What Delta's new seating tier means for regular consumers

Delta has introduced a new tiered pricing system - providing travelers five choices ranging from super-lux to barebones choices.

From CNN:

In the main cabin, customers will have choice of the "Basic Economy" fare and two other fare classes.

The "Basic Economy" bare-bones coach fares will be available on domestic routes, and they're already available in some areas where Delta competes with deep discounter Spirit Airlines.

The "Main Cabin" coach fares on domestic and long-haul international flights will allow seat selection at time of purchase and flexibility for flight changes. On long-haul international flights, the fare will include alcoholic drinks, meal service and a sleep kit.

The "Delta Comfort+" coach fare on all flights will include priority boarding and dedicated overhead bin space, alcoholic drinks, premium snacks, premium entertainment, up to 4 more inches of legroom and quilted seat covers.

The move seems to follow a trend: airline travel appears to be getting worse for the average traveler. Time called the new Delta low-cost seats "the least flexible and least comfortable product of any American carrier:"

It's well understood that Delta introduced and expanded its Basic Economy category as a way to compete with Spirit Airlines, the much-maligned carrier that's known for low fares followed by high fees for anything above the cost of a seat. Yet even the cheapest seats sold by Spirit Airlines, as well as low-fare, high-fee imitators such as Frontier Airlines, allow customers to pay extra for seating assignments and the right to change flight dates and itineraries. Frontier and Spirit also offer passengers the option of paying extra for upgrades, in the form of seats that may be larger or just come with more legroom.

Two guests join The Daily Circuit to talk about how much customers are willing to take while flying.