Delta to test new fare 'subcategories' in 2025; ponders higher-end Amex credit card

21.11.2024 - 14:07 / thepointsguy.com / Glen Hauenstein

Take your pick: Basic economy, standard economy or…. something slightly better, but pricier?

Delta Air Lines is planning to introduce a new, third tier to its coach product in the coming months, executives confirmed Wednesday.

It's part of a larger unbundling plan the carrier has, which could eventually see Delta offer customers a wider swath of fare options — "good, better, or best" as they're calling it — throughout each section of its aircraft.

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"We've got all these different cabins on the airplane. But we really think there's another way to segment them," Delta president Glen Hauenstein explained, speaking in New York Wednesday at the Atlanta-based carrier's annual investor day.

It's a change that could ultimately mean a wider menu of ticket options when you're shopping for airfare. But it could also leave customers wondering if they'll ultimately see higher prices to get services currently included in a plane ticket.

Delta will begin a trial run of these new fare "subcategories" in 2025, Hauenstein said. He noted that the carrier plans to roll the concept out "from the bottom, up" — meaning, coach comes first.

Today, like its top competitors, Delta already offers two main coach products: full-fare economy and basic economy. The latter strips out certain benefits like SkyClub access, SkyMiles earnings and complimentary seat selection for travelers who spring for Delta's lowest-fare ticket.

Basic economy was, from the outset, a product created in the 2010s as a way for the large network airlines to become more competitive with ultra-low-cost carriers offering low-base-fare, no-frills tickets.

But with increasingly sophisticated technology at their disposal, airlines are finding new ways to offer a wider menu of ticket types, with varying perks — and varying services that are excluded.

To start, Delta is planning to test a coach product that would essentially be the opposite of basic economy: a pricier main cabin tier that packs slightly better benefits than a standard coach ticket (or, at least, what a standard coach ticket would be in the future).

"We're halfway there in terms of coach product, the main cabin product," Hauenstein said Wednesday, referencing the existing basic economy option. "But [could] we have kind of a 'best' in that category — which we don't really have?"

Exactly what would a higher-end main cabin product look like at Delta? Could we see entirely new perks like better snack or beverage options? Might it include something simpler like a free checked bag? Could Delta effectively strip away certain services currently included in a traditional coach ticket — making you buy up to the "elevated" main cabin fare to get those