Premius Economy - is it worth it?

[Madjock]

Following on from the reclining seat thread below. We had an awful return journey from Orlando last year due to lack of space between seats and are therefore seriously considering forking out the extra for Virgin premium economy - anyone else travelled on p.e and is it worth it?

Annmarie:pinkbounc

[UKDEB]

Hi Annemarie,

We flew PE for the first time last July and absolutely loved it. So much in fact that I don't ever want to fly economy again!

Is it worth it? Tricky one. It very much depends on the way you look at things. I'm a nervous flyer and anything which serves to ease the stress is worth every penny to me. I certainly wouldn't want to pay full fare, though. We've booked PE again for our trip this October at £757 each. Full fare is almost double that.

Apart from the extra leg room, these are the main benefits:

~ Dedicated check-in. With a maximum of about 35 other passengers in PE, you are never going to find yourselves in a queue.

~ First off the plane (after Upper Class passengers)

~ Luggage also comes off the plane first and there is a separate carousel for Upper Class and PE

~ A very intimate cabin upstairs in the aircraft. I would liken it to being in a room. The layout is two seats either side of a single aisle.

~ Dedicated cabin crew - at least two people serving just 30 odd passengers.

~ Champagne or Buck's Fizz on boarding.

Virgin did have a 360 degree view of the cabin on their website, but it's recently been re-designed and the option's disappeared.

Trouble is, we got upgraded to Upper Class on the outbound journey and that is something else! Never satisfied, that's my trouble!

[Pixie Power!]

We did this on the way back last Sept, it cost us an extra £200 each (we did it at check in last minute) and it was just wonderful. UKDeb has given a great outline of everything and she hasnt missed anything - great job Deb.

Well worth the extra cost.

Emma

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I've flown all three cabins with Virgin, and I don't think that PE is worth the extra money that it costs to upgrade from Economy, especially of you have family to pay for. I didn't think that PE gave a big increase in service standards, bearing in mind how much extra a standard PE ticket costs (Upper Class is a different story, but that's a lot of money to pay!).

Unless you get a special rate the cost of PE tickets is considerably more than Ecoomy, and I would rather spend that money on having an even better time for the 14 days I'm in Orlando, and grin and bear it for the 8 hours I'm on the plane. You could upgrade your hotel, buy annual passes for the parks instead of hoppers, hire a nicer car, stay for a few extra days, etc, etc. All of these things are worth more to me than a slightly more comfortable journey there and back.

Just my opinions of course, as everyone has their own perception of value.

Regards

Rob

[Floridanut]

I'm afraid I would tend to agree with Rob on this one. For me the cheapest flights are always the best option and then spend the money you saved on having an even better time on holiday.

[thefatman]

I,ve done PE and Economy, if money was not an issue then PE all the time, but with my kids the cost of PE equals another holiday for us and we'd all rather have another holiday :)

[athurstance]

Where do you get the discounted PE seats from? We had a terrible flight back in January and I would really like to upgrade to PE but since there are 4 of us any discount I could get would be very welcome.
Thanks

Angela

[Aprilimgoing]

I would love to upgrade to PE, but the cost is far too much, even at 200 pp, its alot to pay for 9 hour sitdown. Agree with rob would rather use the money on holiday. Having said that, am going to try and get a freebee when I arrive at checkin...anythings worth a go.

When we go to turkey, we always pay for the upgrade which for this year cost us 130 for the two of us. This i don't mind paying a minimun amount for a little bit of extra legroom and better treatment, but i do think that the pe virgin ect rates are way over the top.

[Madjock]

Thanks for all your views, a great help as always. Like you Debbie I am a very nervous flyer, I have to take some valium if the flights anything over 3 hours, and we had such an awful journey home last time that I think I've more or less decided that for this length of trip forking out the extra will be worth it.

That was a great price you got for your tickets Debbie, do you mind my asking where you got them from? the prices I've been quoted so far from various places are quite steep.

Thanks again for your help
Annmarie :)

[UKDEB]

We got those prices through Virgin Travelstore. It is the cost of the flight only - the airport tax (approx £80) is on top of that. Even so, it is the best price by far we have ever been quoted for PE - we paid £1100 last July - and we snapped it up. We've paid almost that for Economy at certain times of year.

I'm afraid I've got no tips to offer. I think we just got lucky. We booked in late January for 12 October (outbound)/2 November (inbound), so not even precisely at the 11 month window.

[BevS97]

we paid £1100 last July - and we snapped it up. We've paid almost that for Economy at certain times of year.

Is that per person? nearly £1000 for an economy seat! Am I reading that right? We were quoted around the £500 mark for our economy seats initally and I turned that down. I would love to fly PE, but I just can't imagine paying that much for a single flight. We are paying about half that amount for 3 seats. I niavely thought it was about an extra £150 each like the Airtours premium seats are. I am just stunned at that figure.

