Living the premium life

Color me Team Premium, as well. Two overseas flights in Aer Lingus economy were too many for me.

I always travel Comfort+ on Delta, but the price differential to move to Premium is too high for not much in my opinion. You get a slight bigger seat and recline, but food is the same as Comfort+.

But I am flying KLM later this year for the first time and my options were Economy or Premium so I paid up for Premium with a fantastic deal, which I still think was a temporary glitch in the system. It would cost as much as Comfort+ on Delta with a connecting flight. KLM is direct. The price went up $900 the next day. Glad I trusted my gut and just bought on spot.

We flew KLM Premium last year and it was quite nice. I don't know if the food was different from economy but it was also very good, whatever it was (I never remember airline food afterward, other than good/not good).

Edit: We flew Delta Premium Select to and from Spain and there was a huge difference between specific aircraft. Going over on an obviously older A330 felt cramped and disappointing. Coming home on a 767-400 was night and day difference. Felt much more spacious and comfortable.

You get a slight bigger seat and recline, but food is the same as Comfort+. [my emphasis]

I think this might have been the case during parts of the pandemic, but it's not the case now.

You can actually check Delta's menus ahead of time and can see that for transatlantic flights, the Premium menu and the Comfort menu are not the same.

For example, on tonight's DL 262 (JFK-CDG), the Comfort menu has a main course choice of chicken korma or lasagna, whereas the Premium menu has a main course choice of red curry chicken or buffalo pasta.

(Of course, just because it's different doesn't mean it's necessarily better, though anecdotally I will say I've had the red curry chicken and was very pleasantly surprised.)

Its all about the ideal mix of cabin types to earn the highest return on the investment of the flight.

I thank gwad for basic economy, so do my goats.

I am glad to hear Delta has differentiated the meal between Comfort+ and Premium Select.
I only flew on it once a couple of years ago, and it was an older plane model as well. Maybe I'll use some miles to upgrade on my trip later this summer.

Most of my long haul flights involved a connection before. If I have enough time, I would stop at the lounge to get some food and skip the plane one. But most often than not I am cutting short on time so need to eat what they serve. Though they have definitely improved the economy food offerings.

SFO is not the best base for flying Delta (where all my miles are at).

Stoutfella,

Do you know if you were on an A-330 900 Neo, per chance?

-- Mike Beebe

Mike: It was an A330-300. I actually posted about it awhile back.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/premium-select-a-tale-of-two-planes

It would be nice to be among the elites in front of the air(bus), but my paycheck doesn't allow it. So I stick to seat 37D, 'chicken or pasta', and cross my fingers I get there in one piece. An empty seat next to me is the 'upgrade' I hope to score, but seldom do.

Mike Beebe : "Do you know if you were on an A-330 900 Neo, per chance?"

I was actually on that plane on AirFrance last year. Delta messed up my itinerary and I ended up on Air France Premium cabin. It was really nice, and food was delicious. First time I saw a plane without window shades. It was touch screen to make it darker. I was also lucky to be on first row of Premium so extra space. But the other rows felt quite tight for the person at the window to get out from seat. It's how the seat reclines, it is different than other planes as I remember.

Ages ago moved from Economy to Premium Economy and never looked back. Overnight Virgin Airlines LAX to LHR.

alomaker, we share a travel style. The secret is eait till check in time online and at that time check the seat map. Look for an empty aisle and move. We'll that works when I travel alone. Half the time I get 3 seats and can stretch out and sleep.

After a trip to India in what I like to call "chicken class" since you feel like you're on a factory farm, I've decreed that I'm not flying over an ocean if it doesn't involve premium economy! I'm short but wide so while I don't really care about the leg room, that extra inch of seat width is a huge help, and isn't part of Comfort+ and similar products.

Mr. E, I hear you. One reason I seek out a center section aisle seat in the back of the bus is to score an empty seat next to me. Unfortunately, I have not been lucky in the last five years. Planes, especially on long-distance international flights, always seem packed to the gills. On a short-haul flight, my scheme still works some of the time. Ah! Business and premium, I only look at enviously - on my to and from the door.

I just flew Air France booked through Delta round trip Boston to Nice France. Everyone has the option of Champagne with meals on the over water leg. They fly the A350. Very good meals too especially on the return leg.

I really enjoy PE too. I am in a Delta hub so usually Delta PE is pretty expensive, but I've flown United PE a number of times and it's just as nice and usually several hundred dollars cheaper. At my age I have decided I can't fly economy internationally anymore, except maybe in an exit row seat.

I feel like almost every flight I've taken since 2022 has been completely full, so you just can't count on an empty row these days.

I flew a United codeshare on Lufthansa, in PE, and found it pretty disappointing; it was comparable to C+ on Delta with harder seats.

