Basic Economy

Every time I see a post on here about Basic Economy, nearly every single person says not to do it, it's a disaster, and you might as well have booked a ticket to hell.

I want to put out a realistic view. I travel a bit for work, at least enough to get silver status, and almost always book basic economy for personal travel.

Lets start with the cost. I'll use my upcoming flight from Detroit to Japan for example. Basic Economy was $1230 and Main Cabin was $1500. I'm going with my wife so if we did MC, it would be a total cost of $540 extra.

Now what would we get for that extra cost? We would get to board slightly sooner and get to pick our seats before check in. I would earn the miles but those would be worth about $70 so lets but the savings down to $470.

From past experiences, there is a decent chance (~70%) I get to sit next to my wife and change seats after check in if I want. I can also pay $50 per person per flight to pick my seat ahead of time. The option appeared a month from check in.

As for boarding priority, I'll probably have to check my carry-on. I usually do this anyway since they'll do it at the ticket counter for free if you ask. International flights also get a free checked bag in BE so I could check a full sized bag as well for no additional cost.

So if I choose our seats for $200, I would be spending $270 to board earlier. It's all the same food, drinks, and onboard service as main cabin.

I agree that basic economy isn't the greatest for everyone everytime. I've had great experiences with it so far and think the amount of negativity on this sub about it is excessive. It allows people like my wife and I to get to our destination as cheaply as possible without all the excessive stuff.