Opinions appreciated - Premium Economy travel

Unless you are a member of a frequent flyer program and have lots of points,, you would be highly unlikely to ever get a free random upgrade. They are the holy grail of travel,, it has happened,, but so rarely ,, and usually only under extenuating sitiuations. Ten years ago happened to my family,,had major flight problems,, a return flight from Maimi to Vancouver Canada was delayed by 8 hours, then cancelled, put up in a hotel for a night, next day,,flight was rerouted to another connecting city,, then delayed. Finally got an upgrade to first class to get us home, almost two days late! We had also purchased full price tickets,, so that may have helped. I would look more carefully, here upgrading to a Premium Economy is not double, only about 200 hundred dollars more one way,, so research many airlines, and look at ones maybe leaving from less convenient airport to where you are closest to. Do you need it,, well thats up to you,, we originally started looking at them because my ex husband was 6'4",, so you can imagine how uncomfortable economy is for him. Would I get it for myself,, well , not for double the price,, I think maybe 200 more is about my limit,, the food isn't really any better, you are often just paying extra for a few inches more space.

Thanks so much for your reply. I have looked at every airline website and air travel website that I can think of and all of the premium economy fares, or premium voyager in the case of AF, are double the coach fare. This is confusing because my search of the topic says, like you did, that the cost is fairly minimal.

Ann, which airline and which airports - Milan, Venice, Rome?-are you considering?

Ann, There are basically two flavors of premium economy. For some airlines (like United), premium economy just means that you get about 5 inches more legroom. You get no other benefits. The seats are still the same, the meal is the same, etc. On these airlines, the surcharge for premium economy is about $100 each way (more or less depending on length of flight). For some airlines (like BA, Virgin Atlantic), premium economy gets you not only more legroom, but other benefits like a better meal, a wider seat, different entertainment options, etc. It really is a level between economy and business. For these airlines, premium economy is much more expensive. If you want premium economy, I'd suggest that you book it in advance. It is extremely unlikely that you would get upgraded, although some airlines do let you purchase it on day of travel if it is still available (although rarely for less than you would pay in advance). However, for me (I'm not tall), it is more important to get a more direct route so that I spend less time on the plane than to get premium economy seating.

I am flying in to Venice and out of Rome. Looking at BA, AF and Delta primarily because I will be leaving from southeast USA and this seems to give best flexibility.
Thanks for the clarification on different types of premium economy seating. That helps a lot.