Prem Econ LHR > AKL | MEL > LHR
 

Last year I flew business class with emirates to NZ. I have had to tighten up my budget this year and have been looking at Premium Economy. I have seen some recent offers from Cathay Pacific that look very tempting as in £1.7K Premium Economy LHR to AKL and return MEL > LHR In November/December this year.

Do you think that's a good price and is buying Prem Econ with Cathay pacific worth it ?
Do you think now is a good time to buy or should I look at waiting for the next Cathay Pacific sale ?

Personally I don't think Y+ is a step up enough above Y to justify the price.

And I completely disagree. If you're tall or heavyset, the extra room is a life saver on a long international flight. It's not Business Class, but it sure is a big step above the cattle call feel of being in Economy.

Or...just opt for the extra-leg/exit row in Y.

I guess the deciding factor will be how good deal I get on the flight. I was tempted to look for an airline where I could buy the exit row seat but the downside to exit row is that the width is normally reduced and also can be cold if you are near the door.

Exit row seats with a reduced width??! They are the same seat as any other seats in Y ...
IRC, the foldable tablet doesn't make that huge of a difference. Its not.even notoceable Only downside is you can't fold the armrest up if you're travelling with a partner next to you.

Not sure how wide you are, but I (just) notice a difference. It's one reason I don't book exit rows.

To the OP: I'm a fan of Y+. I slept like a log on a recent flight, due to the increased recline and the extra width. But I can't speak to whether the fare you're seeing on that route is a good deal or not. In general, I'm finding CX is still trying to price its Y+ at a bit of a premium to other carriers' (which may not be warranted in cases like LHR-HKG where they face competition from other Y+ products).

It is also uncertain that the HKG-AKL plane you fly will actually have Y+ on the day.. They haven't even started reconfiguring the A343s.

I don't mind the Economy seat at all and I'd be happy sitting in Y for all legs.

I'd probably consider the Y price first.. If it's not substantial, Y+ wouldn't seem like a bad choice.

i wonder how many Y+ get opuped to J on a normal good day...

Nothing compare to the amount of Y getting opuped to Y+ on a lot of routes :D

I was skeptics of Y+ but after having flown on it, I have to say it's a class above Y. Having said that pricing matters. If you can get Y+ at about 15% premium I think it's good. Anything more than 1/3 of price I wouldn't bother. CX is struggling to sell them so there's always a sale for E class. To some extent I think they will continue the double Asiamiles for a while/extend this to get load factors higher on Y+.

Also I found middle seat of Y+ better than Y. (serious). I flew recently to TPE on Y+ layout and I actually liked it more than sitting on a asile of Y.

Previously my work travel has always been in Y for long-haul. With the introduction of Y+, all my work long haul travel is now in Y+.

I find a noticeable difference in seat comfort and in general I'd compare it to the old regional business class seats for comfort while trying to sleep and level of recline.

In Y I find sleeping difficult whereas in Y+ I can generally get decent sleep.

Some routes (Europe) Y+ is reasonably priced whereas others (USA/Canada) it's very expensive unless you can find a fare sale. YMMV.

Another plus of Y+ is that if you're an elite member (CX GO or higher) there is always the chance of getting op-up to J, whereas if you're ticketed in Y you're not going anywhere except Y+. Obviously this is by no means a guaranteed benefit but it happens every so often.

Recently I was ticketed in Y, used miles to get to Y+, and op-up to J at the airport. :p

I just did JFK-HKG RT and thought PEY was definitely worth the 30% premium over Y CX is charging ex-US. In addition to the extra seat width and pitch, the fact that CX has heavy curtains and actually uses them also makes a difference-- the cabin feels a lot quieter and more intimate. Walking to the galley in Y from PEY, you really notice the difference.

Anyone has an idea on when CX is planning to reconfigure its A343s with a Y+ cabin?

Are you talking about the "main" Y cabin?

I find that the "mini Y cabin" in both the 77H an 77G to be fairy quiet too.
In the 77G with 3-class layout....there's only like 3-4 rows of seats there, very similar to the PEY cabin.