Talk:Basic economy class

Moving forward
thanks for the GA review. Looking at the article again I understand your concerns, and I personally noticed a number of issues as well: I understand why you decided that the article is too far from GA standard to place it on hold, and I am addressing a number of concerns identified in the review.
 * I did not mention clearly that basic economy fares were initially only available on markets where full-service airlines compete with LCCs. This is an important fact that clarifies the purpose of such fares, and I'm currently thinking how best to add it to the article.
 * The distinction between low-cost carriers and ultra-low-cost carriers is not clearly defined. I initially made the distinction because of JetBlue's plans to introduce its version of basic economy, and they are a low-cost carrier, but now I think it's better to limit this article's coverage to airlines who offer or have announced plans to offer these fares.
 * I am now describing basic economy as a type of airfare rather than a travel class, and instead of phrasing (standard) economy as a travel class to be upgraded to, I am now phrasing it as a more expensive product that passengers can purchase to avoid basic economy's restrictions. Please remind me if anything is not clear enough.

Regarding the concern that this article is promotional or that it should not belong to Wikipedia, my view is that there is nothing stopping a marketing term or product segmentation strategy from getting an article, as long as the topic meets WP:GNG or another applicable notability guideline. In my view GNG is clearly met here, due to articles in mainstream and specialist media critical of the concept (e.g. the Bloomberg and Skift sources) as well as articles intended for consumers who want to know what restrictions these fares entail without necessarily being interested in the marketing strategy behind them (e.g. the USA Today and Condé Nast Traveler sources). I think I have given quite a bit of weight to the suggestion that the introduction of these fares is a way for airlines to pressure customers into paying up for services they used to get for free (see for example Bloomberg and Runway Girl Network in the Reception section). Feel free to provide suggestions on how to make this article sound less promotional. For example, should I focus more on the reasons why airlines introduced and expanded these fares, rather than descriptions of these fares as offered by each airline?

As for similar products offered by train operators and airlines outside the United States, I am aware of the existence of hand baggage only (HBO) fares offered by airlines like British Airways and SAS Scandinavian, as well as train services like IZY. However, unless a source explicitly compares these products and concepts with basic economy as offered by airlines in the United States, adding such content to this article would violate WP:OR and WP:SYNTH. I will see if any source makes such a comparison or calls airfares offered by a non-American airline "basic economy".

Feel free to provide any additional suggestions as you see fit. feminist (talk) 03:56, 30 September 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your understanding in relation to the judgement I reached. Whilst we have slightly different views on how the article could be developed or indeed its core purpose, I think we can both appreciate that it's previous state was not entirely suitable.


 * I have considered your comments above and how you feel about the article's purpose and positioning. I can't find any other articles which specifically deal with the concept of a lower-grade economy class bracket, unless you can? I envisaged this article could be reconfigured as such to be more broadly focused around the lower economy grade class in general, rather than a very specific emphasis on a promotional term used by American airline operators. In contrast to your view, I do think at the very least it would be advantageous, perhaps even advisory, to mention worldwide carriers that also operate a similar class of travel, even if it isn't specifically marketed in the exact way; it isn't WP:SYNTH when an international carrier makes a clear distinction between different levels of economy, one clearly sold as "basic" as per British Airways.
 * Fundamentally, and you alluded to this yourself, there is a distinction between "basic economy" the fare (a promotional tool) and "basic economy" the travel class (which may in fact be the same as the fare but perceived as a class due to the adoption by notable carriers).


 * Your thought regarding whether the emphasis should be on the reasons behind its introduction vs descriptions is exactly the point I made in the review and discussing how this came about would be far more interesting to readers than knowing who charges extra to reserve seats or who forces you to leave the plane last. Part of the GA criteria, specifically criterion 3, is that an article is broad in coverage and it would not be harmful to explain, even as a side-note, that the concept is known to be used outside of the airline space, albeit marketed differently but fundamentally not too dissimilar (unless a generic article covering the class as a whole exists or could be established). Bungle (talk • contribs) 16:42, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * As you can see I have significantly expanded the article, so that it now covers similar airfares charged by European and Asian airlines. I have expanded the lead section and redefined "basic economy" as a type of airfare charged by airlines for segmentation (as defined by many sources) instead of a travel class. I have also added more content relating to airlines' rationales for introducing these fares. The article is still mainly focused on airlines in the US, because that is what most sources talk about with regard to basic economy fares. Unfortunately I have been unable to find sources that directly compare basic economy fares with similar pricing strategies on other modes of transport, though I imagine such concepts can be linked via a See also section. feminist (talk) 16:52, 30 September 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 20 March 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: moved to Basic economy class (as opposed to Basic economy airfares) to standardize with other airline class articles. (closed by non-admin page mover) Vaticidalprophet 06:24, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

Basic economy → Basic economy airfares – The term 'basic economy' is a bit misleading/ambgious; many people may think this is a type of economy theory. Even the lead of this article opens with "Basic economy airfares are charged by a number of airlines." So 'basic economy' is just an adjective, the main topic is 'basic economy airfares ' and we should make this clear in the title too. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus&#124; reply here 04:44, 20 March 2021 (UTC) —Relisting. DannyS712 (talk) 06:11, 1 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Considering BE is a travel class and in concordance with first class (aviation), business class, and economy class, maybe the move for this page would be 'Basic economy class'? Whatever gets decided here can probably also apply to premium economy. —Collint c 05:16, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Support move to Basic economy class, and Premium economy → Premium economy class, as per above. 162.208.168.92 (talk) 17:38, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Oppose per WP:COMMONNAME and WP:PRIMARYTOPIC, unless anyone can show evidence that "basic economy" more commonly refers to economic theory (and/or other topics) compared to its use in the airline context. I agree that basic economics would more likely refer to economic theory, but that is an entirely different article title. feminist (talk) 10:35, 25 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Move to Basic economy class to be consistent with other travel classes. Vpab15 (talk) 21:01, 28 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Move to Basic economy class per Vpab15, or anywhere. The current title is an Easter egg (pun noted). Oh yes, and Premium economy → Premium economy class as well. No such user (talk) 08:10, 1 April 2021 (UTC)