Vigin or BA; Economy or Premium Economy?

[nini]

We want a non stop flight from SEA to LHR. When we flew about a year ago, we were on BA

and it was fine (Economy), however a bit tight. We are not large people. 

This was our first ever trip to Europe. 

We will book through Princess EZ Air and the two lowest categories are Economy

and Premium Economy. The choices we are looking at are for Virgin and BA.

For those of you who have flown Premium Economy with either of those:

 

1. Was it worth paying twice the fare?

2. Are you glad you did and would you do it again?

 

I realize that the classes are semantics between each airline and EZ Air;

would appreciate any feedback. The rates are pretty good right now!

[bennybear]

We have flown BA premium economy a couple of times and for long haul we feel it is definitely worth it. The more spacious comfortable seating and upgraded food is nice it for an overnight flight.  

[wowzz]

We have used them both.  We consider the premium worth paying,  as you get a smaller, more intimate cabin,  more space, and better food and service. However, don't expect the full club class experience, but, to be fair, you aren't paying club prices.

We prefer VS over BA because you get free seat selection (not sure how that works if buying through EZ Air) and a seperate check in area. IMHO the service is better as well. 

[nini]

Thank you both! I appreciate your feedback.

[Globaliser]

On 1/20/2020 at 1:34 AM, nini said:

1. Was it worth paying twice the fare?

2. Are you glad you did and would you do it again?

 

1. I don't think that this is the best way of looking at it. The real question is: how much more does it cost to fly premium economy than to fly economy, and is the extra cost worth it? If economy is £200 and premium economy is £400 in each direction, the "double" is worth it. But if economy is £800 and premium economy is £1,600 in each direction, then the "double" is less likely to be worth it.

 

2. Premium economy is now our normal baseline choice. Doing anything up to a dozen long-haul round-trips a year is much too much hard work in economy, especially if we plan to go straight from work to the airport to start the trip, and straight from the airport to work at the end of the trip.

[scottbee]

On 1/19/2020 at 5:34 PM, nini said:

We want a non stop flight from SEA to LHR. When we flew about a year ago, we were on BA

and it was fine (Economy), however a bit tight. We are not large people. 

This was our first ever trip to Europe. 

We will book through Princess EZ Air and the two lowest categories are Economy

and Premium Economy.

...

 

Your requirements for non-stop and to fly to LHR will always limit the number of airlines, this case just to British & Virgin Atlantic.

 

Is LHR a hard requirement ?   Would Gatwick work?  In which case you open up Norwegian as an option, and their PE offering is somewhat less than BA or VS's

 

if you're going to London itself, Gatwick is pretty easy, with lots of rail service into downtown.  If you're going to Southampton it is a tiny bit further, but has the advantage of direct rail service, whereas you're on a coach from Heathrow to Southampton.

 

If you're going to Dover, Gatwick is a *lot* closer to Dover than Heathrow is.

 

[nini]

Thanks Globaliser and Scottbee: It really does make a difference as the fare increases, the "twice as much" factor

takes on a different meaning. In this case, it is about $600.00 versus $1200.00

We do not fly much, but I realize  that if you are doing it a lot, that the economy class could

get annoying. 

 

LHR is not required, but I have not found any Norwegian flights on Princess EZAir. Also, if we use

Gatwick, there is no non-stop from Seattle.

[rwdtgb]

We have flown both Ba more often however our choice would be Virgin a better product in our opinion.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, rwdtgb said:

We have flown both Ba more often however our choice would be Virgin a better product in our opinion.

We have flown both as well.  When you get a good BA crew, the service is fantastic,  much better than VS.  Unfortunately however, too often the service can be indifferent,  whereas with VS the service always seems to be upbeat, even if it can be a little rough round the edges. 

At the end of the day, both are better than being in economy.

[nini]

We decided to book Premium Economy on Virgin. It is EZAir so if the price drops,

we have that option. I appreciate the comments. 😁

[nini]

BTW- the price dropped 2 days later, saving us $188.00 per person.