Economy vs Premium Economy

The rate I found was on Vayama and doesn't show the airline until you purchase the ticket. How do you get the upgrade for that little on other airlines? I've had no success finding these rates.
Terry

We got upgraded at no cost on a flight to China with United. It was nice, but nothing exceptional. We didn't get the upgrade on the way back, but other than a little less legroom there was no difference - same movies, same meals, etc. For a really long flight it might be nice, but I'm not sure it would be worth it for me to Europe.

Terry,

I'm guessing since the amount is so much it is on a different airline. Some airlines (like Virgin Atlantic) do offer more in their premium economy including improved meals and better seats. I've checked the prices for Virgin's Premium Economy before and they were double the regular economy fare.

For others airlines like United, the only difference is a little more legroom. For United, you buy an economy ticket and they offer you the option to upgrade to premium economy. I should clarify ... when I said it is typically about $100 more, it is about $100 more each way.

Without knowing the airline, it is hard to judge whether the extra amount is worth it.

On what airline?

On United, premium economy does not cost 50% more. It is typically about $100 more for Europe. I have been bumped up to premium economy, but have never paid for it. You get 4 or 5 more inches of legroom. That is it --- no other perks. For me, I never pay for it, but others may feel it is worth it.

Some of the other airlines offer more perks with their premium economy.

I think it is worth it. 5" are significant and makes economy tolerable. Last Fall we flew United to Amsterdam and it was $95 for the upgrade. Unfortunately coming back we flew Luthansa and it was not available. And then got into the situation (which I have encountered before) the person behind me didn't want me to put my seat back and made a big issue out it. Of course the person in front had the seat back, and the FA was asking me to cooperate a bit and much put my seat back as much which gave me almost no room. In my opinion the $100 was well worth it for Economy Plus which is what United calls it.

What about British Airways, does anyone think that upgrade worth it? Like Virgin Atlantic, it also has a significant price increase from economy to premium economy. To Europe from the West Coast is a long flight to be miserable. Please let me know your thoughts.

Charity - As another Californian I know what you mean about it being a long trip to Europe. That said, for me, I would rather spend my money in Europe than have a couple of more inches of leg room or a better meal.

I have flown prem ec twice, and for me,, it was worth it,, every penny,, BUT,, it was about 300-400 dollars more,, not 50% of my fare( which is usually over 1100,1200 dollars) I would have a hard time justifying more then that much more.. but I do like having the extra space. I don't care about the meals ect, I try to sleep anyways.

My hubby is 6'4" and he finds ecomony seating should actually be ILLEGAL for men of his height,, his legs literally are jammed up against the back of a chair for 12 hours,, its not right. You might say a person of larger size is somewhat responsible for their width,, but not their height!!

Years ago at least your legs did not touch the seat in front of you..

One of the advantages of being in a Frequent Flyer program is that valued customers may receive certain percs free. As a long-time FF, I now get Premium Plus at no extra charge. The best legroom is in the bulkhead seats at the front of the Premium Plus section.

If you are relatively comfortable sitting in regular economy, you probably are not getting much more econ +. Service is generally the same although a few airlines provide a higher level of service.

That said for individuals like myself at 6'6" or the gentleman that Pat mentioned, just a couple of extra inches make all the difference in the world.

Well put Mike. I guessing that only short people are saying that extra space is not worth it. Anyone who has spent 8 to 10 hours in a seat with their knees pressed hard against the seat in front would say that extra space is worth it. Now, whether you want to pay for it or not is a personal decision but you cannot deny that the extra space is beneficial to a good flight.

Okay, I did say that "for me" it's not worth the extra money. Admittedly I am not tall. If I had to sit with my legs pressed up hard against the seat in front of me, my response may have been different.

United had a deal that you could buy a premium economy upgrade pass for the entire year for $199 which also allowed you to upgrade one traveling companion. It wasn't advertised very well but you can all the Upgrade phone number and see if it is still available.

For 10+ hour flights it's worth the extra $ for the whole year (We'll be on our 2nd cross-Atlantic trip this year in May and we'll probably end up in Ireland for Christmas again)

Tyson, if you got the United Economy Plus pass for $199, that was a good deal. They now advertise it at $425.

That would be a hard decision to make if you don't know what airline you'll be flying. As others have already said, the diff between economy and "premium economy" will depend on the airline.

United's Economy Plus is relatively inexpensive (not 50% more than Economy) and as noted just means extra inches of leg room. Which I found to be well worth the modest cost, on all six legs of a long long international round trip last year. No extra amenities though, but I loved being able to stretch my legs.

BA's premium economy upgrade was worth a extra few hundred bucks to me last month. It's a separate section of the aircraft with wider seats, more legroom, footrests, somewhat nicer amenities, just more physical comfort than economy. I accepted BA's offers to upgrade at a huge discount for both the outbound and return trips (interestingly, each came in an email, a few months apart - I accepted the first discount offer which was to upgrade my homeward flight, and eventually they offered me a discounted upgrade for the flight from home to LHR, which I then also accepted).

Happy trails!

So, Suz, are you saying that if I buy regular economy now on BA, they will probably come back and offer me a better deal than if I paid for Premium at the outset?

Smilinpete revived a 4 year old zombie thread to ask the previous poster a question. Let sleeping threads lie. This is why old posts need to be locked.

Might be hard to get a response since the posting is,over 4 years old. Check the dates.

Party poopers ;-)

I would be cautious picking your seat with British airways. I did that on a flight from boston to London and I told them before hand they had their seating lay out wrong on the internet oh no how could that possibly be was the reply... This is our day job ha ha we know our aircraft they said...really so when I boarded the flight guess what.....they were wrong! Funny a passenger can tell BA there lay out is wrong and they don't even know it...makes you wonder what else they don't know..safety etc! We complained before..we complained on the flight and wrote out the complaint on the crews iPad, we complained on our return home...I have contact BA customer services.....do you think they have replied? Nop no zero replies!

We have a saying in the UK, please forgive the colloquialism. But BA don't know there arse from their elbow!