I’ve long criticized Virgin Blue Premium Economy for very high pricing, nothing special in seats, no perks etc. Couldn’t think why anyone flew it. Not surprised when basically no-one does.
But then I did it Per-ADL and return a week ago in Premium Economy, and to my complete and utter surprise, had the best flights I’ve had in Aus for a very long time. I walked off in ADL with a big grin on my face, and after decades of flying with multitudinous flights up the front of the cabin, that doesn’t happen easily.
Yes, it was the EMB190 as a big plus, and this a/c is (also to my surprise) a great pax experience even though it is a 4 seat wide narrowbody (should that be tinybody? to fit in a scale of widebody, narrowbody and tinybody).
Premium Economy was great. For starters there was no-one else around. I got 12 seats – 3 rows to myself. Can’t get close to that anywhere else in the world these days, unless you own the plane yourself. Certainly can’t get that on Qantas. Not for nothing are they held in high regard for their efficient yield management and booking systems. Not for nothing are you jammed in like sheep on a live sheep carrier.
And Perth now has a DJ lounge. It was almost empty. There was about 75 sq.m. per person, which beats the Qantas Club design of 3 sq.m. per person. On the plane, all the food and drink were free. The cabin crew were very attentive and extremely pleasant. On one leg, I was tired and pulled down the shade to sleep. Next thing, all the blinds in the three rows were down, and MY PERSONAL cabin was dark, cool and peaceful.
All this will change if large numbers started using Premium Economy, but for the next few years, I’m going to close my eyes to the price on the longer legs and fly it more often from now.