Has anyone else noticed basic economy keeps getting worse?

Airlines changed how tickets work and it feels like a big source of frustration for budget conscious travelers.

The cheapest options now:

• don’t earn points
• don’t allow changes
• have a bunch of restrictions

And then the next tier up is often $100+ more just to get basic functionality back.

So now, you actually have to do way more research just to avoid booking a bad deal.

I’ve been messing around with this a bit (comparing fares, different airlines, what actually earns rewards, etc.) and I feel like most people are probably picking the worst option without realizing it.

Would anyone here actually use something like that?