Best Experience, Best Fares, Lowest Mileage Cost
- Best PE experience: All Nippon, Japan Airlines, and Singapore.
- Lowest PE fares: American starting at $1,176 to Tokyo.
- Lowest mileage award rate: Japan Airlines, 65,000 miles round-trip to Tokyo.
For starters, understand that Premium Economy is a two-caste system: There’s Premium Economy Elite (PE Elite) and Premium Economy Lite (PE Lite). The former refers to airlines that have created a separate cabin and an upgraded seat—among them, many international airlines and now American and Delta—while the latter (United among them) are faking it, having just put in a bit more legroom at the front of economy.
This month we will do a deep dive into U.S./Canada-Asia routes, which often have high Business Class fares, especially on the top carriers like Cathay Pacific and Singapore.
Mileage Award Cost Difference: Economy vs. PE
Flying to/from Asia allows you to take advantage of award-chart anomalies. Having the right credit cards, meaning ones from Amex Rewards, Chase, Citi ThankYou, or Starwood, enables you to leverage these anomalies.
This means you can sometimes book a PE Elite award at or less than the cost of economy (think free upgrade) on a U.S. carrier to Asia.
One Example: On New York-Tokyo, Japan Airlines only charges 65,000 miles for PE Elite (United charges 70,000 for economy). This is one of the lowest PE Elite awards to Asia from the U.S. (The second best is Cathay Pacific’s, starting at 72,000 miles on Los Angeles-Hong Kong.) It costs even less if you use Starwood points: only 55,000 Starpoints—15,000 fewer miles for PE Elite than for economy (again, think free upgrade). In other words, if you earn miles/points via a Starwood card and book via Japan Airlines, as opposed to earning with a United credit card, you’re getting a free upgrade.
The Best PE Elite Airlines to Asia
Here’s a rundown—the seat and whether to use miles or cash.
Mileage Award Cost
125,000 to 130,000. Business Class is only 25,000 miles more, so do it.
Cash
Varies by route. Vancouver-Tokyo starts at US$2,190 versus US$4,870 in Business Class, and Toronto-Hong Kong costs US$2,172 (Business Class is US$6,579). In short, PE is a decent value.All Nippon
Seat
19.3-inch seat width, 38-inch pitch, 114.5-degree recline, 11-inch touch LCD monitor, adjustable headrest, legrest and footrest, amenity kit, economy meal service with extras and, depending on the airport, lounge access (go here for details).
Mileage Award Cost
Not offered.
Cash
Varies by route. On Los Angeles-Tokyo, PE fares start at $2,025 versus $3,528 in Business Class, and on New York-Tokyo at $2,175 (Business Class is $6,074).American
Seat
19-inch seat width, 38-inch seat pitch, 6-inch recline, 15.6-inch touch-screen monitor, foot, leg and head rests, amenity kit, and upgraded meal service.
Mileage Award Cost
Not offered.
Cash
Varies by route: Los Angeles-Tokyo PE fares start at $1,176 versus $3,526 in Business Class; Dallas-Tokyo at $1,813 versus $5,773. PE is a very good value. (For more on AAs PE Elite routes and fares, go here.)Cathay Pacific
Seat
19.3-inch seat width, 38-inch seat pitch, 8-inch recline, 10.6-inch touch monitor, calf rest, footrest, and headrest, amenity kit, Business Class meal service.
Mileage Award Cost
Based on flight distance: Los Angeles-Hong Kong is 72,000 miles (Business Class is 120,000) and New York-Hong Kong is 108,000 (Business Class is 145,000).
Cash
LAX-Hong Kong starts at $1,979 versus $5,498 in Business Class, and New York-Hong Kong starts at $2,132 (Business Class is $7,740). The decision: Save up to $5,608 (72%) in cash or up to 48,000 fewer miles.Delta
Seat
Currently only offered on Delta’s A350, debuting this fall on Detroit-Tokyo (for details go here): 19-inch seat width, 38-inch pitch, 7-inch recline. 13.3-inch screen, foot, leg and head rests, amenity kit, and upgraded meal service.
Mileage Award Cost
130,000 miles; Business Class is 270,000 miles more. (Delta does not publish a mileage chart, at time of publishing this was the lowest mileage rate we could find.)
Cash
Varies by route. Detroit-Tokyo starts at $1,880 versus $5,473 in Business Class, and Detroit-Seoul starts at $1,800 (Business Class starts at $5,200).EVA Air
Seat
19.5 inches wide, 38-inch pitch, 8-inch recline, 11-inch LCD touch screen, adjustable headrest, footrest, amenity kit, and upgraded meal service.
Mileage Award Cost
110,000 to 120,000 miles (Chicago, New York, Houston, and Toronto to Taipei) Business Class: 150,000 to 160,000 miles.
Cash
PE starts at $1,196 on Los Angeles-Taipei and $1,545 NY-Taipei, compared to $4,675 in Business Class from LAX and $4,784 from NYC. Your choice: Save up to $3,479 (74%) over Business Class or up to 40,000 (26% fewer) mile. Bottom line: Cash offers the best value. Japan Airlines (JAL offers two types of Premium Economy seats, JAL SKY PREMIUM and JAL SKY SHELL SEAT. SKY Premium is the newer seat, and is offered on most U.S. flights. For routes and flight number details go here, seat data below is based on the SKY Premium seat.) Japan Airlines
Seat
19 inches wide, 42-inch pitch, the shell seat has a slide down seat (no recline information on how many inches). 12.1-inch (8.9-inch for the front-row seats) touch monitor, legrest, footrest, and headrest, amenity kit, economy meal service with some extras and, depending on the airport, Sakura Lounge access and JAL Lounge on American.
Mileage Award Cost
65,000 miles in Premium Economy to Tokyo—also offers a limited time special starting at 60,000 miles now through March 31, 2018. Business Class is 35,000 miles more.
Cash
Fares start at $1,929 on LAX-Tokyo and $2,079 on NY-Tokyo, compared to $3,533 in Business Class from LAX and $5,679 from NYC. Your choice: Save up to $3,600 (63%) over Business Class or up to 35,000 (35% fewer) miles. Singapore Airlines
Seat
19.5 inches wide, 38-inch pitch, 8-inch recline. 13.3-inch HD touchscreen monitor, calf rest and footrest, headrest, amenity kit, and upgraded meal service (book via ‘Book the Cook’).
Mileage Award Cost
Varies by route. San Francisco-Singapore is 130,000 miles (Business 176,000) and New York- Singapore is 140,000 (Business 184,000).
Cash
Fares start at $1,928 on SFO-Singapore and $1,790 on NY-Singapore, compared to $4,198 in Business Class from SFO and $4,610 from NYC. Your choice: Save up to $2,820 (61%) over Business Class or up to 45,000 (26% fewer) miles. Cash offers the best value.
How PE Elite Fares Typically Behave
Almost identical to economy: To get the lowest fare, you must travel midweek, Monday through Thursday, or low season (varies by airline, to Asia, usually the summer months). Asian airlines offering PE Elite often have fare promotions throughout the year. Forget Christmas and the rest of high season because economy fares are highest then, as are PE Elite fares.
When to Consider Premium Economy Elite
- When sleep is secondary to working or not important.
- 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.
For Business Travel
- When company travel policy or client’s budget forbids Business Class.
- When you want to give your employees a perK