Economy Seating - Would you pay more for legroom?
I have paid for WT+ on all my recent long haul flights (say the last 4/5 years). In fact I'm paying for Air NZ Business LHR/HKG/AKL/SFO/-LAX/LHR starting any day now. As others have said when I can no longer afford it I probably won't want to undergo long haul however comfortable.
As others have said, a bit of searching can often find you a good deal on such products.
There is another reason for buying WT+ and that is that I've been told that one reason it came into being was that the upgrade between WT and C was becoming too steep. Thus when a premium card waving passenger books WT and waves the card they can be given an upgrade (to WT+) without giving too much away - that can (sometimes) lead to upgrades from WT+ to C.
As others have said, a bit of searching can often find you a good deal on such products.
There is another reason for buying WT+ and that is that I've been told that one reason it came into being was that the upgrade between WT and C was becoming too steep. Thus when a premium card waving passenger books WT and waves the card they can be given an upgrade (to WT+) without giving too much away - that can (sometimes) lead to upgrades from WT+ to C.
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My current airline of choice when traveling BKK to LHR and return is EVA. A late model fleet,fabulous in flight service and really good departure and arrival times in each direction - day flight to London and night flight back.
Currently the difference in fares between Economy and Premium Economy is 13,500 Baht (£214 at normal rates of exchange but currently £270 due to the pounds' weakness). It translates to about a 30% increase over the Economy Class fare.
Needless to say you have to book very early to secure a seat in Premium Economy but at the price it is well worth it.
Currently the difference in fares between Economy and Premium Economy is 13,500 Baht (£214 at normal rates of exchange but currently £270 due to the pounds' weakness). It translates to about a 30% increase over the Economy Class fare.
Needless to say you have to book very early to secure a seat in Premium Economy but at the price it is well worth it.
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Economy + Great Barrier Reef vs Business
Have just flown Emirates JNB-DXB-BKK-SYD return with my wife and 2 kids. Cattle class. The cost of upgrading just 1 of us to business was more than a 4 day cruise on the Great Barrier Reef in two suites. The reef won hands down.
Travelling as a family we can create much better memories by putting the available funds to use at the destination. Travelling business does not create memories!
Travelling as a family we can create much better memories by putting the available funds to use at the destination. Travelling business does not create memories!
Paxing All Over The World
Travelling business does not create memories!
You are right, MidmarMile, that for a family it is prohibitively expensive. For a couple, it can be a real positive and boost the holiday. It is all down to money and personal priorities. It is clear for the carriers that money will be the single biggest point for their customers, even without the deep recession.
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As much as I would LOVE to fly business class, it's just impossible for us. We make a yearly trip from LHR to BNE, it's a fair old journey, so I would definitely be willing to pay a couple of hundred quid per seat for more comfort/legroom. A 22/23 hour flight is not fun in Y, but I have to say last year we were on Singapore's A380 for the LHR - SIN leg and it was definitely more comfortable that the 747's. Still, 2 or 3 more inches for a £100 would be a no brainer for me. 
yes
yes i will pay more
if i can get decent long haul Y seat with a min of 34'' of legroom (which frankly is the MINIMUM that any airline should be offering to its l/h pax)
then thats fine but no way i am sitting 9 hours plus in a seat so vile i want to get off !
how come i have been more comfy in a domestic a320 or smaller jet on an hours' hop then to find myself painfully wedged in a virgin wide-body jet for a 10 hour slog>?
it beggars belief doesnt it>?
if the best l/h airlines had not put in the extra damn seats in the first place but kept the fares abit higher we still would have travelled LOL!!!
believe it or not one of the roomiest leg rooms u can get in cheapo class is with Olympic on their a340's 34'' and wide roomy seat with leg rest,
ok they may snarl at you but its very comfy !
if i can get decent long haul Y seat with a min of 34'' of legroom (which frankly is the MINIMUM that any airline should be offering to its l/h pax)
then thats fine but no way i am sitting 9 hours plus in a seat so vile i want to get off !
how come i have been more comfy in a domestic a320 or smaller jet on an hours' hop then to find myself painfully wedged in a virgin wide-body jet for a 10 hour slog>?
it beggars belief doesnt it>?
if the best l/h airlines had not put in the extra damn seats in the first place but kept the fares abit higher we still would have travelled LOL!!!
believe it or not one of the roomiest leg rooms u can get in cheapo class is with Olympic on their a340's 34'' and wide roomy seat with leg rest,
ok they may snarl at you but its very comfy !
