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I thought business just became first and premium economy became business class so airlines could get around blind booking restrictions against first class. The

I thought business just became first and premium economy became business class so airlines could get around blind booking restrictions against first class. The apartment/suite class is a relatively new marketing gimmick that has nothing to do with traditional first class.

CPLX 8y ago
That's pretty much accurate. Except that they've really devalued domestic economy in a lot of cases, with crammed together seats and so on.
ghaff 8y ago
Premium economy isn’t really business class. The seats are the same width as economy and you don’t get the extra level of service you get in business. Just some extra legroom which I appreciate. You do sometimes get meals but they’re the old standard inedible coach meals I mostly pass on. Added: Wasn’t aware of mostly recent premium economy additions on some airlines. I was taking it as a synonym for Economy Plus.
- chrisbolt 8y ago
  That’s not really Premium Economy, that’s more like Economy Plus. Long haul PE seats are similar to domestic US first class seats.
- staticautomatic 8y ago
  That's only true of some airlines on some planes.
- wlll 8y ago
  BA premium economy has wider seats with more leg room as far as I can tell, the same food as club (ie. upgraded from economy), your own arm rests and better in flight entertainment (a larger screen).
  - ghaff 8y ago
    Ok. I usually fly United. There Economy Plus is mostly just more legroom.
    - saryant 8y ago
      That’s United’s extra leg room product which is distinct from their premium economy product. That product is only available on long haul flights.
      - ryandrake 8y ago
        Has anyone told these airlines that these new class names are confusing branding nightmares. Premium Economy? Economy Plus? Economy Comfort? Which one’s better? Who knows? Reminds me of the ol’ USB High Speed vs. USB Full Speed. I still don’t remember which one is faster.
        JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        I had to name the speed settings on an old 802.11 radio link. Started with 1-10MBit with names like standard speed, full speed, high speed. Added mega speed, hyper speed, ultra speed, mondo speed, maxi-speed, ludicrous speed to get to 200MBit.
        ghaff 8y ago
        Don’t forget steerage, excuse me, basic economy.
        dzhiurgis 8y ago
        I am pretty sure it's their intention. Making products difficult to compare is marketing 101.
      - ghaff 8y ago
        I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a premium economy product on United and I fly 75K miles on them per year. There’s economy, economy plus, and either old-style business or, increasingly, Polaris even on domestic flights. Added: Ah, haven’t seen it because it’s just starting to roll out on United.
- tcas 8y ago
  There's a few hard/soft products that are grouped as premium economy. On domestic flights there's "Comfort" seats, which give you more legroom (and free snacks and drinks on US domestic flights). On international flights "Comfort" seats still exist, but on some flights there's true premium economy, which does have wider seats (e.g. the A350 on Delta's fleet is 2-4-2 seating in premium economy vs 3-3-3 in coach). You get better meal service (my experience on Delta is it's plated and brought out in a similar fashion to domestic first class) and domestic parts of the journey will sometimes book into first class. Comfort pricing is usually $50-150 more per leg vs coach. Premium economy is usually somewhere in between coach and business, leaning a bit more towards the coach side.
- classichasclass 8y ago
  That depends. For example, I fly Air New Zealand to and from Australia fairly frequently. AirNZ PE has more legroom, yes, but also fewer seats per row, wider seats and better meals. For a time they had the Spaceseats, which were 1-2-1 layout. That was great though the attendants told me they hated it since people had trouble with the tilt controls. I've flown PEs more like yours but this seems to be a factor more of US domestic airlines and is certainly not universal.
  - jashmatthews 8y ago
    Air NZ international PE is fantastic. Comfortable spacious seats and the same food as Business Premier. You basically only miss out on the lie flat bed and the fancy drinks.
- monksy 8y ago
  For the most part you're correct. With Cathray Pacific long haul, PE is a domestic first class seat and service.

CPLX 8y ago

That's pretty much accurate. Except that they've really devalued domestic economy in a lot of cases, with crammed together seats and so on.

ghaff 8y ago

Premium economy isn’t really business class. The seats are the same width as economy and you don’t get the extra level of service you get in business. Just some extra legroom which I appreciate. You do sometimes get meals but they’re the old standard inedible coach meals I mostly pass on. Added: Wasn’t aware of mostly recent premium economy additions on some airlines. I was taking it as a synonym for Economy Plus.

chrisbolt 8y ago
That’s not really Premium Economy, that’s more like Economy Plus. Long haul PE seats are similar to domestic US first class seats.
staticautomatic 8y ago
That's only true of some airlines on some planes.
wlll 8y ago
BA premium economy has wider seats with more leg room as far as I can tell, the same food as club (ie. upgraded from economy), your own arm rests and better in flight entertainment (a larger screen).
- ghaff 8y ago
  Ok. I usually fly United. There Economy Plus is mostly just more legroom.
  - saryant 8y ago
    That’s United’s extra leg room product which is distinct from their premium economy product. That product is only available on long haul flights.
    - ryandrake 8y ago
      Has anyone told these airlines that these new class names are confusing branding nightmares. Premium Economy? Economy Plus? Economy Comfort? Which one’s better? Who knows? Reminds me of the ol’ USB High Speed vs. USB Full Speed. I still don’t remember which one is faster.
      - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        I had to name the speed settings on an old 802.11 radio link. Started with 1-10MBit with names like standard speed, full speed, high speed. Added mega speed, hyper speed, ultra speed, mondo speed, maxi-speed, ludicrous speed to get to 200MBit.
      - ghaff 8y ago
        Don’t forget steerage, excuse me, basic economy.
      - dzhiurgis 8y ago
        I am pretty sure it's their intention. Making products difficult to compare is marketing 101.
    - ghaff 8y ago
      I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a premium economy product on United and I fly 75K miles on them per year. There’s economy, economy plus, and either old-style business or, increasingly, Polaris even on domestic flights. Added: Ah, haven’t seen it because it’s just starting to roll out on United.
tcas 8y ago
There's a few hard/soft products that are grouped as premium economy. On domestic flights there's "Comfort" seats, which give you more legroom (and free snacks and drinks on US domestic flights). On international flights "Comfort" seats still exist, but on some flights there's true premium economy, which does have wider seats (e.g. the A350 on Delta's fleet is 2-4-2 seating in premium economy vs 3-3-3 in coach). You get better meal service (my experience on Delta is it's plated and brought out in a similar fashion to domestic first class) and domestic parts of the journey will sometimes book into first class. Comfort pricing is usually $50-150 more per leg vs coach. Premium economy is usually somewhere in between coach and business, leaning a bit more towards the coach side.
classichasclass 8y ago
That depends. For example, I fly Air New Zealand to and from Australia fairly frequently. AirNZ PE has more legroom, yes, but also fewer seats per row, wider seats and better meals. For a time they had the Spaceseats, which were 1-2-1 layout. That was great though the attendants told me they hated it since people had trouble with the tilt controls. I've flown PEs more like yours but this seems to be a factor more of US domestic airlines and is certainly not universal.
- jashmatthews 8y ago
  Air NZ international PE is fantastic. Comfortable spacious seats and the same food as Business Premier. You basically only miss out on the lie flat bed and the fancy drinks.
monksy 8y ago
For the most part you're correct. With Cathray Pacific long haul, PE is a domestic first class seat and service.