Spiga

Bookmark and Share   

Premium economy

Premium Economy is a travel class offered on some airlines, taking one of two forms:

* a simple upgrade to the Economy class provided as a free upgrade to premium members of frequent flyer program and passengers flying full-fare economy, normally as a section of the economy/coach cabin, which generally provides more legroom (36-38" seat pitch) by removing a few rows of seats, along with some form of leg rest, possibly enhanced In-flight entertainment and dedicated cabin crew
* a more comprehensive upgrade, in return for higher fare, which will normally be in the form of a separate cabin section, combining the enhanced legroom of the simple upgrade with better seats (often with fewer seats per row, to improve shoulder/elbow room), at–seat laptop power, in-seat telephone, possibly a lounge service, priority boarding, improved entertainment features, improved meals and drinks and more luggage allowance.

Some airlines may designate an entire economy class as premium, such as United p.s. on its trans-continental Boeing 757-200 premium service aircraft.

Premium Economy tickets also normally earn more mileage in an airline's frequent flyer program, attracting a bonus between Economy and Business.

Class of service codes used by airlines vary—for example, Virgin Atlantic denotes Premium Economy as W.

Airlines offering this service include:

* Air Austral: Classe Confort
* Air France: Premium Voyageur (Economy Plus Class), Premium Economy recently announced to be offered in their non-COI long haul fleet (except for their Boeing 747-400), beginning with CDG-JFK, NRT and KIX.
* Air New Zealand: Pacific Premium Economy (only available during long-haul flights on Boeing 747's and Boeing 777's. For short-haul flights, this cabin is turned into a Space+ zone exclusively for premium members of Air NZ frequent flyers (Gold Elite, Gold, Koru) and Star Alliance Gold members, as well as passengers flying full-fare economy on space available basis.
* All Nippon Airways: Premium Economy
* BMI: Premium Economy
* British Airways: World Traveller Plus
* EVA Air: Elite Class
* Icelandair: Economy comfort
* Japan Airlines: Premium Economy (Only International Boeing 777 fleet serving London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, and Moscow to/from Tokyo Narita)
* KLM: Europe Select (Only on inter-Europe itineraries)
* Midwest Airlines: Signature Service (Only found on Boeing 717s, which will be retired later this year)
* Pakistan International Airlines - "Economy Plus+"
* Qantas: Premium Economy (Available on Boeing 747's and Airbus A380's from April 2008)
* SAS Scandinavian Airlines: Economy Extra
* Singapore Airlines: Executive Economy used to run on non-stop flights from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles. This was discontinued in favor of all-Business Class flights.
* Spirit Airlines: Big Front Seat
* Thai Airways International: Premium Economy (Will be discontinued with elimination of the Airbus A340-500)
* United Airlines - Economy Plus (Only offers extra legroom)
* V Australia: Premium Economy
* Vietnam Airlines: Deluxe Economy
* Virgin America: Main Cabin Select
* Virgin Atlantic: Premium Economy
* Virgin Blue: Premium Economy

From http://en.wikipedia.org/

0 comments: