Why Premium Economy is now my first option for long distance flights
I enjoy a regular long haul holiday, in the past heading to places like Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. All these flights are quite a long distance, over 11 hours on average. On our initial holidays we used the economy option and I recall one particular flight, about 5 hours after take off, I awoke somewhere over Russia to find the whole left side of my body had almost gone numb, as I had fallen asleep in an twisted foetal position against the window bulkhead. Most modern airliners are comfortable these days but in economy class I often find it hard to sleep or even get comfortable. When booking with our travel agents, Trailfinders, I was given the option of Premium Economy. I thought it would be very expensive but for the relative change in price, it is actually a very nice step up. After-all not everyone can go Business or First Class. (I did price those options but for us it was just that bit too high.)
Why Book Premium Economy?
Our previous Premium Economy flights were with Qantas, and that includes a private cabin of between 32 and 40 seats, dedicated flight attendants, extra legroom, lots of room near your seat for storage, larger seats which recline more than economy, complimentary sparkling wine when you board, continuous refreshment service and self-serve bars, available on the Qantas A380 and refurbished B747 aircraft … and much more. I was totally amazed at the level of service !!

On arrival at your seat… Premium Economy with Qantas Airlines – April 17 2011 ; Airbus A380
We really enjoyed it and I got about 6 hours sleep on the London – Singapore flight.
My Travel in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 – Premium Economy again!
This year we fly with Cathay Pacific, London Heathrow to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Sydney, then Auckland to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to London – all of which are Premium Economy. I will be adding a blog about that as I have heard that the Cathay experience is amazing. They recently were voted the “Worlds Best Airline” so congrats to the Cathay family on that one ! We were to fly with Cathay to Bali in 2002 but the Bali bombings occurred 28 days before we flew so that was cancelled, but we later flew with Cathay to Hong Kong in 2010 for our honeymoon. Therefore I am very much looking forward to being on board the very nicely liveried Cathay 777’s in Premium Economy style.
The key questions about Premium Economy!
Is Premium Economy Good? In my view yes! Is Premium Economy Worth The Money? It depends on what deal you are getting! Will you ever go back to traveling economy? If the flight is more than 8 hours, no. I will always enquire about an premium economy option! If you have any questions about my air travel experiences please drop me a comment below. (I always love getting comments on my travel blog)
Please read Part 2 to this blog post – The Cathay Pacific Premium Economy Review & Experience
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