Originally Posted by
BearX220
This is exactly what British Airways, Air France, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, and others provide with their Premium Economy products, which have no analogue among the US-based carriers.
Out of your examples, I can only speak for AF and that is a far cry form what we are talking about here. What you have is basically Y seats but with a bit of additional space (a few inches extra for pitch and recline). The price is significantly higher than Y (several hundred more). IMO, this is no different than Y+ on other airlines (e.g. DL, KL) because falls under the "
too little for too much money" category.
Originally Posted by
BearX220
these Premium Economy products are sort of throwbacks to the original mission of business class.
This is where we disagree. I laugh when AF sends emails about Premium Economy, saying how it's more private, more quiet, as if that section is apparently towed behind the airplane and it has no engines. It's simply Y+ with a different marketing strategy (requiring a different fare as opposed to a sum that you can pay at any point to "upgrade").
It's nothing like the old business class because you don't get other C benefits (additional luggage, lounge access, better food/drinks). I'm fine with just the better seat if it were indeed significantly better and the price were reasonable (as opposed to
slightly more legroom and recline for several hundred dollars/euros/whatever)