Note: I’m traveling this week with limited access to internet. Responses to comments and emails will be delayed.
By using miles and points from credit card bonuses, my family has flown on long-haul flights in Business, Premium Economy and Economy. While it’s hard to beat the luxury of business class, I’ve discovered that Premium Economy is my “sweet spot” for international travel.
So far, I’ve flown in Premium Economy on American Airlines (from DFW to Hawaii) and on Iberia (from Madrid to DFW). For an upcoming trip, my family is flying on Japan Airlines in Premium Economy from DFW to Tokyo, and my daughter and I booked Premium Economy from Shanghai to DFW.
Pros of Flying Premium Economy
Each airline has slightly different benefits for Premium Economy passengers. Here are some common benefits:
- Dedicated check-in line: Premium Economy has a separate check-in line for most airlines. This is super helpful when the regular economy line is a mile long.
- Priority bags: Some airlines offer priority bags for Premium Economy so that your luggage will be in the first group off the luggage carousel.
- Additional luggage allowance: Iberia offers Premium Economy passengers additional free luggage allowance.
- Priority boarding/disembarkation: Premium Economy passengers have a lower boarding group to board before regular economy, and the cabin has priority disembarkation.
- Lounge access (JAL): Japan Airlines offers free airport lounge access to Premium Economy passengers.
- Smaller cabin: Most Premium Economy cabins are 3-6 rows of seats.
- Better seats: Premium Economy seats are wider than economy and have more seat pitch (leg room) and recline.
- Better food/amenities: Some Premium Economy cabins include enhanced menus, noise-cancelling headphones, amenity kits, etc. that aren’t available to regular economy passengers.
- Costs less than business class: Usually, Premium Economy fares cost less than Business Class in both cash and miles.
Cons of Flying Premium Economy
Premium Economy sounds great, right? Why isn’t everyone doing this?
- Limited award space: Due to the smaller number of seats in the cabin, award space is usually lower than regular economy. Families will have a tough time finding award space for 4+ people on the same flight.
- Not available to book award flights on some partner airlines.: Not all airlines allow you to use partner miles to book Premium Economy seats. For example, Delta only allows you to book Premium Select (Premium Economy) seats using Delta SkyMiles.
- No lie-flat seats: This may be obvious, but the seats in Premium Economy don’t turn into lie-flat seats like most seats in Business on long-haul flights. Some folks consider this a deal breaker.
Why Premium Economy is my Sweet Spot
I’ve flown overseas in regular economy seats plenty of times. As I’ve aged, I’ve noticed my body has more aches and pains. So for me, I really appreciate the extra space that Premium Economy seats offer so that I can stretch my legs and change positions. I also like the additional elbow room that the increased seat width provides so that I don’t rub shoulders with my seat neighbor.
I don’t typically look forward to 10+ hour flights. But, in Premium Economy, I don’t dread them. Plus, spending fewer miles compared to business class is helpful when I’ve got 5-6 people in my group.
Have you experienced Premium Economy on a long-haul flight? What are your thoughts?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Hi Nancy!
So glad I found your site. Your post and everyone’s comments have been so helpful.
Would you mind sharing your thoughts regarding flying PE on AA versus PE on Iberia (DFW to Madrid or ORD to Madrid)? We have a trip booked through AA, with AA flying to Madrid and Iberia flying out, but the return leg of our flight doesn’t even appear on Iberia’s site, so we cannot make seat choices. I’m considering rebooking the return leg so that we’re coming back with AA. Thank you!
@Jennifer Welcome to our blog! I’ve flown on PE on both AA and Iberia, and both are comfortable. The only thing that bugged me about AA’s seat was the location of the charging port. Iberia seemed a bit more spacious to me even though the measurements are very similar to AA. I don’t think you can go wrong either way. I would definitely contact AA/Iberia to ask how/when to pick your seats on that return flight.
@Jennifer Also see my review for AA PE: https://milesforfamily.com/2021/09/14/review-aa-premium-economy-dallas-to-hawaii/ and Iberia PE: https://milesforfamily.com/2024/03/25/review-iberia-premium-economy-mad-to-dfw/
One con that you don’t have on your list is that a very limited number of planes has Premium Economy, so when airlines swap planes, the new plane might not have PremEco and you get a choice between delay and downgrade. Downgrades are a lot more common than in biz, Iberia/BA are notorious for this…
@rupert Great point!
Mine was nothing to write home about and I couldn’t sleep either but it was certainly comfortable enough to eat some food and watch movies to kill time, and a step up from economy for sure.
How was your experience flying premium economy on AA?
I’m considering it for an overnight long haul to South America. I can’t sleep at all in regular economy, mostly due to the limited recline. I’m curious how much extra recline these seats have.
@projectx I enjoyed my AA PE experience. For me, the main benefit was not the extra recline, but the row of 2 and the extra seat width. Recline is supposedly 7-9 inches compared to regular economy at 2-4 inches. The charging port was in a weird spot though. Keep in mind my review was affected by Covid. https://milesforfamily.com/2021/09/14/review-aa-premium-economy-dallas-to-hawaii/
PE sure beats regular coach. Like you I’ve found flying in coach on long haul flights increasingly difficult as I get older. Since I’m 6’4” with wide shoulders and weigh more than I’d like, regular economy isn’t that roomy to begin with. I normally really try for business class but award space can be tough to find at saver levels.
My wife and I flew back from Amsterdam in January on American PE and it was fine.
@Christian I’m glad you had a decent flight on AA PE. I’m going back on that this summer from Shanghai to DFW.
Agree with you that Premium Economy is perfectly fine. While I prefer business class (even though I’m one of the outliers that doesn’t sleep well on an airplane lay flat bed and actually prefer to sleep reclined) I’ve flown PE several times and would gladly do it again. I flew AA PE Hong Kong to DFW (pre COVID obviously since that route sadly doesn’t exist anymore) and also Singapore Airlines r/t JFK-SIN (longest flight in the world currently). Both were just fine. However I can’t imagine any flight over maybe 6 hours in a regular coach seat.
@ACinCLT I think 8-10 hours in economy is my limit, depending on the seat configuration.
Re no lie-flat seats, this is not necessarily true. Air Canada does have some ex-SQ A330s where the original business class seats (angle lie-flat) are sold as premium economy. I also belie PIA markets what was business class as “Executive Economy” these days because it’s really not up to standard for business class.
@Liam Thanks, I didn’t know that!