This year, “basic” fares will no longer be limited to economy-class tickets. Instead, first class and business travelers booking with Delta Air Lines will be able to forgo extras like a free cancellation and loyalty points accrual in exchange for a cheaper, “basic” ticket.
The change, which is expected to go into effect this year, was hinted at by Delta executives during a Jan. 13 earnings call. With it, travelers on Delta will see a basic, stripped down fare option when booking seats in the airline’s premium cabins.
When the change is fully rolled out, here’s how it is expected to work: after travelers choose between the airline’s available sea…
This year, “basic” fares will no longer be limited to economy-class tickets. Instead, first class and business travelers booking with Delta Air Lines will be able to forgo extras like a free cancellation and loyalty points accrual in exchange for a cheaper, “basic” ticket.
The change, which is expected to go into effect this year, was hinted at by Delta executives during a Jan. 13 earnings call. With it, travelers on Delta will see a basic, stripped down fare option when booking seats in the airline’s premium cabins.
When the change is fully rolled out, here’s how it is expected to work: after travelers choose between the airline’s available seat tiers, they will be prompted to choose a benefit tier—Basic, Classic, or Extra. The lower-priced Basic fare may come with restrictions like delayed boarding or no seat selection, while the most pricey Extra tier may come with a list of benefits like extra mile accrual and a fully refundable fare. The Classic tier is considered the airline’s standard fare type.
Currently, travelers in premium cabins can only choose between the Classic or Extra tier, while economy travelers have access to all three: Basic, Classic, and Extra. This announcement will make it so virtually any seat on a Delta flight can be purchased with a lower priced Basic benefit tier.
The concept has already been tested on Delta’s Comfort seating. According to a November 2025 report from The Points Guy, Delta started selling its extra-legroom Delta Comfort seats with a Basic benefit option. With that rollout, Basic travelers in Delta Comfort still got the premium seat with extra legroom, but couldn’t pick their seat ahead of time, earned fewer SkyMiles, and had to pay a fee if they needed to cancel their trip.
"We’ve been incredibly thoughtful about not going too fast, making sure that we’re measured in that approach," said Joe Esposito, Delta’s executive vice president, during the Tuesday call. "We’re still testing Comfort Basic right now, [and] we’re going to expand that for the rest of this year."
This new fare approach is known as “unbundling” and is expected to allow Delta, a legacy carrier, to better compete with fares found on low-cost airlines. It also gives business and first-class passengers the ability to choose what level of benefits they want or need without compromising their premium seating. Delta will be the first U.S. airline to offer premium cabin seating with stripped-down pricing and benefits.
Read the original article on Travel & Leisure