Tourist class

Economy class, also called coach class, steerage, or standard class, is the lowest travel class of seating in air travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel. Historically, this travel class has been called tourist class on ocean liners and third class, or even fourth class, on railways.

Travel classes originated from a distinction between "cabin class" and "steerage" on sailing vessels in the 18th century. Cabin class, for wealthier passengers included small cabins and a shared dining room while "steerage" provided open decks with bunks often near the tackle to operate the Steer rudder in converted cargo space on the "between decks" area where passengers from poorer backgrounds cooked their own meals.

With the arrival of steamships, competition between ocean liner companies led some companies like the Inman Line to offer additional options to economy passengers seeking to immigrate including small shared cabins and regular meals which were termed "Third Class". Many large liners evolved three and sometimes four segregated cabin, dining and recreation spaces for First, Second, Third and Steerage Class passengers. After immigrant travel dropped beginning in the 1920s, steerage class was abandoned and Third Class cabins were often upgraded, redecorated and offered to budget travelers as "Tourist Class". This became the main low budget class for ocean travelers, gradually replacing Third Class especially during the boom in immigration after World War Two.

As ocean liners adjusted to the loss of passengers to air travel and switched to recreational cruising in the 1960s, most ships became "one class" to save on separate recreational and dining levels. However the evolution of the cruise ship led to a variety of premium services and exclusive dining areas. Many ferries operating on shorter routes have continued to offer cabin fares and large open accommodation for economy travelers similar to the cabin/steerage divisions or earlier eras.

In North America, it is known as coach class by companies such as Amtrak. European railways call it second class. Standard class is used in United Kingdom and Ireland. It has been re-branded in some cases to broaden expectations. In Canada Via Rail refers to coach as Economy class. In India, the lowest class of service was branded third class under the British colonial rule. It was re-branded as second class following independence to avoid its former segregationist connotations. Today Indian Railways offers Economy AC-3 also in the same class. In Indonesia, the cheapest class for train is an economy class train and it is the highest percentage of train users in Indonesia for intercity and long distance travel. The economy class coach in Indonesia doesn't have an air conditioner and as the service of PT Kereta Api is developing, PT Kereta Api has launched an economy class coach with air conditioner. Now the brand for economy class coach in Indonesia is called "Ekonomi AC" (English:Air conditioner economy

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