Delta Airlines to Stop Offering Frequent Flyer Miles for Basic Economy Buyers: ‘We’d Like to Sell Less of it Rather Than More of it’

Delta Airlines will no longer offer frequent flyer miles for basic economy passengers.

AJC reports that Delta is knocking off some of the benefits passengers who buy basic economy flights are given. If you’re flying basic economy, you’ll no longer have the opportunity to earn frequent flyer miles for fares bought since Dec. 9 for travel scheduled for January. 1, 2022.

And they aren’t finished; the airline is also going to start charging people for changing already-purchased basic economy flights. The news outlet report that the company is looking to “upsell” customers and push them to pay for more expensive fares. The company states that basic economy flyers will also be boarded on planes last.

Most airlines have a program involving a passenger being able to “earn points” with each purchase, which Delta previously offered as part of its frequent flyers benefit. The earned points can lower the price of future flights for a passenger.

“We’d like to sell less of it rather than more of it,” said Delta President Glen Hauenstein about the basic economy changes. Hauenstein mentioned that he wants to only sell 10 percent to 20 percent of its basic economy tickets. “When it gets to be too large of a percentage of our total customer base, we look at how we can work to move that down.”