Premium Economy v Business?

[jakesmith]

Puggit said:

And we know how BA treats economy short haul passengers (mooo!).

I probably take 10-20 flights a year so not much compared to most on here but one thing I can say is treat cabin crew with respect in a polite and friendly way and you’ll get the same back

I find extended legroom to be the best value upgrade. £60 to west coast USA and you can stretch right out. Pe is a waste of money and business I’ve done a few times and don’t see the value personally

[captain_cynic]

jakesmith said:

Puggit said:

And we know how BA treats economy short haul passengers (mooo!).

I probably take 10-20 flights a year so not much compared to most on here but one thing I can say is treat cabin crew with respect in a polite and friendly way and you’ll get the same back

I think that comment has more to do with the other parts of customer service. Complaints ignored (hoping not to pay compensation as required by the EU), more and more seats crammed into smaller planes, complete and utter indifference from customer service staff.

BA will be screwing their cabin staff harder than their customers though.

[theguvernor15]

I've only ever gone business once (when my parents paid about 15 years ago to Florida on Virgin), admittedly i wasn't old enough to appreciate it, but it was a much smaller cabin.
I hadn't flown anything over 4 hours since then, until we went to NYC in December.
We flew Economy, i toyed with the idea of upgrading to premium economy/business (which you had to walk through), but i had a few meals provided + a TV to watch movies on, i was more than happy in economy, considering the amount they wanted to upgrade i didn't see the value if i'm honest!
I'm not fussy with food, so as long as i had some entertainment (in the form of a book/movies to watch i was fine).
It was the same coming back, however it was an overnight flight, so i just had some food, chucked the headphones in, closed my eyes & woke up when they woke everyone up for food.

However...

If my employer was offering to pay, then why the hell not!

[schmalex]

For a short hop over to NYC or anywhere on the east coast US, economy or PE is absolutely fine, pretty much regardless who you fly with. You can time the flights to be day time both ways and the time difference is pretty minimal so jet lag isn’t really an issue. Business or First only really starts to make sense on long haul if you need to be some semblance of fresh when you get off the plane.

Edited by schmalex on Tuesday 11th September 14:44

[tvrolet]

eein said:

Looking at each other is odd, the TVs have to be put away at take off and landing, the tables need to be put up if you want to get out so there's nowhere to put a glass or something.

Works for me.... Yes the screens have to be folded back when the hostie does the check, but you can pull then out again once she's gone as they're still on. You can get out with the table 'half folded', and there's a nice big shelf for drinkies and 3 bins to put junk in. Assuming of course you're on a rear-facing window - which I really like, especially at the bulkhead; in fact my seat layout of choice.

[bloomen]

theguvernor15 said:

We flew Economy, i toyed with the idea of upgrading to premium economy/business (which you had to walk through), but i had a few meals provided + a TV to watch movies on, i was more than happy in economy, considering the amount they wanted to upgrade i didn't see the value if i'm honest!

Flew to Boston the other day in economy on Aer Lingus from Brum via Shannon which is my first flight above 2 or so hours for quite some time. It was fine. There was a chair with enough space. I sat there for a bit. We arrived.

Business would've been a minimum of £75 extra per hour for a bit of extra bum wiggling there and back, or £25-30 per hour in premium economy on other routes. It doesn't really add up in my mind.

I'm toying with first class to Australia just the once to see what it's like but I'm wondering whether I'd be burning with resentment at the absolute wastage. At the very least I'd have to take the captain's clothes to get some lasting value from the outlay.

[schmalex]

bloomen said:

Flew to Boston the other day in economy on Aer Lingus from Brum via Shannon which is my first flight above 2 or so hours for quite some time. It was fine. There was a chair with enough space. I sat there for a bit. We arrived.

Business would've been a minimum of £75 extra per hour for a bit of extra bum wiggling there and back, or £25-30 per hour in premium economy on other routes. It doesn't really add up in my mind.

I'm toying with first class to Australia just the once to see what it's like but I'm wondering whether I'd be burning with resentment at the absolute wastage. At the very least I'd have to take the captain's clothes to get some lasting value from the outlay.

Don’t waste your money on F to Australia. Business on Qatar, Emirates or Etihad will be much more palatable (Qatar biz is closer to a F product to be honest)

[fizz47]

schmalex said:

Don’t waste your money on F to Australia. Business on Qatar, Emirates or Etihad will be much more palatable (Qatar biz is closer to a F product to be honest)

Only if you get the Q suite which at the moment is very hit or miss...

Having said that tried all versions of Qatar’s LH business and would still take their oldest 777 business class seat over BA CW..

[bitchstewie]

Does anyone know how strict Lufthansa Business Class is on carry on?

Bags are within size but not sure how close I'll get the trolley to 8KG.

Could be worrying about nothing but would prefer not to have to check-in.

EDIT: Wi-Fi on airplanes so I don't get too bored during the flight?! I had no idea this was reasonable standard these days.

Edited by bhstewie on Tuesday 11th September 18:29

[fizz47]

bhstewie said:

Does anyone know how strict Lufthansa Business Class is on carry on?

Bags are within size but not sure how close I'll get the trolley to 8KG.

Could be worrying about nothing but would prefer not to have to check-in.

EDIT: Wi-Fi on airplanes so I don't get too bored during the flight?! I had no idea this was reasonable standard these days.

Edited by bhstewie on Tuesday 11th September 18:29

Never had LH weigh my carry on...have not tried the WiFi on LH but other planes it’s been rubbish - QR, BA or Emirates although I’ve only ever used the ‘free’ service and never paid for the extra time etc.. rather than WiFi I would say pre plan and load up movies on your tablet/laptop..

[schmalex]

There’s a big black spot over Pakistan where you can’t get satellite broadband.

On Emirates, if you join Skywards before you fly, you get free broadband otherwise it’s $20 or so. It’s not good enough for gaming or streaming movies, but perfectly fine for SMS / (slow) web browsing and WhatsApp calls

[number2]

schmalex said:

For a short hop over to NYC or anywhere on the east coast US, economy or PE is absolutely fine, pretty much regardless who you fly with. You can time the flights to be day time both ways and the time difference is pretty minimal so jet lag isn’t really an issue. Business or First only really starts to make sense on long haul if you need to be some semblance of fresh when you get off the plane.

Edited by schmalex on Tuesday 11th September 14:44

What is at the other end that could justify the (end-to-end) economy experience? There are five-guys burger restaurants in the UK, and one can just as easily be stabbed... the pursuit of 'experience' at such personal degradation is quite insane. but true

[schmalex]

True. Apologies for being so churlish

[bitchstewie]

First world problems - I have a window seat already.

Is there any significant difference between the upper and lower deck of a 747 in business?

[schmalex]

Upper deck is a lot smaller, with only a few rows. It feels more like a private jet and is a bit quieter. If you can get the A or K seats, you get a fair amount more storage with the bins.

[bitchstewie]

schmalex said:

Upper deck is a lot smaller, with only a few rows. It feels more like a private jet and is a bit quieter. If you can get the A or K seats, you get a fair amount more storage with the bins.

Thank you, it's a "K" seat - all I care about is a window I did read the "private jet" comments so given I may never do this again, seat changed

[schmalex]

Download the Exper Flyer app. You will be able to see which seats are free or taken in all classes of the flight.

[fizz47]

bhstewie said:

First world problems - I have a window seat already.

Is there any significant difference between the upper and lower deck of a 747 in business?

Personally find the upper deck a much better place, less people to disturb you and feels much less like a dorm room - I find service and and attention given by the crew to be better too.