Who actually pays for Premium Economy on a flight?

[MielMiguel]

I'm a seasoned traveler. Both for leisure (usually Economy) and for work (Business). As lots of people have noticed, flight prices this year are bonkers.

One other thing that has changed, is the price of Premium Economy cabins. Whilst previously they'd be say £150-300 more each way for a long haul flight, now they are easily over double the economy ticket.

Who actually would pay £2-3k in Premium Economy to Singapore or Bangkok, when Economy is £1k.

Before people say "I DO", I don't mean those who pay £150-300 more, or get them on sale, or use points to upgrade... I mean people who seriously think paying twice the price of an Economy ticket.

Its like old school business class, normal seats but more room. I prefer it to business class as I find the little compartments claustrophobic. We fly it if not too much

Older people like my parents who flew a long distance. It made a huge difference to their comfort.

I flew LAX-Sydney PE out and economy back. There was a HUGE difference. (Boeing 777)

That said, we often book economy, then a few days before or during check-in pay to upgrade when available. It's usually cheaper than the original booking price.

Personally if I was willing to pay 2K or 3K for a flight I'd play around looking for good deals in business class, possibly by flying out of a different European destination.

Same applies for PE surely, you look around for good deals so the price is closer to economy on another airline.

I'm taller than your average man, have booked PE for an upcoming 27 hour journey where exit row seats were either unavailable or in a place I didn't like.

Virgin PE is LOADS better than E. Flew recently out with one and back with the other so really noticed the difference. The seats are much nicer with loads more room and you even get real cutlery! It's more like how I vaguely remember old style business class to be before they went really fancy and brought in the lie flat seats. I would seriously consider paying twice as much for that PE if I could afford it and flight was over 6hrs ish.

To whoever said you should pay for emergency exit seats there's always the risk if getting bumped. BA tried to bump me from emergency exit seat to a middle row economy seat. Screw that BA. I've paid for it and I'm sitting in it so you sort it out between yourselves.

I have the same issue, disproportionately long legs and while I am able bodied I suffer on flights...swell up, feel generally ill, all my joints hurt etc...I'm very sensitive to altitude.

I'm flying to Australia in a couple of weeks, am lucky that the flight was paid for me by DP because I don't have that sort of spare cash. If I could afford PE I would go for it...the seats are slightly wider and also recline a bit more. It would be an extra £1500 to the price of the flight this year though.

Even a footrest would help with the leg issue, but they took those off planes.

Only if they forget to shut the doors, surely?

Prices are rather silly now, I'm thinking of buying a canoe for future overseas travel.

Well we did, both adults are tall and we were taking primary age children on a 9 hour flight so personally we thought it was worth the cost for a more comfortable flight also only being 6 rows in the cabin it felt less claustrophobic. We were flexible with the dates so picked ‘cheaper’ days of the week but it was nearly double the cost of economy and worth it in my opinion.

oh no, why did they try do that? I'm about to book an exit row for a long haul BA flight so useful to be prepared for any potential fun and games.

Depends on the airline; not all Premium Economy cabins are equal. I will pay it for Virgin Atlantic but not for United, for example.

I agree the price difference between economy and premium seems to have gone up a lot, on the routes I’m interested in anyway. I’d previously hoped to use it for trips to the US, but the difference was at least 2x last time we flew.

Interesting that others think it’s a popular business option. Sounds likely. Sadly the days I flew business class on someone else’s dime are long gone!

Because I can afford it every 5 years and preferred to save for it then being squeezed in a seat for hours on end.

I didn't mind a day flight out but nights was a huge difference. But since I have a dogdy knee which means even sitting with it bended for 4 hours to Greece is an issue I actually booked Virgin upper class for this summer. It will be so much more comfortable than even PE.

What is the difference between economy and PE? Is it literally just a few extra inches of legroom or do you get other perks?

My friend does. He needs the extra leg room.

I have very recently paid £150 per flight sector for Premium Economy on a long haul. This was within the last three months so not sure if the prices have very suddenly increased? It was worth every penny.

The door area is always much colder. And sometimes noisier. Believe me, I’ve slept in many aircraft doorways on “high comfort” (ie completely uncomfortable) crew rear seats.

PE is a more affordable step up from economy. It’s a slightly larger seat with more legroom, in a much quieter cabin than economy. Different meals. Passengers always seemed more rested in there.

That’s not exactly what she is talking about is it?

She is talking about people who used to upgrade to premium economy which used to be a few hundred more for extra legroom and now going for over a thousand bot people who fly business class. Not sure why you have to be so snarky.

PE now is what business used to be like when I started travelling for business around 30 years ago. What is business now used to be what first was like.

I know quite a few people who pay for premium economy. The alternative for them is not economy, it's business, and PE feels like a more frugal choice.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned the extra luggage allowance for premium economy.
Some of the extra cost can be offset if you are travelling with larger pieces of sporting equipment for example.

Us. We are a tall family, and we need the extra legroom.

We do, because my DH is nearly 6 foot 6

I don’t really enjoy flying so we do tend to look at paying more for a class up
We tend to look at it over the spread of the holiday,so if we are going for 10 nights then it’s upgrade divided by 10 so an extra £x a day
Without it I might not go ,

DH has done previously for a trip to Australia (tall and has hip problems).

We all got upgraded flying back from the US a while ago. The seat configuration didn’t suit me, I actually found economy more comfortable.