Congratulations! You’ve decided that life is too short to endure the squalor and indignity of ‘cattle class’ and will join the ‘premium classes’ and shop around for the best prices in the front of the cabin. (That’s where you turn left instead of right at the door to the plane.)
But with first class costing around twice the price of business class; which in turn can cost twice the price of a flexible economy ticket and 20 times more than the cheapest ticket in the back of the plane, reconciling comfort, cost and convenience is a dialectical dilemma – it’s easy to pay a lot more for a lot less.
Premium economy can be a successful compromise. Taiwan carrier Eva Air was the first airline to introduce a premium economy cabin in 1991, the year it started flying, with Evergreen Deluxe (renamed Elite Class on Boeing 777s), that rewarded economy passengers paying the full (Y) fare with a separate cabin, and better seating and service, followed in turn by Virgin Atlantic a year later, British Airways’ World Traveler Plus, and United Airlines Economy Plus and a growing number of carriers. Premium economy typically offers 38 to 42 inches of leg room – five to 7 inches more than regular cattle class at about one third of the price of a business class seat.
It attracts leisure travelers (especially the girth-stricken or those of normal height) and business travelers whose budgets do not stretch to business class. According to British Airways’ research, typical premium economy passengers tend to be self-employed or work for small to medium sized companies; or honeymooners. Savvy travelers often mix classes, flying out in business class, and back in premium economy, or vice versa, depending on the need to work or sleep.
The cheapest distance between two points is often flying with a carrier through its home hub rather than traveling direct, saving up to 50 percent on the price of a nonstop business class ticket – as strategy that I call ‘cross-border hubbing.’
Traveling from London to Bangkok last year, I forwent the chance to shell out a daunting £3,168 for a round-trip business-class ticket with British Airways, or Singapore Airlines, by paying £1,332 with Austrian Airlines and a seamless connection in Vienna. Traveling to the East Coast of the United States, consider Icelandair (fresh fish and malt whiskies in business class) – and an easy change of plane in Reykjavik makes a pleasant break. Finnair goes out of its way (no pun intended) to attract travelers from Britain to go via Helsinki to destinations in Asia and the Far East.
Many travel agents, such as long-haul specialists Trailfinders.com, offer so-called ‘negotiated’ fares with certain carriers.
For example, planning a hypothetical round-trip from London to Sydney for travel in April, Trailfinders.com offered me premium economy with Virgin Atlantic (via Hong Kong) for £1,665 (60-day advance booking); business class with China Airlines (via Amsterdam and Taipei) for £1.849; and Thai International (via Hong Kong) for £2,339.
Virgin Atlantic.com came up with premium economy for £2,600-£3,000; Upper Class (business) for £4,300 (restricted) and £6,700 (flexible) – compared with the lowest economy price of £1,083. British Airways.com offered premium economy for £918 and £1,189, and business class for £5,055. Opodo.com had the lowest economy fare (£727) with Emirates; premium economy, British Airways, £1,858; Qantas, £2498; and Japan Airlines, £5,832. Business class offers ranged from £2,564 with Etihad Airways, and £3,700 with Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, to £4,040 with Qantas.
The lesson to learn from these prices is that not every airline or online travel agent can offer the best deal with every carrier.
If you’re traveling at least half way round the world, it may make sense to go all the way round (either east or west) by buying a round-the-world (RTW) ticket in business or premium economy. They are often cheaper and more flexible than a round-trip fare.
All three alliances (Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam) offer a raft of prices and routings, usually with just two airlines; such as British Airways from Europe to Sydney, Qantas across the Pacific, and thence, via a variety of gateways, BA back to Europe. Star Alliance partners Air France and Lufthansa offer a similar around the world duo.
With such a wide world of choice out there, what is the best way to look before you book? Unless you know what flights you want, the strategy I recommend is first to go to OAGflights.com, or Amadeus.net, that allow you to check flight schedules and seat availability (though not prices) between any city pair, wherever you are in the world, and then shop around for the best prices.
Skytrax Research (www.airlinequality.com) can help you figure out the best, and worst, seats in premium cabins, along with seat dimensions and seating tips, on long-haul flights, for more than 325 airlines around the world. Seat plans at www.seatguru.com (part of TripAdvisor.com) show you which seats to ask for, and which to avoid, on nearly 100 airlines, including Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Qantas. Select an airline and an aircraft type, move your mouse over the seating plan, and seat descriptions will appear (green designates a ‘very good seat,’ yellow, ‘be aware!’ and red, a ‘bad seat.’)