Delta Basic Economy is Dead … Long Live Delta ‘Main Basic’ Economy

And here we thought HBO Max's recent rebrand was stupid. 

More than a decade after introducing stingy “Delta basic economy fares” – setting off a wave that rapidly spread across the U.S. airline industry – Delta scrubbed that term from its website overnight Thursday in favor of a new name. 

It's now called … “Delta Main Basic.”

Whereas a standard economy ticket – which includes complimentary seat selection, free change and cancellation, still earns SkyMiles, and can get you into the Delta Sky Club – is just “Main.” Or “Main Classic,” if you're not into the whole brevity thing. 

Perfectly straightforward, not at all confusing. Right? Delta confirmed the change Thursday morning, saying it was “refreshing our product names and introducing booking experiences tailored to your travel needs and priorities.”

This rebrand took place across Delta's entire website, whether you're booking tickets or reading the fine print in the airline's contract of carriage. It's even carried over to Google Flights and other sites.

At the same time, Delta also rebranded its extra legroom seats: Delta Comfort Plus is out – it's just “Delta Comfort” now. And months after teasing new fare buckets were on the way, the airline is introducing pricier “Main Cabin Extra” tickets that are fully refundable, earn at least 7x SkyMiles per dollar, and have higher priority for complimentary upgrades, among other benefits. These Extra fare types are also available in other cabins for travel Oct. 1 and onward.

But basic economy is arguably the biggest change. And let's be clear: This is a change in name only.

Whatever Delta calls them, these fares are still incredibly restrictive – designed not to cut you a better deal but to lure you in with a cheaper price, then convince you to pay more for a better fare that won't have you boarding last, sitting in a middle seat next to a stranger.

Read our full guide to Delta basic economy fares … and how you can still pick a seat for free!

And that upsell effort could be even more potent now. Not only are the new fare names potentially confusing, but Delta's recently overhauled booking engine lumps basic and standard economy together.

So instead of seeing these “Basic Main” and “Main” fares listed separately when you search for a ticket from Atlanta (ATL) to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), you just see prices for “Main” fares … 

… only to click through and see that $159 price is actually for a “Main Basic” fare – a standard economy ticket would cost you $70 more.

That's pretty gross, a borderline bait-and-switch pricing tactic in the vein of what American Airlines has been doing with its own fares for the last year or so. But Delta takes it to a new level by calling its cheapest fares “Main Basic.”

Fortunately, Delta gives users an easy way to eliminate seeing basic economy fares altogether with a handy “Best fares for” filter from its homepage. Google Flights is also testing out a similar filter.

But it won't stop at “Main Basic.” Delta has made clear that it plans to introduce a “basic” business class fare – perhaps stripping out seat assignments or lounge access even from pricey, $1,000-plus tickets. 

So it's likely only a matter of time before we see “Delta Comfort Basic” or “Delta Premium Select Basic” and even “Delta One Basic” fare options on these pages.