a collage of an airplane seats

These Airlines Offer A Real Premium Economy Seat

Steven Ganeles·
CabinPremium EconomySmart Travel

Many airlines offer an enhanced product from the standard economy seat. Originally airlines started off by offering seats with extra leg room, but there has been a trend to introduce a true premium economy section. Premium economy seats come in a many shapes and sizes and they come with many additional benefits that can include lounge access or walk up bars. Don’t get fooled with google flight results that put you in Delta Comfort or United Economy Plus, below are the airlines that offer a true premium economy product:

Aeroflot

Image result for aeroflot premium economy

Seat Type: Fixed Shell
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 20″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes, Same as In Economy
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage
Qualifying Miles: 100% (When Crediting to Delta Air Lines)
Redeemable Miles: 100% (When Crediting to Delta Air Lines)

Air Canada

Image result for air canada premium economy

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 37″-38″
Seat Width: 18″-20″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage, Priority services: Boarding, Check-In and Baggage Handling
Qualifying Miles: 125%
Redeemable Miles: 125%

*Foot Rests not available in first row

Air France

Image result for air france premium economy

Seat Type: Fixed Shell
Seat Pitch: 38″-40″
Seat Width: 19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest and Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes (toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, socks, eye mask)
Additional Benefits: Noise canceling headphones and Sky Priority services
Qualifying Miles: 4 XP – 24 XP
Redeemable Miles: 4 miles per € 1 spent

Air New Zealand

the seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 41″-42″
Seat Width: 18.5″-20″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage, Premium check-in
Qualifying Miles: Calculated
Redeemable Miles: up to 150% (with partner airlines)

Alitalia

Alitalia offers a handsome looking premium economy cabin on transatlantic A330 aircraft.

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 37″-38″
Seat Width: 19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: No
Additional Benefits: Priority Check-In and Boarding
Qualifying Miles: 3,000-5,300 Millemiglia Miles
Redeemable Miles: 3,000-5,300 Millemiglia Miles

American Airlines

a row of seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 36″-38″
Seat Width: 17.1″- 19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Casper bedding, Pre-ordered meals, Enhanced food and beverage, Priority check-in and boarding, Noise canceling headphones
Qualifying Miles: 150%
Redeemable Miles: 5 miles for every $1 spent

*Leg Rests available in first row

All Nippon Airways

a close-up of a table in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 18.5″-19.3″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rests and Foot Rests
Lounge Access: Yes
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Priority Check-in and Baggage, Enhanced beverage and snack options
Qualifying Miles: at least 100%
Redeemable Miles: 110%

British Airways

Image result for british airways premium economy

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 18.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rests or Leg Rests, Depending on Aircraft Type
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Priority boarding, Enhanced bedding, Noise canceling headphones
Qualifying Miles: 80-150 Tier Points
Redeemable Miles: 100% – 150%

Cathay Pacific

Image result for cathay pacific premium economy

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″-40″
Seat Width: 19.3″-20″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rests*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Priority check-in and boarding, Pre-departure beverage, Enhanced food and beverage, Noise canceling headphones
Qualifying Miles: 15 – 75 Tier Points
Redeemable Miles: 110%

*Leg Rests Available in the first row only and in all rows on A350 planes

China Airlines

China Airlines A350-900 Premium Economy Class

Seat Type: Fixed Shell
Seat Pitch: 38″-39″
Seat Width: 19″-20″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: N/A
Qualifying Miles: 0%-115%
Redeemable Miles: 0%-115%

Delta (Premium Select Available on A350 and
Select 777’s Only)

a row of seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 18.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Sky Priority services, Tumi amenity kits, LSTN noise canceling headphones, Westin Heavenly blanket, Plated food and enhanced beverage
Qualifying Miles: 150%
Redeemable Miles: 5 miles for every $1 spent

EVA Air

EVA Air's 777-300er Elite premium economy class seats feature 38 inches of pitch and 19.5 inches of width in a 2-4-2 layout. Image by EVA Air.

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 19.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rests*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage, Noise canceling headphones
Qualifying Miles: 100%
Redeemable Miles: 100%-115%

*Leg Rests available in the first row only

Iberia

Image result for iberia premium economy

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 37″
Seat Width: 17.1″-19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage, Noise canceling headphones, Priority boarding
Qualifying Miles: 30-500 Tier Points
Redeemable Miles: 100%-150%

*Leg Rests available in first row only

Japan Airlines

Image result for japan airlines premium economy

Seat Type: Fixed Shell
Seat Pitch: 38″-42″
Seat Width: 18″-19.3″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rests and Leg Rests
Lounge Access: Yes
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced beverages, Priority check-In, Boarding, and Baggage
Qualifying Miles: 100%
Redeemable Miles: 100%

Lufthansa

Image result for lufthansa premium economy

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″-39″
Seat Width: 18″-19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Pre-departure beverage, Plated meals
Qualifying Miles: 100%-150%
Redeemable Miles: 4 miles per € 1 spent

