Is ‘premium economy’ seating worth it?

Are “premium economy” seats worth the cost? Photo by Delta Airlines

By Ed Perkins
Posted on January 17, 2024

A recent report from IdeaWorks Company describes the airlines’ premium economy offering as “an upper-
middle-class seat priced for the upper-middle class” designed for, and marketed to, “upper middle-class consumers who seek an upper middle-class travel experience.”

The report’s author, Jay Sorensen, is bullish on premium economy. Should you be?

The basics

Premium economy is a distinct airline product, in a distinct cabin on most long-haul wide-body planes.

Its hard product provides seats two or three inches wider than standard economy, with usually seven or eight inches more legroom, and a soft product featuring superior meals and maybe better checked and carry-on baggage policies.

In many ways, it’s close to what you get in domestic first class 737 and A320 flights. It sits between the economy “plus” many big lines offer — with standard economy seats but a few inches extra legroom, and international business class — with lavish cabin service and seats that convert to a lie-flat bed on overnight trips.

Premium economy was originated more than 30 years ago by Taiwan-based EVA Air, and soon after picked up by Virgin Atlantic.

For a long time, it stayed that way. But over the last decade or so, almost all the big international lines have adopted it. Even a few low-fare lines have adopted the idea: Norse Atlantic includes a small premium economy cabin on its 787s, and French Bee has premium economy on its A350s.

As far as I know, no line has outfitted 737s or A320s with the five-across seats the manufacturers once described as premium economy. But a few lines sell old-line first-class cabins as premium economy on connecting flights.

The appeal

The industry consensus is that premium economy is designed as an upsell to leisure travelers, not as a cost-cutting alternative to business class.

And that’s understandable: A lot of leisure travelers are less than delighted by the prospect of book-ending a few wonderful weeks in Europe or Asia between two miserable eight- to 12-hour sessions stuffed into a seat that’s not big enough to accommodate them comfortably.

I know that in my senior years I’ve used miles to get out of cattle-car economy on most recent long-haul trips.

The value proposition

The problem with premium economy is that, by my measurement, it’s generally overpriced.

These days, except at the extremes of range, the capacity of a modern jetliner is determined by the number or people it can accommodate, not their weight. That means what you pay for a seat should be more or less based on the amount of cabin area it occupies.

According to Sorensen’s report, a typical premium economy seat takes about 8-9 square feet, compared with 5-6 square feet for a regular economy seat. That’s about 40% to 60% more space. This tracks with the longstanding Air France claim that its premium economy gives you 40% more space.

However, most of the time, you pay more than a 40% to 60% premium over economy. I checked some transatlantic fares for travel in March, and I found that premium economy is generally selling at about double the base economy fare. And “40% more room at double the price” is not a value proposition I’d like to defend with great vigor.

On the other hand, a business-class seat takes up about 18 square feet, and business-class fares hover around four to five times economy fares for double the space.

The bottom line

Whether premium economy is a good deal for you depends primarily on your view of regular economy. In my senior years, I have concluded that, for a long intercontinental trip, regular economy has dropped from “undesirable” to “unacceptable.”

Fortunately, I’ve accumulated enough miles to upgrade — basically saying I’d rather take one comfortable and pleasant trip than two miserable trips. But that’s not a universal trade-off. You have to decide for yourself.

Premium economy is the real deal — enough better than regular economy to change your attitude about flying. The question is whether the value proposition works for you.

Email Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net or visit his rail travel website at rail-guru.com.