Economy or Premium Economy, what are the differences and when is it worth buying it
Now that Emirates has also launched its premium economy, it is time to analyze the differences between these [...]
Singapore Airlines
Emirates
Delta
Alitalia
Air France
Now that even Emirates has launched its premium economy, time has come to analyze the differences between these two classes, on Alitalia but also on the other major airlines operating in our skies.
Travel classes
In this article:
On medium/long-haul flights you can normally find 3 or 4 travel classes. From first class we go to business, then to premium economy and finally to the tourist cabin. Although, when we book a ticket, the classes seem to multiply as we are offered fares from basic economy or economy light, up to first flex.
While in the former it is the cabin, the seat, and the service that change, in the latter each fare brings other little extras benefits: from whether or not you can take a suitcase on board, whether or not you can pay for a seat choice (e.g., Qatar's business comfort excludes seat choice or lounge access), to the chauffeur service that Emirates has decided to eliminate from the "light" first class fare.
Premium vs. Economy
First, the thing to understand is that each airline has renamed the cabin with its own name. For example, for Alitalia, economy is called "Classic," while premium is called "Classic +" and so on.
British Airways offers World traveller plus, Aeroflot simply calls it comfort, for Delta it is Premium Select, and so on.
The big difference is having a few more inches for legs and a larger, more reclining seat than in economy class.
At the level of menu offerings and wine choices, there is hardly a big difference between economy fare and premium class. Of course, that was before Emirates came along and redefined the concept of premium economy.
The best and worst premium economy at the moment
If you want to opt for these seats, it is always best to take a tour of Seatguru to find out what the company offers and the differences between the various planes.
When ranking there are many aspects to consider:
- Cabin layout and type of chair
- Ground and on-board service
- Benefits for frequent flyers
- Ticket cost
If one is looking for a middle ground between a business and economy class seat, I think Delta's comfort+ cabin deserves special mention. In fact the seat is the same as in economy, the passenger is offered only a few more inches of space and little else.
It is not much better with British Airways, which maintains the 2-4-2 configuration and offers little more to its premium economy passengers.
In contrast, Air France offers a more comfortable seat, but still a poor product in terms of service on board its fleet.
The last image, however, shows the brand new premium economy inserted for the past few months on Emirates' latest A380s. A product that in many other companies might be considered Business and is set to redefine the standard for this cabin.
La best seat ever remains the one offered by Singapore Airlines aboard its A350ULRs, those used to connect the city-state with New York, currently the World's longest commercial flight.
When is it worth buying a PE ticket?
Certainly when the economy fare and premium fare are very similar, or when it is even lower, it does not happen so rarely with Alitalia. Let's analyze the example. Right now, a ticket to Brazil costs just under €600.Among the benefits Alitalia offers in this fare is lounge access, priority boarding. There is no refund of the ticket, which is instead included in the economy flex, which, however, costs twice as much.
It must be said that lounge access is a plus offered by Alitalia, as almost no other airline includes this benefit in the PE ticket.
In addition, it should be remembered that Alitalia's PE fare guarantees an attractive mileage gain, which is not the case with basic fares.
Here it might seem advantageous as a ticket, but just take a look at the business class fare on the same flight to have doubts about which ticket to detach.
The difference between PE and Business is about 300€. It is obvious that traveling in a seat that becomes a real bed, having a high quality service in terms of menu and wine list challenges the seat choice. Not to mention that in business you would earn more qualifying miles and bonus miles, compared to all other classes.
One of the other reasons why one might opt for PE is to find A possible upgrade in business or auction, if the company offers this service, or with miles. In the latter case, however, attention must be paid to the fare rules.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, cabin classes are one thing and ticket classes are another. Depending on the class of our ticket we will or will not have the opportunity to request and obtain an upgrade.
