Which airlines offer premium economy lounge access?
Back to Forum- This topic has 24 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 1 Oct 2015
at 11:07 by skywards.
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KSHaggagParticipantIt is indeed refreshing to see a growing number of airlines getting it right in Premium Eco coz the high majority have been offering a weak product ,offering very little added value against a hefty payment vs regular Economy !
I have not tried all PE products on offer but having flown AF,BA,TK,EC ( Openskies Premium Plus /Biz seat formerly ) ,I can confirm that Openskies has a superb product ( not granting lounge access unless you are a Silver Oneworld member ) ,and TK on the 777-300ER is offering that marvelous Comfort Class reminiscent of the business class in the early 90s ..shame that they will axe it !!!!..
Having read about LH,JL,NZ,VS ,SK ,SQ products I expect them to be indeed good .
CX is quick to respond to its customers and they will revamp their current one though very new but apparently with little appeal ..26 Sep 2015
at 09:52
IanFromHKGParticipantCX PE seems very successful but only on certain routes – on others the culture seems to be business or economy but nothing inbetween
26 Sep 2015
at 11:56
KSHaggagParticipantI do agree Ian ;the catch here is that you really need to offer someting extra ,something concrete to entice people to fork out those extra hundreds of Dollars and upgrade their experience .The equation has always been hard to solve for a majority of airlines who have not been really establishing a fair balance of both sides of the equation ; frills vs fare charged .BA who was a pioneer in offering PE 15 years ago realized too late that they were just offering 7 extra inches of legroom and some extra Exec Club Avios ..THAT S IT !!!..bad approach ! You ought to offer a Premium product from all aspects to justify the surcharge for those seeking a more enjoyable experience .The European and Far Eastern mentality accepts paying extra for real tangible extra benefits however in the GCC people don t actually know PE ;they need product awareness which CX did not really do well ;moreover GCC nationals don t really need that PE product coz simply they can largely afford Business Class without fuss .PE in the GCC was more geared at those expats based in the region but how many of them will pay that extra when flying on vacation ? When travelling on business their companies are paying them Business Class ,so the chances of PE are indeed maigre to succeed .
The CX product was just like others without being overwhelmingly superior and CX being a brilliant carrier have reacted promptly to upgrade it ; WELL DONE CX !….I am eager to see it soon .26 Sep 2015
at 12:22
RichardBParticipantI think what defines premium economy is that the seat is different to economy class. both bigger seat pitch and wider. and it’s a separate cabin and after take off people are not free to move around and reseat themselves from economy -> premium economy. Also I would expect a different booking class and if you buy an economy ticket you can’t choose a seat in “premium economy” just because of FF status.
This would mean that Finnair don’t have what is called premium economy on their longhaul planes. Neither does KLM. Both offer economy seats with extra legroom. If you call this “premium economy” then the exit row seats can be called “premium economy”.
British Airways does have premium economy, as do NZ and CX. They match the conditions I mentioned at the start.
There are exceptions to the rules though. Onboard finnair the flight attendants stop anyone moving from economy -> economy comfort. They remove the headrest covers once boarding is completed to keep track of the occupied seats. They then try to sell off empty economy comfort seats for cash (although i have seen few takers). Status with One World also gets you a finnair economy comfort seat for free.
It would be nice if corporate travel policies recognized premium economy. Since real economy seems on a downward spiral (narrower seats on 787 and 777) and going to Australia on a business trip is no fun in economy if you work for the typical nordic company that has an economy class for all travel policy (regardless of the length of the flight). In finland since finnair don’t offer premium economy then travel policies don’t mention PE at all.
26 Sep 2015
at 12:26
KSHaggagParticipantFully agree ,RichardB !
Yep!,,KL ,DL, AY are in that club offering illusionary PE ;4 inches of extra legroom but same seat width and meals of Eco does not justify the surcharge you pay on a longhaul flight .I would have expected AY to go ahead with a real PE dedicated cabin .I fully agree that even a 10 hour flight from HEL to HKG in Eco is no fun by today s standards ,let alone Australia ,etc..
I have ( big ) expectations about the newly launched LH PE which according to what I read offers real benefits ,albeit the seat pitch is the standard 38 inches offered on most others .I will be extremely interested to hear from anyone reading this thread who has had an experience with LH in PE lately ..
SQ also seems to be offering something much classier than a regular Eco product on their 777-300ERs and later on the A380s .
I presume a large majority of Gentlemen in this forum are rarely patronizing PE products .This said ,I will be really eager to read about experiences in PE on VS,LH,SQ,SK,JL,AC specifically .Thank you .26 Sep 2015
at 13:23
RamraiderukParticipantANA do too:
https://www.ana.co.jp/wws/uk/e/asw_common/checkin/py/
Our Lounge is available for your use before departure from Narita, Haneda, New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San jose, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Paris and Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok.
Please note that Lounge at Singapore, Bangkon and Jakarta are available from following date.
Singapore: March 29th, 2015
Jakarta: August 1st, 2015
Bangkok: August 2nd, 2015* Customers will be provided with Coffee Shop vouchers, etc. if our Lounge is full.
* Service is also available at transfer airports upon request.26 Sep 2015
at 22:34 -
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