Fly to Asia in Premium Economy for only $10 per flight hour more than Economy.
If Premium Economy were a new ice cream, it would be the flavor of the year. Talk about finding a market niche. Well, to be fair, the Europeans came up with the idea 20 years ago; it’s just taken many others to catch on.
But it has–with sprinkles on top–and now the price battle is on, not just among U.S. airlines, but also major overseas carriers such as Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific, for example. In the past those airlines rarely discounted Premium Economy seats, but now they’re melting down their prices.
EXAMPLE: Delta’s Premium Economy for Only $10 MORE
per Flight Hour Than Economy
While lower fares abound, Delta is the winner in the race to offer the lowest Premium Economy fare route we could find from the U.S. to Asia of any airline: $747 from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Again, that’s for a Premium Economy seat, not an economy seat. Compare this to flying in economy for $497.
One way we like to look at the value of flight costs is from the perspective of cost-per-flight hour. For example, the travel time between Los Angeles and Shanghai is about 26 hours round-trip. When the Premium Economy fare is down at those $747 levels, it equates to about $29 per-flight hour.
Compare this to flying in economy for $497, a cost-per-flight hour of $19, and you’ll see PE is only $10 more per-flight hour.
Delta (SkyTeam) also has a good PE fare option for non-stop service from Seattle to Tokyo starting at $1,095, Minneapolis to Tokyo starting at $1,126, Atlanta to Shanghai starting at $1,347, and Detroit to Beijing starting at $1,357, to name a few.
What Do You Get for That Delta Dollar in PE?
Paying the difference for PE nets you:
- More seat recline: up to 75% more than economy
- More legroom: up to 8 inches more than economy
- More seat Width: up to an inch more than economy
- An adjustable footrest and leg rest
- Priority check-in and boarding
- Better meals
- TV screen: 13.2 inches on the A350 and noise-cancelling headphones
- Other perks not offered in economy like dedicated overhead bin space, a Tumi amenity kit, and dedicated in-cabin flight attendant.
For a deeper Delta PE dive, see here.
Other great low-cost PE options we’ve seen to Asia in a minute—on airlines like All Nippon, American, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Singapore, and United—but first…
WHEN TO CONSIDER PREMIUM ECONOMY?
If you’re a business traveler but don’t want to spend $3,000 to $7,000 to sit up front, PE is an option for you. Case in point: the Business Class fare for the Los Angeles-Shanghai route above on Delta is high ($5,307 high, or equivalent to seven PE tickets for the price of one in Biz). Even American and United’s lowest Business Class fares start at $3,317 on that route. So, yes, a $747 PE fare is a good option when Business Class fares might be too high for you.
Other possible reasons business travelers should consider PE:
- When company travel policy or the client’s budget forbids Business Class
- When business owners want to give their employees a perk
- When sleep is secondary to working or not important at all
Leisure travelers have reason to consider PE too. And the first reason is the same as for business travelers: If you don’t want to spend $3,000 to $7,000 to sit up front, PE is an option for you.
Other possible reasons leisure travelers should consider PE:
- When you do not have enough miles for Business Class or First
- When you have miles but award inventory is not available
- Perhaps when flying with many kids (do they really need to fly up front?)
Loyalty-Free Opportunity Travelers Get the Most Dessert
Great news if you’re a loyalty-free Opportunity Traveler. It seems to us that every time a plane takes off, an airline program gets devalued (hello, United Airlines, we’re talking about you). When you’re not shackled to one program and its ever-dwindling benefits, you’re free to shop around for better fares.
Such as Delta’s emerging victorious in the skirmish to offer the lowest PE fares to Asia, but that doesn’t mean other airlines aren’t on the battleground too.
All Nippon (Star Alliance): So far, All Nippon has not joined the race in offering new lower Premium Economy fares. The fares are not bad though, just not as low as some other airlines. They range from $1,450 from Chicago to Tokyo, $1,572 from Los Angeles, and $1,672 from New York.
American (oneworld): Most of American’s flights to Asia are from Dallas, and American has pretty good PE fares also. The lowest-fare route we found is from Dallas to Beijing starting at $1,115. Los Angeles also has flights to Asia with the lowest fare being offered to Tokyo starting at $1,256.
Cathay Pacific (oneworld): Historical fares to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific ranged from $2,460 to $2,560 from the West Coast. Recently, however, we’ve seen fares starting at $1,342 from Los Angeles and $1,402 from San Francisco, a drop of up to $1,218 / 48%. (The airline basically matched American’s Premium Economy fare from Los Angeles, which is great.) Or travel beyond Hong Kong to Bangkok, for example, and the fare from LAX starts at $1,337. Chicago has also seen a drop in fares, which now start at $1,579, and the same with New York, starting at $1,739.
Japan Airlines (oneworld): Travel in Premium Economy to Tokyo typically ranges from $1,800 to $2,400 from Chicago, but recently we’ve seen fares starting at $1,177, a drop of up to $1,223 (51%). This new fare even undercuts United’s Premium Economy fare which starts at $1,421. For travel to Tokyo from other U.S. gateways we have not seen a drop in PE fares like the Chicago one, with fares ranging from $2,200 (Los Angeles and San Francisco) to $2,900 (New York).
Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance): Has offered low PE fares for a while now, starting at $1,181 from Newark to Singapore or Seattle starting at $990. Many PE fares on the airline start in the $1,100 to $1,300 range for travel all over Asia.
United (Star Alliance): United’s lowest Premium Economy fare found is $1,236, on the San Francisco-Beijing route. PE flights to Taipei are about the same, starting at $1,227 from San Francisco. Newark to Shanghai also offers a decent PE fare starting at $1,447.
Save Your Miles or Points
Miles are great to have, but there’s no need to use them for free awards when fares are this low. If you have miles, save them for when ticket prices are high. Take, for example, the American Airlines Dallas-Beijing route where free low-cost mileage award tickets costs 100,000 miles round-trip while the cash cost for the ticket is $1,115, giving you only about a 1 cent return on your miles. Not good value.