimal negative impact on my travels.

When Basic Economy Works For Me

As an example, through tomorrow, Thursday, March 26, 2026, Delta Air Lines currently has a sale in which one can travel to Asia and the Pacific region for as low as 30,000 SkyMiles — or as low as 25,500 SkyMiles with an eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express card — but that redemption rate is for a basic economy ticket. Additional SkyMiles must be redeemed for a ticket that includes certain benefits — such as being able to choose a seat assignment at the time of purchasing your ticket.

Basic economy with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines — and United Airlines effective as of Thursday, April 2, 2026 without elite status or an eligible credit card that is affiliated with United Airlines — generally means that you will be penalized, as you:

1. Cannot earn miles
2. Will not be credited towards being eligible to earn elite status for the next year
3. Are not eligible for an upgraded seat — even if you already have elite status
4. Are not able to choose a seat assignment in advance
5. Board last aboard the airplane
6. Are prohibited from changing or canceling your flight at all — or if doing so is permitted, a hefty punitive fee is charged
7. Cannot access an airport lounge that is associated with the airline

I took advantage of a similar sale which resulted in me redeeming a similarly ridiculously low amount of SkyMiles for a trip to Asia that just concluded last week. Even when Delta Air Lines still published award charts, the minimum redemption of SkyMiles for a round trip ticket to Southeast Asia was 80,000 SkyMiles — so as low as 30,000 SkyMiles for the same trip eleven years later is a great deal…

…but it is still as a basic economy ticket — and the reasons why that actually works for me is because I:

1. Am not earning miles anyway on an award ticket
2. Will not be credited towards being eligible to earn elite status for the next year on an award ticket
3. Am generally not eligible for an upgraded seat on international flights — even with elite status
4. Do not particularly care about choosing a seat assignment in advance for the very low redemption cost of that award ticket
5. Typically will not board last because I can board earlier either because I have elite status or because I have an eligible credit card
6. Rarely ever change or cancel my flights — and I do have insurance coverage as a benefit on at least three credit cards in the event that changing or canceling my flight must occur, as has happened to me earlier this year
7. Can use my Priority Pass membership — as a benefit to one of the credit cards I have — to access an airport lounge

“Your one and only mistake was sitting in Coach to begin with!”, Patrick wrote recently in this comment. “Premium Economy at a minimum. And on that long of a flight…? It really should be J or F.”

Gene — who is also a long-time reader of The Gate With Brian Cohen — apparently agreed with Patrick: “@ Brian — Book yourself in buisiness class next time.”

Patrick and Gene are two of a number of long-term readers of The Gate With Brian Cohen who I have come to appreciate and respect. I enjoy reading their thoughts — regardless of whether or not they agree with me — but although I do not necessarily disagree with them, I like to take advantage of what seem to me to be good bargains with award travel and save the prospect of more premium travel for revenue trips, with which the aforementioned benefits count.

Also, I have found that sometimes booking basic economy tickets with partner airlines gives me the benefits I enjoy without having to pay extra — in terms of either money or miles. For example, the tickets that I purchased with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for a trip earlier this year gave me the option of selecting seat assignments in advance on flights that were operated by Delta Air Lines even though they were the least expensive option. Had I instead purchased those tickets directly through Delta Air Lines, I would have had to pay more money — and yet still endure the aforementioned punitive restrictions of basic economy.

Final Boarding Call

Back in 2014, only three items differentiated basic economy with Delta Air Lines versus other fares for seats in the economy class cabin…

• No refunds at all under any circumstance, no matter what
• No changes are permitted at all at any time
• Your seat is assigned to you when you check in on the day of your flight — not even when you check in via the Internet before you arrive at the airport

…and the difference in the fare was perhaps as low as $20.00, which resulted in basic economy being reasonably palatable — which apparently was an issue with Delta Air Lines as the restrictions have become increasingly onerous over the years.

Different circumstances can yield different results; but I find that — for the most part — I lose almost nothing by redeeming miles for basic economy tickets for award travel; and I get to enjoy a significant savings of my miles…

…and depending on the partner airline, many — if not all — of the benefits are not stripped away when I purchase the least expensive revenue ticket.

For the record, I despise what basic economy has become in 2026 versus in 2014 — so I prefer to avoid it when feasibly possible…

All photographs ©2026 by Brian Cohen.