After your first trip above Economy it’s SO hard to go back.
Even that few inches more space in a seat is worth it to me.
I worked very hard for years and am now retired, so I’ve earned the comfort and don’t mind paying more.
I love flying, so to me, part of my vacation includes pleasant comfy flights.
I just flew Saga Class to Paris and back on Iceland Air, on a 737 Max 8.
It’s Premium Economy and was really good.
The food was outstanding!
Because you always change planes in Reykjavik, both flights were not too long to get to the “get me out of here” feeling.
For amenity kits: you get a list and can just ask for the item you want, rather than get a whole kit full of stuff that gets wasted.
IE: if lip balm is all you want, just ask and the crew will bring it to you.

It would be nice to be among the elites in front of the air(bus), but my paycheck doesn't allow it. So I stick to seat 37D, 'chicken or pasta', and cross my fingers I get there in one piece. An empty seat next to me is the 'upgrade' I hope to score, but seldom do.

Same, alomaker, same.

Although without eating the airline meal.

And yes, I do like Mr E and keep checking the seat map as close to takeoff as I can in case a move helps my case.

Kim, most of my flights of late have been Lufthansa Economy Light. For instance BUD to IAD in June Economy Light is $978 + $52 for two extra leg room seats (row 13) one each way; while Premium Economy was over $3700. With the savings I use the EuroNet ATM to get cash for service tips when the EuroNet is the closest to where I am. Sometimes I use the savings on private transfers instead of busses. Sometimes really good wine. The goats appreciate this.

AND when Lufthansa sells you that 6 euro 100ml bottle of wine they give you one of these to drink it in. I have a very nice collection now: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CiAAAOSwoBRkrjVO/s-l400.jpg The Lufthansa cuttlery is also very nice.

At 5'2 and 5'6, lean and fit, we're both comfortable in economy. That said, thus far we've only encountered those moulded plastic non-reclining seats on domestic flights, and have not done any >12-hour nonstops recently. Our practise is to economise, with the intent to make the truly meanigful upgrade to business-class in case of dire need...as was the case on a transatlantic return flight not long ago where we'd caught nasty colds on a river cruise and appreciated being able to lay our exhausted selves flat-out.

Last year I had my first experience flying business class on United to Australia. It was the first time I got any actual sleep on a long haul flight. I was fortunate and did not have to pay for that flight. My husband and I fly economy. Once we sprung for economy plus and since we are vertically challenged and not heavy we decided it wasn’t worth the extra price, or miles which we usually use. We take long trips and we would rather spend the money on our time there as opposed to the transportation to get to and from there. This year we will be going to New Zealand and Australia and flying economy. Will I get as munch sleep as I did last year? Highly unlikely. Still, we will get over our jet lag and have a good time with more money in our pockets.

I always travel Comfort+ on Delta, but I did move up to the Premium Select two times. One of those was from calling the airline when the ticket price I’d already purchased dropped, so I was given the Premium Select seat & some ecredits - thought it would be a good chance to try the Premium Select.

I went back to Comfort+ on subsequent trips. I’m able to sleep at least a few hours & nap a lot, so I can get by okay. Thankfully, others are purchasing the higher cost seats for various reasons to cover a greater portion of the flight overall cost.

Andrea 🌎, ive been in Business twice. Once my wife became violently ill on a Czech Air flight from Toronto to Prague, on the return flight we were mysteriously bumped to Business. The second time was KLM from Austin to Budapest. Just before boarding I got an email requesting a bid for an upgrade. About 2 hours after arrival I had a dinner date with an old friend and thought the sleep in Business might be a good idea. But I am still cheap so my bid was $300. They took it.

At 6 foot and a tad heavy, economy still works for me, but gotta be an asile seat.

My only international business class seat was a free (and surprising) upgrade from SFO to Tokyo on what was then Northwest (which got merged with Delta). They oversold flight and when we were checking in, person at counter said our seats had changed from row 20something to 1. My husband and I were only "silver" status back then, but that was before the merge.
It was a fantastic flight! But the problem is that we had a connection to Bangkok and were back in the middle of plane in regular economy. That was a big shock coming from business!

I flew "business" domestic a lot on shorter domestic flights because of upgrade.

I usually buy economy on Delta and I do get free upgrade to Comfort+. But I still think the price to pay for Premium Select on Delta is too high. I flew once on PS last year because Delta canceled one of my flights and rebooked me with totally different itinerary to Paris, so I pleaded and they gave me Premium Select.

Separately - my splurge has always been to purchase a ticket for my kid. She never flew lap even when she was under 1. Her first flight at 6 months old was international with 2 connections including a 9 hour flight. And I flew alone with baby. No way I would take the lucky chance of an empty seat! And I always look at plane configuration for international flights and pick long haul one that have 2 seats on the side (2-XXX-2).

JoyNYC

I was also lucky to be on first row of Premium so extra space.

We're going to be on the same plane and sitting in the same row ourselves, so it'll be an interesting experience not having someone's seat-back slamming into my knees during meal times, plus enjoying a cushion that's not an oak plank covered with a millimeter of "pleather".

14 days!

