Annaer

Hi!
Thinking about going to Los Angeles in sept/oct and wondering about premium/plus economy.
I will be travelling from Gothenburg (GOT) - Los Angeles (LAX).
When I use different search-engins the best prices and duration seems to be British Airlines, Finn Air, LOT polish airlines and Lufthansa. LOT only fly 787-8 to LAX and the other carriers vary.

Anyone have any experience about flying premium with these to the US or specifically LAX? The short haul from GOT to whichever hub they use don't matter cause that is just a few hours. I'm wondering about the crossatlantic haul.

// Anna

Bluehen1

I was upgraded from Economy to Premium Economy on LOT from EWR to WAW. It's a small separate "cabin" of about two or three rows as I remember. The seat was comfortable and I slept pretty well. Food was of good quality and service was fine.

Annalisa12

The pricings I see for Premium Economy don't seem to be worth it in my mind for what you get. However that is just my opinion. I think PE is overpriced.

lhrsfo

I can only comment on the BA product. First off, many people book PE on BA so that they can upgrade to J using Avios. You can't upgrade from regular economy. Second, BA's hard product varies massively by equipment, so I would recommend looking at the BA Forum here to see whether you are getting decent PE or not.

rankourabu

I havent flown Finnair but the other three I would rank LO>LH>BA

pinniped

This has been my thought so far as well. They are rolling it out priced kind of high, probably to see if that sticks first before running any particularly great fares for it.

TimDP

I have flown PE thanks to free upgrades, every time on the way back home so not yet to the US (upgrade to PE on BA: Tokyo - London, New York - London, Chicago - London, upgrade to PE on Cathay: Cairns - Hong Kong). For my next holiday (road trip in Canada, May 22 - June 15, flying BA: Brussels - LHR - Vancouver / Calgary - LHR - Brussels), I bought a PE ticket for the first time ever, paying €850 euro, about €150 more than economy at the time of booking. As I consider €750-850 a good deal for flights to the west side of North America, the price in PE was within the budget I had in mind. In the meantime, economy for the same flights is slightly more expensive than what I paid, the price for premium economy has become €1860 so I think I bought my ticket at the right time

PE has a smaller cabin, so less disturbance by other people. The seats are also wider and offer more legroom which makes it a bit easier to sleep (although I'm able to get some sleep even in economy). For the way to the US, getting sleep is probably less important as it is a day flight, but for the way back it can be useful. Food should also be a little bit better, but that's open for discussion and also personal taste. On BA there is also a larger bagage allowance (2 bags instead of 1) in premium economy which can be useful if needed. I assume other carriers have similar rules.

If the price difference is small enough and within the budget I had in mind, I pay for a higher class. Business (or first) is out of my personal budget unless some deals that can be found on FT. In the last year and a half I have experienced Business and First thanks to use of Avios or thanks to business trips but the price difference is just too big most of the time in case of leisure travel. I rather spend the price difference on things during my holiday than on flights. Cause at the end, all passengers arrive at the same destination.

LondonElite

Just as a data point, PE is BA's most profitable cabin.

MSPeconomist

mlbcard

Really? From what I've seen, you get booked on economy for the domestic/intraEU flights with premium economy TATL fares.

mmff

Do you have a source for this? I'd like to read more about it.

LondonElite

Qwkynuf

This is probably THE most annoying thing about internet forums

Person 1 asks a question
Person 2 responds with a definitive statement
Person 1 (or anyone, really) asks for a source or supporting information
Person 2 says "go look it up"

Here's an idea - It's YOUR fact. YOU go look it up. If you aren't willing to do that, then it's not a fact. It's a poorly presented opinion.

LondonElite

My source is a senior BA executive friend.

Explore

Bloggers tend to ignore premium economy. But it's the go-to if you want to build airline status on the cheap, even in revenue-based programs where you're flying a partner airline and status is still awarded on distance traveled. And of course PE is less dense than regular economy, so the upcharge may be worthwhile.

But the product varies quite a lot among airlines. Here are some considerations:

• Seat recline in degrees
• Pitch and seat width. Also, can you get out of a window seat without contortions when the person in front is reclining?
• Full leg rests, not just footrests? (or at least in the first row)
• Bedding
• Food and beverage (occasionally business class fare), printed menus
• Amenity kits
• Ventilation. Individual air nozzles? Is the cabin kept cool?
• Staff friendliness and professionalism
• Does airline status get you anything? For example, on Cathay Pacific oneworld emeralds are recognized and offered first meal choice.
• Are at least some seats ahead of (or behind) the wing?

Any thoughts?