Picking up on the following piece of a post from the 'Review of Premium Economy' thread, but only because it reminds me of a few other posts in various threads, none of which I want to hijack.
Originally Posted by jswong
The comparisons, where present, seem to be between PE and BP although the price is still closer to Y.
The question for this forum now is, what makes it worth, in $, getting to the next NZ cabin? And for argument's sake these prices from the Koru Review on flights to Shanghai; Economy $2,000, Premium Economy $2,700 and Business Premier $5,800.
So I see PE over economy as giving premium check-in (though I'd have that anyway), no difference in food, virtually no difference in beverage (but only because alcohol is not a big part of my long-haul flight experience), a bit better recline, a much better pitch, a lot better service via the crew-pax ratio, a chance to get off the plane quicker, a bit of snob-value, and (maybe, depending on the Y booking class) a few more FF miles.
For a significant long haul flight is that worth $700 to me? Absolutely. Why? Because I do value my time in getting on and off the plane, just happen to enjoy the better service, and the fewer pax and better recline gives me a better chance to sleep - which I also value. But this latter point, for me, is less important - because with ear plugs I could quite happily sleep for eight hours even in an unreclined economy seat.
So in a 12-15 hour overall flight experience it's worth maybe $500 to me to be treated nicely and to have my time saved, $190 to get one more hours sleep, and $10 in snob-value.
Then from PE to BP I would get no significant extra benefit in check-in / deplaning time (but would still give it
some value), a much, much nicer meal (I do value that), a much better selection of beverage (I value, but not much), an infinitely better recline and pitch (which I would enjoy, but because I can sleep anywhere isn't of huge value), a whole extra level of service (which I value), a feelgood factor to my ego, and a nice increase in FF miles.
For a significant long haul flight is that worth $3,100 to me? Not a snowball's chance. Why? Mostly because I don't have that kind of spare cash lying around and so my first thought is about the other things I could do with that money instead.
I've rambled, but I'm curious how other people value those cabin progressions . . .