My company has recently required that we fly economy to Europe - previously it was business. I frankly cannot disagree given the huge disparity in price - business fares are outrageous! (I don't fly enough to upgrade ...)

Has anyone flown the BA or Virgin "premium economy" class? one less seat/row, more legroom ...

I would appreciate hearing reviews on these, and other alternatives to consider. Thanks!

United has Economy Plus, which is extra legroom, available either as an elite or if you pay full coach. It makes a huge difference, this extra legroom.

Another option is to learn the ins and outs here and use miles to upgrade, or elite status, etc.

I can vouch for BA's World Traveller Plus product. Much nicer than regular economy, but not nearly as nice as their flat-bed business class seat.

The price premium over economy is a bit steep for me if I was paying out of pocket, but if I the cost was being borne by my employer and business class was not an option, I would go out of my way to fly BA.

Run a search in the BA forum for "WT+"...

Many FT'ers got a taste of BA's WT+ earlier this year, when they had the $20 roundtrip ticket error. The consensus of the FT'ers I went to Europe with (ten people) is the seats are worth maybe $100-150 each way due to the increased seat pitch and separate cabin.

Seat recline in WT+ is not that impressive, and food is regular coach fare.

As one of the FlyerTalkers who flew with Craig6z, I'd say I was a bit more impressed with World Traveler Plus. Our final assessment does seems to be in sync-- i.e. I would pay about $150 extra each way for the upgrade.

WT+ would never be confused for luxury. It is, however, a comfortable way to travel. For me, the difference between WT+ and WT- is the difference between being miserable or comfortable for several hours. I like the seat and its pitch & width. The legrest is fairly worthless. Recline is not a big deal for me. I found the dedicated WT+ cabin makes a difference as well. It lacks the cattle car ambience found in back.

I found BA's inflight service to be lacking. The cabin crews were subpar and the catering wasn't very good. Definitely preorder the seafood or Asian vegetarian special meal.

United's Economy Plus doesn't compare. It isn't really a seperate cabin nor does it have extra seat width-- it is basically just extra pitch. Of course, Economy Plus is available at no extra charge to Premier or full-fare passengers.

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Virgin Atlantic's Premium economy is a good product. There's seperate check-in and on the 747's you are seated on the upper deck behind Upper Class compartment. The seats are comfortable and supportive and the legroom is quite adequate- you have a snug footrest. The food is the same as regular economy. The only negative is the high price and for a bit more you can fly Upper Class. However if your beancounters say economy (or premium economy) It's not a bad way to fly and you can earn points to convert into Upper class upgrades for future flights. Another annoying thing is that for the money you pay- there is no lounge access.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the input!

You might also want to have a look at the discussion on http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/005178.html about BA's and VS' competing premium economy products.