*Leg Rests available in the first row only

Norwegian Air Shuttle

a row of grey and red seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 43″
Seat Width: 19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: Yes, Only at some Airports.
Amenity Kit: No
Additional Benefits: Complimentary seat selection, Meal, and Luggage
Qualifying Miles: N/A
Redeemable Miles: N/A

Qantas

a row of seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner on most, Reclining Shell on-board 787-9
Seat Pitch: 38″-42″
Seat Width: 19″-20.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest on most, Foot Rest on 787-9
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Enhanced food and beverage, Priority check-in and boarding, Noise canceling headphones
Qualifying Miles: 20-160 Status Points
Redeemable Miles: 600-17,000 Qantas Points

Singapore Airlines

a row of seats on an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 19″-19.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Book the Cook pre-ordered meals, Noise canceling headphones, Priority check- in
Qualifying Miles: 100%-125%
Redeemable Miles: 100%-125%

Vietnam Airlines

a row of blue seats in an airplane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 18″-19″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Priority check-in, Boarding, and Baggage services
Qualifying Miles: 120%-130%
Redeemable Miles: 120%-130%

Virgin Atlantic

a row of chairs in a plane

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 38″
Seat Width: 21″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest*
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: Yes, Night Flights Only
Additional Benefits: Priority check-in,  Boarding, Pre-departure beverage, Enhanced food + beverage, Wander wall
Qualifying Miles: 50 – 100 Tier Points
Redeemable Miles: 100%-200%

*No Foot Rest in first row

Virgin Australia

Come for the legroom, stay for the self-serve pantry. Picture: Virgin Australia

Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 41″
Seat Width: 19.5″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Foot Rest*
Lounge Access: Available for Domestic Flights Only
Amenity Kit: Yes
Additional Benefits: Pre-departure champagne and canapes, Priority check-in and Boarding, Enhanced food and beverage, Self serve bar
Qualifying Miles: 30-150 Status Credits
Redeemable Miles: 125%

*No Foot Rest in first row

Wow Air

a row of purple seats on an airplane
Image via Youtube
Seat Type: Standard Recliner
Seat Pitch: 37″
Seat Width: 17″
Foot Rest/Leg Rest: Leg Rest
Lounge Access: No
Amenity Kit: No
Additional Benefits: Priority check-in and boarding, In-flight meal, 2 Pieces of Luggage, No Change Fee
Qualifying Miles: N/A
Redeemable Miles: N/A
Steven Ganeles

Steven followed his passion for extraordinary travel experiences from a young age, receiving his bachelor’s degree in hospitality from Boston University and studying abroad in London twice. He has a passion for using points and miles and has visited over 45 different countries for mostly free. He helps people use their miles efficiently with his business PointsElevated.com. Follow his travels on his instagram at SGTravelss

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13 Responses

  1. Hi Sam,

    What do you think about adding another Air New Zealand Premium product “Space Seat”
    They only offering this seat at the 777-300ER. The 787-9 has another product with recliner seats. The seats looks similar to some Businessclass products.

    Reply

  2. Virgin Atlantic has footstools for the 1st/bulkhead row that flight attendants bring shortly after take-off and collect shortly before landing.

    They’re actually very nice!

    Reply

  3. Hi Sam, just thought you forgot to mention Finnair they have what’s called a extra comfort seat an feminity kit on most flights and noise cancelling headsets there’s a choice of a lounge or not included for a extra fee although I usually opt out of that because I haven’t got the time in Helsinki Airport as my connection is usually less than 30 mins in total (excluding security checks).

    Also they offer the same food as in economy but you can opt for a special meal if you want again for an extra fee.

    They offer a frequent flier program which if you get enough miles you can upgrade to business class on their A350-900 fleet on long haul flights or on the shorter domestic flights in and out of short or medium haul routes in europe.

    I have flown with Finnair since last year and I am always impressed with the ecxellent levels of customer service provided by the crew.

    Got to go now as ever
    Kwan Ming.

    Reply

  5. a great comparison. I have flown LH, BA, AA on PE so far. All were sub-par, especially for the price you are paying. I would pay a bit more to be in Biz. One should consider PE on these three airlines because their Y seats are so tight. AA treats its own elites better, so you get actually better deal if you are an elite and buy economy and sit in main cabin extra without paying extra.

    From the picture, I am very surprised Aeroflot and Norwegian have much better seats than legacy carriers in EU and US. Also, Virgin, Air New Zealand, Japan airlines, Air France shine in these pictures. Would love to try them out. Would you compare the reviews??

    Reply

  9. Great write up. Thanks. One question, based on these products listed does that make carriers like Icelandair that have “business” class recliner service “Premium Economy” now versus true “Business” or “First” 🙂

    Reply

    1. I don’t think its a question of Lie-Flat vs Recliner to be considered Business class. Sure its a big factor but you also need to consider Food and Beverage, Amenities, Cabin Crew/Passenger Ratios, Earnings and more. I think that based on average flight times to Iceland a recliner is perfectly acceptable for business class when you factor in the extras.

  10. Excellent post! Really nice to have all options listed in one spot.

    If you had to list your top 5, in order, which would you choose?

    Reply

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