When booking a flight, Premium Economy is another class of ticket providing more comfort for passengers. It is an option granted by many airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic as well as American Airlines. Premium Economy is a cheaper alternative which may be seen as a halfway house that offers facilities that are more than standard economy but less than business or first class.
The price of a premium economy class ticket does certainly illustrate the notion that this class of ticket may be seen as a halfway house. As opposed to paying over 2 to 3 times the price of a standard economy class ticket for business class or over 5 times for first class, premium economy generally charges a maximum of double the cost of a standard economy class ticket. So premium economy is still significantly more expensive than standard economy class. However, given that it is still less than business or first class, is it worth paying for? What are the facilities on offer?
Current Facilities
The facilities offered by premium economy are fairly similar across airlines. In addition to more comfy seats as well as extra legroom, they may also offer other perks such as extra baggage allowance as well as priority boarding. Some airlines such as Tui offer free access to their airport lounges in their airports in the United Kingdom and Irish Republic. British Airways offers a complimentary vanity set. So as one can see there are also unique individual perks offered by different airlines.
When comparing different airlines, a study conducted by Which magazine indicated that British Airways and American Airlines both jointly have the most leg room when compared to other airlines with 38 inches between seats. However, this did not translate into better feedback from customers. In terms of overall customer satisfaction, British Airways scored the worst with Virgin Atlantic taking the top spot even though the legroom in Virgin Atlantic flights can be 2 inches less than that offered on British Airways flights.
It does appear however that despite the extra legroom offered by British Airways, customers rated seat comfort lower than that for other airlines which means that the extra legroom did not translate into a more comfortable flight for passengers. British Airways also fared less well when feedback was given on other areas such as the food and drink provided on the flight, in flight entertainment and the boarding experience (waiting time, time spent in queues etc). In addition, it also had the lowest score on what customers felt was value for money. American airlines however did come in second place, ahead of other airlines however this was probably because it scored more highly in other areas as well.
Comparison With Business And First Class
The facilities offered by business and first class all include the perks offered in premium economy. The baggage allowance generally increases to around 3 checked in bags and a chance to have your bags picked up and checked in before you fly. In addition, you will have a fast track check in for yourself when you get to the airport. For the most part you have access to dedicated airport lounges offering complimentary gourmet buffet food and wine or in some cases fine dining with sit down served meals made by celebrity chefs. On board the flight, in terms of leg room, in first class and in business class for some airlines you have separate booths for each seat which can turn into a bed providing much more room. In terms of food on board the same exclusivity that is found in the lounges exists on board flights particularly in first class.
All in all, one can see that if you have no limits on your spending, you can purchase a Cinderella service provided from the time you get to the airport until you touchdown at your destination. However premium economy does offer improved legroom when compared to standard economy as well as other perks which seemed to have more of an impact on customer opinion.
Most people surveyed by Which overall seemed to feel satisfied with the service offered on premium economy class. So, for those people who are willing to pay more but cannot afford the luxuries of business or first class it appears that most are happy with the premium economy experience. However, for those people, it would be better to shop around as at certain times business class tickets may be less than the cost of premium economy tickets. This is the case if you want to fly British Airways from London to New York in October this year as discounted tickets are being offered. Therefore, those who could normally afford premium economy could have a taste of luxury at a bargain!
Have you flown in Premium Economy recently? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.