Maybe when I win the lottery...

Bev

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Bev, PE costs considerably more than standard economy seats, certainly much more than the upgraded seats that some of the charter companies offer. I would be prepared to think about the charter company upgrades, especially as there are only two of us, but I agree that Virgin's upgraded cabin will have until I become a lottery winner.

Regards

Rob

[Mrs Dazzle]

We are flying PE this October - never done it before, but after such an awful flight home last May and being spoilt with Cathay Pacific's legroom when we flew to Hong Kong, we decided to go for broke (maybe literally) and enjoy the flights.

Booking package deal thru Virgin, we are paying £495 extra each for DH and I, plus £200 for DD. Virgin have just reduced child prices.

IMHO it will be worth every penny . . . .

1. if I don't get my usual seat recline guest in front
2. rush through the Qs at check-in
3. better service
4. more width for my large bottom
and finally - making us feel special!!

I really do hope it will be worth it - having agonised for weeks whether we should do it or not, I phoned up to make reservations and all they had left were PE, so decision taken.

Whatever you decide to do, you're visiting FLORIDA . . . yey hey!!:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :smooth:

[Astrid]

As someone who hummed and hahed about PE for quite a while and got back this morning having flown with it both ways, my answer .....

YES!!!! Imho worth every penny.

[Mpet]

Consider flying BA. Their World Traveller Class (economy to you and me) has more room between seats than Virgin.

I think the difference is 2-3 inches - which doesn't sound a lot but it makes a difference. Also the seats don't seen to recline as much, so that gives more room.

DH, who is 6ft 3in usually has his knees firmly wedged against the seat in front. This time he actually had some clearance between his knees and the seat in front.

We ususally fly Virgin, but got the cheap BA flights with the Daily Mail. I must say, I thought that BA had the edge.


Maxine:)

[WebmasterPenny]

No matter which way I look at it, every time I even consider PE I can't help thinking that for 8 hours or so each way cattle class, I can get two trips for the price of one PE seat. I just can't bring myself to do it! Likewise, I'd need to win the lottery and have money to burn...

Penny :)

[UKDEB]

Bev,

I think my post may be a bit ambiguous. What I actually meant was that, given that we paid £1100 last July, we snapped up the £757 price we were offered. And that is the price we've had to pay for Economy once or twice, not £1100!

[BevS97]

OK, that makes more sense - I wouldn't like it, but I can see having to pay £700 for an economy ticket. I was a little shocked at the thought of paying over a £1000 for an economy ticket!

I hope you didn't take my post the wrong way - after I posted it, I thought it might sound critical and it wasn't meant that way, just genuine surprise at the price of the tickets.

Bev

[UKDEB]

Bev, no not at all. Your post just made be realise that what made perfect sense to me when I wrote it (because I knew what I meant!) perhaps wasn't very clear. I have been accused of being extravagant (what, moi? :rolleyes: ) in my time, but even I would baulk at £1100 for an Economy ticket!

[floridamum]

I've upgraded to PE this year, I asked UK DEB if it was worth it and she said it was and thats good enough for me. So I'm looking forward to the flight more than usual.

[DisneyAli]

out of interest i phoned virgin for a PE quote and for the two of us it would have been nearly another £1000.00 to shell out and like previous answers i thought this money would be better spent whilst we were actually out there.

[Boo Boo Too]

Almost travelled PE to Florida last year, but was quoted about £1100 per person (high street travel agent) for PE and found an internet return fare of £1615 per person for Upper Class....

We tend to do a cruise before going to Orlando, so fly into Miami and not Orlando itself. The tickets were bought (and have been purchased again for this Summer :-)) as Continental BusinessFirst tickets. Contiental does a codeshare with Virgin (so your ticket is Contiental, but your seat is in Upper Class on Virgin between LGW and MIA).

In July an economy ticket can cost about £700, so a bit over twice as much for a considerably better journey (Upper Class) seems good to me. Still, no kids yet (so might have something to do with it...)

My biggest bargain yet - although OT '*** it was from LHR to LAX (and not Orlando) - was flying return Virgin Upper Class (on Continental tickets again) for just under £1100 per person. Its amazing what deals you can find if you look...

Flying anything other than economy can spoil you though (ask my poor husband...) and does use money which can be spent elsewhere (park tickets, food etc.etc.). Depends what is important to you (I like being spoilt occassionally...).

Boo

[Boo Boo Too]

Ooopppsss, double post - sorry.

Boo

[kazzie]

I'm another person who thinks PE is worth it ,every cent! Again the only negative thing is you'll not want to fly economy again!

The brochure price to fly PE is £1,100, but you can find it quite a bit cheaper than the price Virgin will quote you.

Boo,that upper class fare sounds brilliant!