[Anonymous]

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Afternoon All

Apart from JAL are there any other airlines that offer Lounge Access on a premium economy ticket. I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Maybe an opportunity for some carriers to include lounge access on full Premium economy fares (which can be more than cheap Business class fares).

[KSHaggag]

Hi Tim,

I know Icelandair do provide lounge access to the Premium Economy Class passengers on flights from Reykjavik to either Europe or North America .
SAS also offers free lounge access to SAS Plus customers on all short ,medium and longhaul flights !…a great benefit !
AF now offers lounge access to PE short haul but payable access to PE longhaul against Euros35 — if I am not mistaken but am not sure if this is only in CDG or across the network .
LH gives you the same privilege on their longhaul PE against Euros 25– too.
I can t recall more ..

[IanFromHKG]

Finnair also offer paid access

Bangkok Airways go one better and from most of their destinations offer free lounge access in economy class!

[WeeTravels]

BA ex Manchester includes lounge access when travelling PE but only for domestic leg i.e. at MAN outbound and LHR inbound. Never really understood why. Anyone any idea?

[RichardB]

Finnair don’t have premium economy. If you are flying premium economy on BA then you fly economy helsinki-london (BA or AY) and lounge access (and everything else about the helsinki-london flight) are identical to economy (booking class is K) except the luggage allowance.

[KSHaggag]

Finnair has no real authentic dedicated PE cabin but rather a few rows called Eco Comfort seats offering 4 extra inches of legroom ,like KLM ,DL ,and some others .
I believe SAS is a pioneer ( in Europe ) in this arena by offering free lounge access to short AND longhaul PE ..

[IanFromHKG]

Indeed. Finnair’s site quotes the following advantages to Economy Comfort:

QUOTE
TAILOR YOUR TRAVEL WITH ECONOMY COMFORT

Our new Economy Comfort seating option in the front section of the Economy Class cabin makes your intercontinental travel even more pleasurable.
8–13 cm (3–5 inches) more legroom
Noise-cancelling headphones to enjoy during your flight
Personal amenity kit including a sleeping mask, earplugs, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste encased in a small cotton bag with a classic Marimekko pattern
Priority boarding and fast exit for the flight in question
UNQUOTE

This all sounds suspiciously similar to Premium Economy to me – although I assume it is the same actual seat as economy.

And while RichardB is correct about BA flights, I believe that if flights are booked through AY then the option to purchase lounge access is there – although I have only ever flown AY in business class 🙂

[KSHaggag]

What Finnair is promising is still below the standard PE of today :

1-The most stingy seat pitch offered today is 7 inches extra over Eco vs the 4 inches AY is offering .
2-The AY seat is identical to AY Eo seat .
3-A PE product today worth its salt offers an upgraded catering too ,whereas AY offers just plain Eco service /meals ,etc.
4-PE attracts more miles usually ;the AY package is just the Eco one.It is indeed similar to a large extent to what KLM offers as Comfort zone with extra payment for very very little in return .

[maxgeorge]

I am fairly sure Air New Zealand Premium Economy ( which is bloody good, especially compared to WT Plus on BA ) gets you Lounge Access, at LAX and LHR at least.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Thanks for the replies / details. Just to come back on a couple of points:

I was thinking more of longhaul travel – so wasn’t thinking of short haul travel but good points KSHaggag about SAS/AF/LH and so forth.

No mention on Air NZ website that Premium Economy passengers get lounges access. I didn’t think they did.

Ian from HK – interesting on Finnair, but I wouldn’t call it a pure Premium Economy (like Economy Comfort on KLM / Delta or Economy Plus on United or Main Cabin extra on AA) as these are seats which can be paid for on top of lowest economy fares and are not sold as a separate cabin like JL/BA/CX and so forth. Interestingly as well these products do not attract a higher APD rate that the BA/CX and so forth have to pay (maybe a clever way to get round it in UK market??) for UK departures.

Excellent point on Bangkok Air though – for everyone travelling (Just imagine T5 turned into 1 great big lounge!).

Apparently Al Nippon also include lounge on Premium Economy tickets as well.

[rferguson]

Although Economy instead of Premium Economy I know Delta offers full Y fare passengers access to the SkyClub for those travelling between JFK and DEN/LAS/LAX/PHX/SAN/SEA/SFO and vv.

[KSHaggag]

I would rather call what KL/AY/DL among others are offering extra fringe benefits on demand : you pay for seat pitch ,for IFE ,etc….

A dedicated PE cabin on longhaul is becoming popular nowadays with standards in Eco long haul falling sharply to a disappointing level .

An airline like KLM ( business oriented ) is still opposed to having a p-roper PE cabin with 7 inches extra ,better catering ,better inflight service ,more baggage allowance ,a more flexible ticket and more Flying Blue miles .It is infuriating to me to pay 90 Euros extra for 4 inches extra of legroom on a longhaul flight ;I am not getting xtra miles in return either .

[maxgeorge]

You must be right, Tim. I got lounge access when I flew NZ Premium Economy, but I have NZ Gold status. What they do get is priority check in with Business Premium, which I thought unusual.

Nonetheless, their seating and service was very good. Pod style seats and bonzer tucker.

[KSHaggag]

MaxGeorge,

Most probably you got the lounge access thanks to your Gold status regardless the cabin you are flying in .
Priority ck in for Premium Eco is a nice benefit which I believe some carriers grant on a limited basis ,too.

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