I see your point @konnektor and @DeanLubaki... but at some point there was a switch where it became nearly impossible to get Applecar non-plus. (Applecare- Maybe? ☺) I put it on my 2015 MBP about a year after I bought it and I had to call someone through Apple to do it. I got the impression from that call that the original AppleCare was going away. I think this is a good solution to this problem.
Like you said AppleCare (not AC+) only extended the manufacture warranty. It was something you could buy for Macs at any point during the manufacture warranty. AC+ was recently (last 3-4 years) added for Macs. People always confused AppleCare and Applcare+. I also though they did away with regular AppleCare when they introduced AC+ for the Macs.