How to Get Free Upgrades to Premium Economy Elite Seats to Europe

April 2016
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A quick look at 12 different airlines offering the best deals using miles or cash turns up some surprises, SAS for fares, and British Airways for miles.

[aside headline="When To Go For Premium Economy Elite" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]

  • When sleep is secondary to working or not important to you. (Why pay for 180-degree recline in Business Class on a day flight?)
  • When Business Class fares are high.
  • When upgrade or free mileage-award inventory is not available in Business Class.
  • On a family vacation: Do the kids really need to fly up front?
  • When you do not have enough miles for a free Business Class mileage award—unless you're willing to buy the miles needed.[/aside]

Premium Economy is a caste system: There's PE Elite and PE plain vanilla, meaning airlines that have created a separate cabin and an upgraded seat versus airlines that have just put in a bit more legroom. (See last month's detailed PE seat comparison chart.) This month FCF starts a comprehensive survey by region of Premium Economy Elite, starting with Europe.

Using Miles to Upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy Elite

In a nutshell: not worth it. FCF found that the upgradeable fare on PE Elite airlines often costs more, or almost the same, as the PE Elite fare. The only airline that really offers a good upgrade deal is SAS (30,000 miles round-trip on many economy fares). On NY-Copenhagen the lowest upgradeable economy fares currently start at $734 ($1,098 high season), while PE Elite fares start at $1,404 ($1,639 high season).

[aside headline="For Business Travel" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]

  • When company travel policy or client’s budget forbids Business Class.
  • When you want to give your employees a perk.

[/aside]

Mileage Cost Differences Between PE Elite and Economy

Flying to/from Europe allows you to take advantage of award-chart differences. Having the right credit cards, meaning one from Amex Rewards, Chase, Citi ThankYou, or Starwood (full report in FCF’s March issue), enables you to leverage these differences.

This means you can sometimes book a PE Elite carrier at or less than the cost of economy (think free upgrade) on a U.S. carrier for a flight to Europe.

As you can see on the sample route New York-London, British Airways only charges 52,000 miles for PE Elite off-season. This is one of the lowest PE Elite awards to Europe (second best is Virgin Atlantic, at 55,000 miles), and it costs even less if you have a Starwood account: only 42,000 Starpoints—United charges 60,000 miles for economy—18,000 fewer miles for PE Elite than for economy (think free upgrade). In other words, if you have a Starwood card and book via British Airways, as opposed to booking using a United credit card, you’re getting a free upgrade.

Deep Dive on PE Elite Airlines to Europe

12 airlines offer the PE Elite product to Europe, although some, like Air New Zealand and Singapore, only offer it on one flight. Here’s a quick rundown on whether to use miles or cash for getting PE elite on each airline.

Aeroflot: Use cash. Business Class starts at $2,271 round-trip and PE Elite is $1,226 in high season; a savings of $1,045 (46%) on New York-Moscow over Business Class.

Air Canada: Use miles or cash. Toronto-London mileage charge is 75,000 to 90,000 and cash is $1,465 (off-season) to $1,814 (high-season) compared to $2,909 in Business Class. Your choice: save up to $1,444 (49%) over Business Class or up to 35,000 (31% fewer) miles.

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Air France: Use cash. On New York-Paris, PE Elite is $1,509 off-season and $1,829 high-season; with savings from $1,492 (50%) to $1,172 (39%) compared to normal Business Class fares ($3,001).

Air New Zealand: Use cash. On Los Angeles-London PE Elite is $1,888 in off-season and $2,533 high-season; savings range from $2,713 (59%) to $2,068 (45%) compared to Business Class ($4,601).

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Alitalia: Use miles or cash. On New York-Rome, the carrier has a low mileage rate, 65,000 miles (until June 30) and low fares: $1,778 off-season, $2,078 high-season compared to $3,016 in Business Class. Savings range from $1,238 (41%) to $938 (31%).

British Airways: Use miles or cash. BA has the lowest award-redemption rate of any airline, charging 52,000 miles for NYC-London (off-season) and 80,000 (peak season) and from 65,000 from LAX (off-season) to 100,000 (peak season). PE fares are $1,430 off-season and $1,950 high-season compared to $3,251 in Business Class New York-London. Your choice: save up to $1,821 (56%) over Business Class or up to 60,000 miles.

LOT Polish: Use miles or cash. New York-Warsaw mileage charge is 75,000 and cash is $1,753 (off-season) to $1,831 (high-season) compared to $3,505 in Business Class. Your choice: save up to $1,752 (50%) over Business Class or 30,000 (29% fewer) miles.

Lufthansa: Use cash. PE Elite is $1,578 off-season, $1,948 high-season New York-Frankfurt. Savings are small, $934 to $564, depending on route and season. Business Class (starts at $2,512) is often a better value.

08_Premium Economy Kabine II (2)

Openskies: Use miles or cash. On New York-Paris the carrier is among the lowest mileage rates (52,000 off-peak, 80,000 peak) and fares ($1,176 off-season, $1,506 high-season). Business Class is $2,998. Your choice: save up to $1,822 (61%) over Business Class or up to 48,000 miles.

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SAS: Use cash: On New York-Copenhagen PE Elite is $734 off-season and $1,098 high-season, one of the best PE deals year-round; savings range from $2,340 (76%) to $1,976 (64%) compared to $3,074 in Business Class.

[aside headline="How PE Elite Fares Behave" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Almost identical to economy: To get the lowest fare, you must travel midweek, often Monday through Wednesday, or low season (end of October to the end of March). Forget Christmas. During high season, always compare PE with Business Class, as the difference is often only $500.[/aside]

Singapore: Use cash: On New York-Frankfurt PE Elite is $1,466 in the off-season and $1,566 in high-season versus $2,494 in Business Class, a saving of up to $1,028 (41%).

Virgin Atlantic: Use miles or cash. Has one of the lowest award redemption rates on NYC-London (55,000) and LAX-London (70,000). Fare prices from NYC: $1,430 off-season and $1,950 high-season versus $3,251 in Business Class. Your choice: save up to $1,821 (56%) over Business Class or up to 30,000 miles.

Premium Economy Elite Deep Dive for Travel to Europe

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