We don’t recommend booking basic economy tickets, but if you are dead-set on doing so, check this one important rule before you do.

Our $57 rule

This rule is as simple as it sounds: take the basic economy ticket and add $57 dollars. If the total is more than the price of the next best fare, buy the next best fare.

A real-world example

Say we are looking at Delta flights from LaGuardia Airport in New York to O’Hare Airport in Chicago on August 19, 2025. We go to Delta’s website and see the following options:

Following our $57 Rule, we:

1. See the basic economy ticket (what Delta now calls “Main Basic”) is $104
2. Add $57 to this price: $104 + $57 = $161
3. We ask: Is $161 greater than the next best fare? No. The next best fare is Main and it’s selling for $139. $139 is less than $161
4. Conclusion: we should buy the Main ticket!

Why does the $57 rule work?

Because if we book the $104 basic economy ticket in the example above, we can’t save money if the ticket price goes down.

However, if we book the main ticket for $139 and it goes down to $80, we will get money back because we can get a flight credit/refund when the price of the main ticket drops after we book it.

By following our $57 rule every time, we will get the best of both worlds:

• We will always pay the lowest fare for our flights when we average out the price of all of our flights. We might pay the higher fare on one given flight, but if we look at the average across 10 flights, we will pay the lowest fare
• We will frequently get the benefits of the better fare (i.e., main)

Sky Key is the best tool for doing this

When we use the $57 rule and book the main fare, we need to:

1. Know when the price of the main fare drops
2. Get money back from the airline when the main fare price drops

Sky Key is the best tool for doing this. Upload your ticket to Sky Key in less than a few minutes, Sky Key monitors flight prices 24/7 and when the price of your ticket drops, Sky Key automatically gets you money back.

– Billy Bund. Co-Founder @ Sky Key