Premium Economy v Business?

[okgo]

Travellers of PH

I've got a mixture of biz class flights coming up, and want to amuse myself with how bad they will be, here are the airlines - any thoughts would be good

Air India
Malaysian
Thai Airlines

[bad company]

okgo said:

Travellers of PH

I've got a mixture of biz class flights coming up, and want to amuse myself with how bad they will be, here are the airlines - any thoughts would be good

Air India
Malaysian
Thai Airlines

Malaysian is ok, haven’t tried the others.

[alfaman]

okgo said:

Travellers of PH

I've got a mixture of biz class flights coming up, and want to amuse myself with how bad they will be, here are the airlines - any thoughts would be good

Air India
Malaysian
Thai Airlines

Don’t fly Air India !!! Even my Indian colleagues say it’s awful.

Have flown Thai business class recently - was decent

Malaysian are also decent.

If you have to stop via India ... Jet is pretty good. Or use a main ME or Asian carrier ( CX, MH, SQ, Thai.or China Southern or ANA )

[okgo]

alfaman said:

Don’t fly Air India !!! Even my Indian colleagues say it’s awful.

Have flown Thai business class recently - was decent

Malaysian are also decent.

If you have to stop via India ... Jet is pretty good. Or use a main ME or Asian carrier ( CX, MH, SQ, Thai.or China Southern or ANA )

They have booked it haha, no choice, I said I wanted a lie flat bed (long flight this one) so at least it has that. But I'd like to know why its so st... I like curry hahaha.

[arfursleep]

Harvey Mushman00 said:

85Carrera said:

Premium economy is for mugs. If you can’t afford business, just go economy (or, preferably, don’t go).

What an utterly ridiculous statement, so if someone considers the extra room, double baggage allowance, priority boarding is worth it, and business or first is simply not an option because they cannot afford it, you consider them mugs, well I think that makes you a c0ck...……..of the highest order...…...

Travel with work a bit and PE is preferred seating because its 1) usually a wider seat with greater pitch meaning a mere 5'9" like me can get comfier on a long flight than in Eco 2) service / food is occasionally, but not always, better 3) faster boarding/unloading 4) better baggage allowance.

I paid USD800 last year for a full year upgrade to PE from Eco on United - includes companion too. Pays for itself on one trip where a colleague and I will do 5 flights in 6 days, knowing you're getting a comfier seat and easier access on / off the plane makes a difference when you're looking at another airport at 6am in the morning.

Just completed round trip to Oz in Economy on Thai via Bangkok. Service etc was okay but seats (pitch/width) were horrendous even on the A380 we flew out on, even the kids complained they couldn't get comfy etc. Couldn't justify the extra £3k to go even into PE on a different airline

[djc206]

okgo said:

Travellers of PH

I've got a mixture of biz class flights coming up, and want to amuse myself with how bad they will be, here are the airlines - any thoughts would be good

Air India
Malaysian
Thai Airlines

If on the new Malaysian A350 quite good, on the old A380 average.

[schmalex]

okgo said:

Travellers of PH

I've got a mixture of biz class flights coming up, and want to amuse myself with how bad they will be, here are the airlines - any thoughts would be good

Air India
Malaysian
Thai Airlines

As has been said, Malaysian is OK. Avoid Air India like the plague.

[GT03ROB]

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

[GCH]

GT03ROB said:

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

Yep. BA178 is the one to take (08:00/20:30) and a jet lag beater.

[louiebaby]

GCH said:

Yep. BA178 is the one to take (08:00/20:30) and a jet lag beater.

There is a daytime flight back from Boston too, which made travelling with a small child a whole lot more bearable.

"It's bedtime already" rather than "it's morning already"...

[Leonard Stanley]

GT03ROB said:

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

I know, the timing was enforced - had a very long day with the client and it was actually quite tight making the flight.

Next time will probably be back in Business, but the BA Business bed is really not very comfortable anyway (I'm tempted to take a sleeping bag with me for extra comfort). Still superior to the horrendous neck crunching nodding off feeling in a seat.

[Leonard Stanley]

GCH said:

GT03ROB said:

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

Yep. BA178 is the one to take (08:00/20:30) and a jet lag beater.

True, but either way you still have that sthole of a lounge at JFK to endure. Absolutely vile.

[GT03ROB]

Leonard Stanley said:

GT03ROB said:

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

I know, the timing was enforced - had a very long day with the client and it was actually quite tight making the flight.

Next time will probably be back in Business, but the BA Business bed is really not very comfortable anyway (I'm tempted to take a sleeping bag with me for extra comfort). Still superior to the horrendous neck crunching nodding off feeling in a seat.

I actually don't find it too bad. Can always get to sleep (well after a few glasses of pop anyway!). And I know exactly that nodding off feeling you refer to.

[captain_cynic]

Leonard Stanley said:

GCH said:

GT03ROB said:

Leonard Stanley said:

Ok, flew BA PE to JFK and back 10 days ago. Daytime flight out - fine, no issues. Night flight back (the 23:00) - not ideal, entire plane stank of urine + carpet on boarding but the smell faded (a bit). It was bearable - chuffing knackered the next day though.

Night flight back from JFK you will feel st next day even flying 1st. Flights are too short to get proper night sleep. For me any overnighter that is less than 8 hrs leaves me feeling yuck.

Yep. BA178 is the one to take (08:00/20:30) and a jet lag beater.

True, but either way you still have that sthole of a lounge at JFK to endure. Absolutely vile.

That's not the worst part... After you leave the lounge you're boarding a BA flight.

[bad company]

captain_cynic said:

That's not the worst part... After you leave the lounge you're boarding a BA flight.

BA can be disappointing but they’re not a bad airline imo. We fly to the USA 2-3 times a year and always preferred Virgin but we couldn’t use them or partner airlines so easily for other destinations so switched to BA.

[djc206]

I always sleep well on BA’s club world seats. The IFE is old hat and the layout a bit odd but I really don’t mind it.

[bad company]

djc206 said:

I always sleep well on BA’s club world seats. The IFE is old hat and the layout a bit odd but I really don’t mind it.

I had to Google IFE - In Flight Entertainment.

[schmalex]

I really don’t like BA, but the big thing they have in their favour is that they run the cabin a fair bit cooler than many other long haul operators.

[pushthebutton]

djc206 said:

The IFE is old hat and the layout a bit odd but I really don’t mind it.

Which one out of interest?

The Panasonic eX3, the Thales or the Rockwell Collins one?

[Leonard Stanley]

The one thing I don't mind too much is the service onboard. It can actually sometimes reach the giddy heights of 'OK'.

If you mentally adjust to the fact that you're not going to experience delightful tottering dolly-birds (usually a big plus if you're shallow like me), BA service is actually akin to be looked after by your mum. A slightly fussy, quasi-matronly approach which has its charm.