FirstClassFlyer

The Cabin Between Business Class and the Back of the Bus is Still a Work-in-Progress

The one thing that hasn’t changed since last year’s survey, though, is that Premium Economy is still a two-caste system. The lower caste consists of airlines that do it on the cheap—what FCF refers to as “Premium Economy Lite”—by just adding a small amount of legroom to an existing economy class seat.

The Brahmins of Premium Economy are those airlines that went back to the drawing board and created a distinct seat in a dedicated cabin, which we call “Premium Economy Elite.” Air New Zealand, All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Virgin Atlantic get the laurels here. (By the way, Eva and Virgin Atlantic introduced the cabin way back in 1992.)

Putting Premium Economy (PE) in Perspective: FCF’s Classification

You can’t understand PE without knowing what the average economy class seat looks like, so here’s our police-artist sketch: 30-to 32-inch seat pitch, 17 to 18 inches wide, and 110 to 112 degrees of recline. We call this “Economy Basic.”

One step up is “Economy Privileged:” Same seat specs, but in so-called privileged parts of the cabin, which usually means bulkhead or exit row. These seats offer at least two more inches of legroom, and most airlines now charge for them—unless you are an elite, which often gets you the seat for free or at a discount. (Don’t be fooled by seats that are just behind the bulkhead, just behind the exit-row, or in the front of “economy basic.” Airlines often claim these are “better” seats, when in fact they have no extra legroom.)

Now that you have a basis for understanding the two categories of economy; we can move on to the two-caste system in PE.

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Personal Travel

When sleep is secondary to working on your laptop, why pay for 180-degree recline in Business Class?
If you appreciate seat-width the most, and can get more from PE Elite than you can from Business Class at times (i.e. Virgin Atlantic 21-inches versus American 18.5 inches).
When Business Class fares are high.
When upgrade or mileage-award inventory is not available.
When taking a family vacation and you’re buying a lot of tickets (ask yourself if the kids really need to fly up front).

For Business Travel

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

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Premium Economy “Lite”

United pioneered this product, which offers a few rows of seats at the front of the economy class cabin with extra legroom (35 to 36 inches, up to 4 inches more than normal). Most airlines offer PE Lite free of charge or at a discount to elite members. The higher your elite level, the greater claim you have. Delta, for example, only offers them to top-tier elites (Gold, Diamond, and Platinum) for free; other elites have to pay up.

The chart on page 9 lists the airlines that sell PE Lite. The price is usually based on the one-way fare and ranges from $19 to $99 for travel in North America and $79 to $200 for international travel, and is (by most) considered an up-sell after you buy the economy ticket during seat selection.

Premium Economy “Elite”

This is the best option for people accustomed to flying Business Class, especially on a day flight to Europe, as lie-flat beds aren’t much of a perk then. These seats often are in a separate cabin, have been created for the cabin, and are packaged with elite ground and onboard experiences, such as separate check-in, priority boarding, and sometimes even upgraded meal service.

Premium Economy Elite seats offer more legroom and more recline than PE Lite. OpenSkies wins the gold for the former (47 inches) and the latter (130 degrees). When it comes to seat width, though, the competition narrows. Every carrier’s PE Elite seat is 18 to 20 inches wide except—Virgin Atlantic’s—the winner at 21 inches. (That’s 2.5 inches wider than most of American Airlines Business Class seats.)

Premium Economy Elite has its own “booking code and separate inventory” and is usually only offered on international flights. Published fares can range from $1,412 inclusive in low season on British Airways (NYC-London) to $2,221 inclusive (LAX-London) in high season (7-day advance purchase required) on flights to Europe, for example. Although there are sales where you can get up to half off at times.

Most discounted Business Class fares require a 50- to 60-day advance purchase, making PE a good second choice when cost is an issue or you’re traveling last minute, when Business Class fares can often be $5,000+.

Many international mileage programs allow you to redeem miles for Premium Economy Elite. Virgin Atlantic charges 55,000 miles from New York to London, 25,000 miles less than it charges for Business Class, and 20,000 more than it asks for economy, yet only 5,000 more than many airlines charge for economy basic.

Some airlines even offer bonus miles and bonus elite qualifying miles (EQMs) for booking PE Elite. For instance, PE Elite offers a 10% mileage bonus and 50% EQM bonus to AAdvantage members flying in Premium Economy on its partner, British Airways.

New Developments

Aeroflot: Will offer PE Elite on new B777-300ERs flying New York-Moscow starting in April.
Air Canada: On July 11, it will introduce an international PE Elite seat on new B777-330ER aircraft; first route is Montreal-Paris.
All Nippon: Is on its second version PE Elite seat on U.S.-Tokyo routes with a little more width and recline and electronic upgrades include 10.6-inch monitors (currently 6.5 inches), touch screens, USB and iPad jacks.
EL AL: Introduced PE Elite on B747 used on New York-Tel Aviv in July 2012.
Japan Airlines: Will introduce a revamped PE Elite (four more inches of legroom) on New York-Tokyo this spring.
LOT Polish: Introduced PE Elite on its B787 Dreamliners in mid-December 2012.
United: Economy Plus (PE Lite) installation on planes acquired in Continental merger is almost done. About 50 aircraft remain, according to the airline.
Cost Differentials between PE Lite, PE Elite, and Business Class

You can see the fare bumps clearly, in the chart below, on New York to Tokyo. The difference between PE Lite and Elite is about $1,035 or about 8¢ per flight mile, and often worth buying. But the difference between PE Elite and Business Class is about $3,084 (54%), which is why many corporate travel policies are opting for the former.

Example Fare Comparison: New York–Tokyo*

[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1249 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

Route Availability

Air France, BA, and Virgin Atlantic offer the PE Elite cabin from Europe to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific.

See chart for Premium Economy seat details.

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[["Seat Type","Airline","Cost","Difference"],["PE Lite","Delta","$1,589",""],["PE Elite","All Nippon","$2,624","+$1,035"],["Business Class","#rowspan#","$5,708","+$3,084"]]

*May 1 fares, including taxes.

1) Includes items such as toothbrush and toothpaste, eyeshades, socks, and earplugs. 2) Fees can apply at times. 3) Up to 4 inches extra legroom; up to 50% more recline than economy on international and transcontinental routes. Wi-Fi will be available for purchase on some international routes in mid-2013, and is now offered on all domestic routes with 2 cabin service; check with airline directly. 4) Free meal and headset. Wi-Fi fleet wide by the end of 2013. 5) 3 to 4 more inches of recline than economy. 6) Up to 4 more inches of recline. Wi-Fi free to elites and available for purchase on some aircraft. 7) Business Class Amenity Kit. 8) Spaceseats are on 777-300 aircraft (LAX-London & Auckland); Premium Economy on 777-200s and 747s (SFO & Vancouver-Auckland). 9) V1 is on the Narita-Chicago, Munich; Haneda-LAX flights. V2 is on Narita-NYC, SFO, LAX, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Washington, DC (as of the end of March) flights. All U.S. routes except Honolulu have a PE product. 10) BA is mid-rollout of new PE seats which are already offered on select aircraft: some B777-300ER. 11) B777-300ER and select 777 aircraft. JAL started new PE Elite seat roll-out this year—JAL Sky Premium—from New York starting this spring. Access to Sakura Lounge and Wi-Fi is only on 777-300ERs. 12) Fold-out footrest. 13) Business Class check-in and fast-track security, on the A330/340 fleet. 14) On B777-300s. 15) Estimated seat recline from data provided by the airlines.16) Stand-up bar; all rows forward of over-wing emergency exits. 17) Offers headrest. 18) Offers cocktail table and extra stowage space, a legrest in the first row and a footrest in subsequent rows. 19) 4 to 6 inches additional legroom and Group 1 boarding. Main Cabin Extra seat on 767-300s, 757s and 777-300ERs in rollout through 2013. Wi-Fi on about 90% of fleet by end of 2013. 20) Montreal-Paris starting July 11using B777-300ER, two B767 aircraft will have PE Elite (Comfort Plus). 21) B787-Dreamliner once it returns to service. 22) Personal iPad loaded with more than 70 hours of entertainment. 23) For B777-300ER, and the B747-400—used on Seattle and Vancouver service. 24) B747- 400 NYC-Tel Aviv and select European cities, comes with in-seat TV, video box, laptop power, and a 3x4x3 seat configuration; and B767 from Toronto which offers an iPad and a 2x3x2 seat configuration; B777 coming soon. 25) B777-300ER to New York in April 2013.