Paxing All Over The World
dreamwatch
I suspect the problem is called 'product differentiation' or some such by the kids in marketing.
The problem is that, if they give you that three inches for £150, how do they continue to justify giving someone in the next cabin along an extra nine inches for £1,500?
Obviously I am just picking figures at random but they HAVE to keep the price gap high, in order to keep up the price of the really big seats. If they allow pricing to start sliding backwards, they will be in trouble, especially as they need to raise prices. (On one route I looked at as a possible this year, checking at February and October, the October price was 25% higher and you would expect it to be the other way around.)
I think that the way they are providing the few extra inches for £100/150 is the selling of exit row seats (which has been discussed here a lot). Lastly, American Airlines did a big campaign to throw out rows of seats and expand the leg room. They found it made no difference to sales as the sale is dependent upon the price. They found that people want to pay less and grumble more - and that was two years ago before the Recession.
So I do not see any carrier changing current practice and offering a bit more for a reasonable price.
Still, 2 or 3 more inches for a £100 would be a no brainer for me.
The problem is that, if they give you that three inches for £150, how do they continue to justify giving someone in the next cabin along an extra nine inches for £1,500?
Obviously I am just picking figures at random but they HAVE to keep the price gap high, in order to keep up the price of the really big seats. If they allow pricing to start sliding backwards, they will be in trouble, especially as they need to raise prices. (On one route I looked at as a possible this year, checking at February and October, the October price was 25% higher and you would expect it to be the other way around.)
I think that the way they are providing the few extra inches for £100/150 is the selling of exit row seats (which has been discussed here a lot). Lastly, American Airlines did a big campaign to throw out rows of seats and expand the leg room. They found it made no difference to sales as the sale is dependent upon the price. They found that people want to pay less and grumble more - and that was two years ago before the Recession.
So I do not see any carrier changing current practice and offering a bit more for a reasonable price.
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32 inch seat pitch to 35 inch is around 13% more in ticket price for economy.
Personally I would have 30 inches in Economy and a superior service in the premium cabins at a price to encourage sales.
Economy is price sensitive, not service or comfort sensitive.
Personally I would have 30 inches in Economy and a superior service in the premium cabins at a price to encourage sales.
Economy is price sensitive, not service or comfort sensitive.
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BA kindly upgraded myself and Mrs TN from WT to WT+ DXB-LHR a few weeks ago and I have to say it was a lot better than WT. The quiet was the main thing I noticed as well as the increase in comfort. I would definitely consider WT+ as a paying customer but it all depends on the price difference to economy. The thing is - you don't get there any quicker in the premium cabins - you did with Concorde and that's why people used it.
TN
TN
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"Back of the bus barely covers operating cost."
...which is why TG is finding life tough these days. So many of its premium cabin seats are always given away to politicians, bureaucrats, superannuated air force brass and the families of the above, that it doesn't make money at the front, either. Which leaves... Oops!
Is it the only airline in the world which doesn't make money from the premium cabins? One would surmise that there might be the odd African or former Soviet outfit in the same position. What wonderful company we do keep in this country.
...which is why TG is finding life tough these days. So many of its premium cabin seats are always given away to politicians, bureaucrats, superannuated air force brass and the families of the above, that it doesn't make money at the front, either. Which leaves... Oops!
Is it the only airline in the world which doesn't make money from the premium cabins? One would surmise that there might be the odd African or former Soviet outfit in the same position. What wonderful company we do keep in this country.
Too mean to buy a long personal title
How about premium economy for the long sector between LHR and SIN (or wherever)? If you buy at the right time, that might be only a couple of hundred quid each way.
