When it comes to “Premium Economy”, it varies wildly. Here’s why—and a guide to the best.
It’s odd to me that one of the great innovations in cabin configuration, Premium Economy (PE), has taken such a long time to catch on. (See sidebar on who should book PE when.) The idea was to offer a “tweener class” of service: a few rows of economy class seats at the front of the cabin with one big Business Class perk, more legroom. It was introduced by EVA and Virgin Atlantic in 1992, taken up by British Airways and others, but then seemed to stall. In 2005 there were only eight major airlines offering Premium Economy.
Premium Economy Expanding
But now PE seems to be taking off for real: In 2008 and 2009, five airlines (Air France, Japan Airlines, OpenSkies, Qantas, and V Australia) introduced a Premium Economy product. This summer Delta will have it; and in 2012 United will put Economy Plus on the Continental aircraft it acquired through the recent merger. Which is why I decided to survey the Premium Economy landscape and try to make sense of it.
Premium Economy’s Two-Caste System
When Premium Economy specs were put under the microscope (see chart on page 4), something very interesting popped. Premium Economy is a two-caste system, consisting of airlines that do it on the cheap (Premium Economy Lite) by just using an economy seat and adding legroom, and airlines that have gone back to the drawing board and created a distinct seat in a dedicated cabin (Premium Economy Elite). Air New Zealand, Eva Air, OpenSkies, Qantas, and Virgin Atlantic get the laurels here.
How I Classify Them
Economy “Basic”: You can’t understand PE without knowing what the average economy class seat looks like, so here’s our police-artist sketch: A seat pitch of 30 to 32 inches; width of 17 to 18 inches, and a recline of 110 to 112 degrees.
[aside headline="When To Go For Premium Economy" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
For Personal Travel
- When sleep is secondary to working on your laptop, why pay for 180-degree recline?
- If you appreciate seat-width the most, and can get more from PE than you can from Business Class at times.
- When Business Class fares are high.
- When upgrade or mile-age award inventory is not available.
- When taking a family vacation and you are buying more tickets.
- Family travel: Children fly Premium Economy, you and your spouse fly Business Class.
For Business Travel
- When company travel policy or client budget forbids Business Class.
- When you want to up-grade your employees.
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Economy “Privileged”: These are seats in so-called privileged parts of the cabin, which means bulkhead or exit row. (Don’t be fooled by seats that are a few rows behind both and that the airline claims is a “better” seat.) The bona fide ones offer at least two inches more legroom. For many airlines these seats are now a revenue stream, available for purchase at a surcharge on the web.
Premium Economy “Lite”: United is the pioneer of this product—a few rows of seats at the front of the economy cabin with extra legroom—introducing it in 1999, offering 35 to 36 inches of legroom. (Air Canada offers 38 inches by using old Business Class seats, but only offers them on three planes out of a fleet of 200 flying seasonal /holiday routes from Toronto and Montreal. Talk about a needle in a haystack!)
Most airlines offer this kind of seat free of charge to their elite members—the higher your level, the greater claim you have. Delta, though, is taking the marketing of these seats to a new level. Starting this summer, only top-tier elites (Diamond and Platinum) will be able to get them for free, other elites will have to pay.
The Premium Economy Lite product offered by the airlines noted in the chart is available for purchase for non-elites at a surcharge on an airlines website or at a kiosk. The price is usually based on a one-way fare and ranges from $80 to $200.
[aside headline="Elite Ground and Onboard Service for Premium Economy Elite" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
There’s just one more wrinkle to understand when it comes to Premium Economy Elite. On most airlines, it comes with separate check-in, priority boarding, and maybe an amenity kit.
Earning and Redeeming Miles for Premium Economy Elite
Most airlines offer bonus miles and bonus elite qualify-ing miles (EQMs) for booking PE Elite. For instance, BA offers a 10% mileage bonus and a 50% EQP bonus to AAdvantage members flying in Premium Economy.
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Premium Economy “Elite”: This product, the real deal, is the best option for passengers accustomed to flying Business Class, especially on a day flight to Europe, where a lie-flat bed isn’t much of a perk. These seats are in a separate cabin, have often been created for the cabin, and come on most airlines with an elite ground and onboard experience.
Premium Economy Elite offers more legroom and more recline, with OpenSkies winning the gold for the former at 52 inches and the latter at 140 degrees. When it comes to width, though, the competition narrows. Every carrier’s seat is between 18 and 20 inches, except for Virgin Atlantic, which is the wide-open winner at 21 inches.
Premium Economy Elite has its own “booking code” and published fare with separate inventory from economy and can range from $600 on BA (NYC to London) in low season to $2,000 (LAX to London) in high season when booked in advance. It can be confirmed at time of booking, whereas PE Lite can’t.
Many international mileage programs allow customers to redeem miles for Premium Economy. Virgin Atlantic charges 67,500 miles from New York to London, which is 22,500 miles less than it charges for Business Class.
Cost difference between Premium Economy Lite, Premium Economy Elite, and Business Class
I priced out the Washington, DC to Paris route in three categories: Premium Economy Lite, Premium Economy Elite, and Business Class, to show the fare bump at each step. The difference between the first two is only about $250 or about 3 cents per mile, and often worth buying. But the difference between Premium Economy and Business Class is about $2,000, which is why so many business travelers are opting for the former.
Route Availability
Air France, BA, and Virgin Atlantic offer the cabin from Europe to destinations such, as to Africa and the Middle East.
Measuring The Perks
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Comparing The Fares
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