-- Mike Beebe

That’s great Mike! I love sitting on bulkhead row. As you might know, you can’t have anything on floor for take off or landing, even the bag with blanket and pillow.
Not a problem for me. I stash it at overhead bin and retrieve my backpack (or other small bag) after take off.
Where are you heading?
Seats had USB-C and A ports on the screen, but person next to me only had the C type cord and C ports were not working. I usually carry one of each as I never know what might be available. I let him use mine for a bit.
The only thing I didn't like was the remote control within the seat/on side. So easy to accidentally touch buttons. And once it was out, I had a hard time putting it back in the slot.

Anyone remember the backward facing bulkhead seats on Southwest? https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRoEL7ZDW1GV626oAKDd5-s4Ut6KQcI14EECA&s

Mr E makes the point that always gets me on this forum. People are obsessed with not paying a few extra euros for convenience once they’re in Europe but will pay hundreds more for comfort on the flight. It makes no sense to me.

My husband and I generally fly Economy. We suffer but would rather spend our $$ on our destination. That being said we were pleased on our last flights to find that United has upgraded their menus, making them actually good rather than just palatable. Of course, they've improved them across all ticketing levels, so the economy menu was still not as elegant as that of premium diners, but it was a definite improvement over what we've had in the past.

And, if it my imagination or there more Basic Economy seats on the seat maps now?

JoyNYC

Where are you heading?

We are off to the nation of manners and macarons: France!

14 days hence, we'll be enduring the ever-so-short 9.5 hour flight from the mayhem that is SEA to the mayhem that is CDG. Then onward via a fast train to Lyon, and much wine tasting -- plus a celebration of another win in my yearly game of Race the Reaper. After that, we sojourn in Dijon, with much wine tasting (and some mustard, too). Finally, we wrap up in France's best-kept secret: Paris! (and much wine tasting), not to mention little side-trips to Tain L'Hermitage, Beaune, and Chartes.

We also plan to taste wine, if the opportunity presents itself. I think we're going to eat food as well -- little unclear on that right now -- or at least that what our reservations to Daniel et Denis and Le P'tit Troquet seem to indicate.

All-in-all, the opportunities to say "bonjour!" and "je suis desole" for a couple of weeks will more than ease the financial pain of shelling out a few extra grand to sit in comfort going both ways over the Atlantic.

Au revoir!

-- Mike Beebe

Helen 😅😅😅.......

Wee usually fly economy, but will sometimes spurge for Comfort Plus, depending on the cost/miles for it.

That said, last summer coming back from Iceland, Saga class was full, but for economy, there were 18 empty rows! I was shocked! I went to use the bathroom and on my way back I counted the rows. I got back to our row and told my husband "see ya!" and moved to my own personal row. Pure heaven! I have not encountered that in a few decades.

MikeBeeb

Blockquote 14 days hence, we'll be enduring the ever-so-short 9.5 hour flight from the mayhem that is SEA to the mayhem that is CDG.
Blockquote

SEA is one of my connection hubs on Delta as I fly from SFO. I like the airport but never had to check-in there, just connect. I did same segment to CDG last year, and will be going to Amsterdam later this summer from SEA. Also went to Beijing from SEA before COVID (glad I left before they closed the country!).

Bon voyage et profitez bien de votre séjour en France.

My days of flying regular economy are done - just done (save for occasional sub-90 minute connecting flights). I'm 6'4" and the continual race the bottom in terms of fitting in more passengers into aircraft means there's no way for my long legs to find comfort.

Even Comfort+ can be hit-or-miss these days. I limit it to the shorter legs.

Premium is good, but I've experienced the difference between sitting in a bulkhead (no storage at your feet) and not (the person in front of you reclining into your face) and it can be rough. If you plan on sleeping for most of the flight it's not a huge deal, but still...

I'm not leveraging a lot of points and status (and shopping sales) to fly mostly Business or First on transoceanic flights. It's worth it for the comfort. Note that most of my international trips also involve doing something crazy on a bicycle or skis, and I need my legs and all that to be ready to go from the time of arrival. Comfort and rest matter to me, and it's worth the extra cost.

The food and such? Just perks.

Once I'm overseas I tend to stay in cheaper lodging - a room is just a crash pad, in the end.

I have yet to fly premium, my wife will not agree to it. But these bloggers have done so recently within the last two years and provided a rather balance review of the 3 major US airlines. Over the Atlantic experience that is.

Jeb and his wife Suzzane at Greener Grass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phr3lcATXpo

The Points Guy departures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vBWDFBfmnQ

Regards

Ron

I keep hoping I can convince myself to upgrade my life. I just checked round trip BUD to IAD in October on Lufthansa. Basic Economy was just under $1000 if I paid $63 for extra legroom exit row seats each way while Preimum Economy started at $2700 for standard seats. The difference is 5, almost 6 goats. I just cant do that, they are too cute.

Apologies, I should have posted about this a couple of months ago.

https://www.av-con.com/

Inaugural event.

Maybe next year as I suppose airport congestion and high gasoline prices preclude this year's event for many in USA.

Regards
Ron