I don’t fly that often, and when I do, I pick the cheapest airline possible. Maybe I’m just lucky but I’ve personally never had budget airlines screw me over all that much. The delays and getting upcharged for everything is expected, but I’ve never actually been in a situation where a flight got cancelled and they just left me to sleep in the terminal overnight or anything like that, so I never really considered paying more for one of the “normal” airlines.
I’m curious as to what economy is like on a non-budget airline. They can be over double the cost of a budget airline ticket so do you actually get double the service? Anyone who has a lot of experience flying both want to weigh in on how they compare?
It really comes down to your needs. If flying frequently then the perks of status can add up but if your flying for personal reasons it makes less difference other that needing to learn multiple airline policies over just one.
Even status doesn’t matter for some airlines depending on where you live. Delta Status in Atlanta means basically nothing when everyone around you has it. I fly internationally 5 times a year and have flown airlines across the spectrum. The middle tier ones always end up feeling like the best deal in the end.