AA Premium Economy vs JL / JAL Economy
Apr 18, 2019, 9:53 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 47
AA Premium Economy vs JL / JAL Economy
Planning a trip to Tokyo from the US. So far, AA PE is around $600 more than economy RT which I would have no problem paying. However, JAL economy is also about $600 less than AA PE. I know that JAL econ seat width is similar to AA PE (19") with seat pitch being less 34" vs 38". Just trying to decide if the AA PE is worth the extra cost over JAL economy. Anyone have experience with both? Thanks
Apr 18, 2019, 10:35 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
Planning a trip to Tokyo from the US. So far, AA PE is around $600 more than economy RT which I would have no problem paying. However, JAL economy is also about $600 less than AA PE. I know that JAL econ seat width is similar to AA PE (19") with seat pitch being less 34" vs 38". Just trying to decide if the AA PE is worth the extra cost over JAL economy. Anyone have experience with both? Thanks
Apr 18, 2019, 10:45 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: GCM, formerly DFW
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 272
I recently flew AA PE to Tokyo from DFW and it was great. *Much better than AA's domestic Business product pretty much all around.
Not sure if it's the same as JAL's TPAC economy, but I also flew JAL's economy domestically and it did not seem much better than AA Y
Not sure if it's the same as JAL's TPAC economy, but I also flew JAL's economy domestically and it did not seem much better than AA Y
Last edited by bscooter26; Apr 18, 2019 at 2:32 pm
Apr 18, 2019, 2:27 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold; Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,227
I flew AA PE from LAX - NRT and it was an excellent flight. I would definitely suggest spending the extra $600 (assuming you can afford it) on the PE cabin. It's a long way to fly in Y.
Apr 18, 2019, 3:07 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EP, AA AC
Posts: 4,268
Counter point, PE is better than Coach for certain but the delta in comfort between PE and J is immense on AA. PE is quite acceptable for day time flights such as Europe back to the US, but on flights where sustained sleep is in order or desired, IMHO it is not really as nice. Not to say don't do it, but set your expectations accordingly.
Safe Travels
Safe Travels
Apr 18, 2019, 3:53 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,928
Exception is if AA mis-caters and is short a meal. Then they give you an econ meal - and that meal is much worse than a JAL econ meal. (Or at least they did with me when flying AA LAX-HKG.) And on the same flight, AA did an op-up for a mom with a lap child from Y to PE next to me (otherwise would have been empty - hence the miscatered # of meals), so I actually had much less private space as the lap child was likely days shy of being 2 and was constantly spilling over to my seat. For $600 savings difference, I would fly JAL Y.
Apr 18, 2019, 5:14 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 264
Planning a trip to Tokyo from the US. So far, AA PE is around $600 more than economy RT which I would have no problem paying. However, JAL economy is also about $600 less than AA PE. I know that JAL econ seat width is similar to AA PE (19") with seat pitch being less 34" vs 38". Just trying to decide if the AA PE is worth the extra cost over JAL economy. Anyone have experience with both? Thanks
Apr 18, 2019, 5:29 pm
#9
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Somewhere between BHX and HUY
Programs: Flying Blue Plat, Eurobonus Silver, ALL Gold
Posts: 1,674
If it's a day flight I would take the JAL Y, no hesitation. The soft product is simply the best Ive ever had in Y. $600 can get you a lot more delicious food in tyo than you would gain from flying in PE. You can even get sake in Y to make it go faster.
Apr 18, 2019, 8:50 pm
#10
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: YVR
Programs: AA
Posts: 872
Finally one, I can answer from recent first hand experience.
within the last couple of weeks, I have flown AA PE to NRT from LAX and returned from NRT to YVR on JAL Economy. There is no contest. AA PE was hands down better (especially if you get the bulkhead). Loads of space and recline. JAL felt very cramped in comparison and the food was horrendous. AA PE had a very decent meal.
If you can swing the extra $$, do it!
within the last couple of weeks, I have flown AA PE to NRT from LAX and returned from NRT to YVR on JAL Economy. There is no contest. AA PE was hands down better (especially if you get the bulkhead). Loads of space and recline. JAL felt very cramped in comparison and the food was horrendous. AA PE had a very decent meal.
If you can swing the extra $$, do it!
Apr 18, 2019, 10:54 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
Keep in mind also that JAL allows you to upgrade an economy seat to premium economy at the airport for $350. Of course, it's based on availability, but I think it's relatively uncontroversial that JL PE is better than AA PE.
Apr 19, 2019, 6:05 am
#13
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
Exception is if AA mis-caters and is short a meal. Then they give you an econ meal - and that meal is much worse than a JAL econ meal. (Or at least they did with me when flying AA LAX-HKG.) And on the same flight, AA did an op-up for a mom with a lap child from Y to PE next to me (otherwise would have been empty - hence the miscatered # of meals), so I actually had much less private space as the lap child was likely days shy of being 2 and was constantly spilling over to my seat. For $600 savings difference, I would fly JAL Y.
Apr 19, 2019, 9:21 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,928
Not OP, but is that for all fare classes in econ? Did not know this...game changer...
Apr 19, 2019, 11:32 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: AY+ Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,846
https://www.jal.co.jp/en/info/inter/apopyug.html