Economy with Emirates v premium economy with other airlines

boots_babe

Hi,

Hoping someone who has some experience can help. I'm needing to travel with work (long haul) and am struggling to get agreement for premium economy.

The suggestion at the moment is that we travel normal economy but with Emirates as they have a much better than usual economy cabin.

I know they are supposed to be a good airline, but really, need to understand what the differences may be between economy with Emirates, versus premium economy with other airlines.

If Emirates economy is really pretty good then I would feel happier having to travel economy on a 20 hour+ flight. If it's not actually THAT good, then I may want to push for premium economy a bit more.

Thank you!

jodieh12

I like Emirates economy, even better on the A380 however premium economy wins hands down. I think PE is economy service but with more room and basically thats the problem with economy there just isn't enough room. I'm assuming for 20+ hours you're going to Australia?

I'd fight for PE or offer to pay the difference, this is what I do and it is well worth the couple of hundred quid.

Jo

Doshwaster

Economy on an old Emirates planes (e.g. 777) is pretty good, though some of their planes are getting dated and are in need of a refit, but on an A380 it is just as good, if not better, than Premium Economy on BA. Legroom may not be quite as good as BA PE but the service is much better.

Check the schedules. It will probably cost more to get an an A380 but it will be worth it.

In particular, the In Flight Entertainment system on Emirates knocks the socks off any other airline I've been on.


Edit: just noticed you said this was a business trip. That changes things slightly. In that case I would book BA/Cathay/Qantas PE and then use my BA miles to upgrade to business. Also if you are going to be flying long haul with work regularly then you need to choose an airline and stick with them to benefit from the frequent flyer program.

richardw

If the flight is on B777 aircraft, emirates have 3-4-3 seating whereas the regular seating on this aircraft type is 3-3-3, more details on https://www.seatguru.com

budgetflyer

Any Emirates flights Ive had,from Glasgow, the Economy is pretty good.
But Premium Economy with BA is much better. Trouble is Emirates economy is more often cheaper than BA economy, never mind premium Economy

Doshwaster

budgetflyer wrote: »

Any Emirates flights Ive had,from Glasgow, the Economy is pretty good.
But Premium Economy with BA is much better. Trouble is Emirates economy is more often cheaper than BA economy, never mind premium Economy

Yes, it really is hard for European airlines like BA to compete with Emirates and the other Gulf airlines as they don't need to make a profit and are run as marketing arms of their governments. An interesting article on their business model: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_business_model

I always fly BA on transatlantic and European flights but usually Emirates when flying "East of Suez" as they are so much cheaper. From London to Bangkok, Emirates is often half the price of BA.

boots_babe

Wow, what a lot of fast replies, much appreciated.

No not Australia, I wish! It's India, but due to connections etc the total time from take off in Manchester to arrival at destination airport is 20 to 24 hours depending on which flight we get. Add in the door to door travel time, check in etc etc, it pushes it to around 30 hours total

Hence why I want to do what I can to have a comfortable journey. Interesting comments from you, I guess the slightly more important factor for me is space - the biggest seat I can have without being first or business. Secondary to that would be the service - although obviously would want to avoid terrible service too!

It's encouraging that there are positive thoughts on Emirates, but I'm still a bit unsure as sounds like the premium economy would still give a bigger seat area which is my main worry.

Unfortunately it won't be a regular thing, so no need to worry about airmiles etc.

bagand96

Emirates are a very good airline, no two ways about it. But I'm not sure even Emirates economy can beat Premium Economy on other airlines.

I guess the slightly more important factor for me is space - the biggest seat I can have without being first or business. Secondary to that would be the service - although obviously would want to avoid terrible service too!

It's encouraging that there are positive thoughts on Emirates, but I'm still a bit unsure as sounds like the premium economy would still give a bigger seat area which is my main worry.

In which case it is definitely worth checking what aircraft will operate your flight. As richard said, Emirates Boeing 777's are very tight, 3-4-3 configuration where most airlines use 3-3-3 on the same aircraft.

Doshwaster

boots_babe wrote: »

Wow, what a lot of fast replies, much appreciated.

No not Australia, I wish! It's India, but due to connections etc the total time from take off in Manchester to arrival at destination airport is 20 to 24 hours depending on which flight we get. Add in the door to door travel time, check in etc etc, it pushes it to around 30 hours total

Ah, India. That's changes things again. Yes, it can be a long trip. I'd be more tempted to do PE on BA (and hope for an upgrade to business!) as they serve a good network of destinations in India from Heathrow.

Emirates don't fly their nice new A380s on the India routes. They are kept for higher revenue routes such a London and Australia.

budgetflyer

When we flew Emirates, Trivandrum /Dubai / Glasgow we were offered (and took) upgrades on the TRV/DXB leg for £75 each a few days b4 flying. No Brainer.

totallybored

I recently did premium economy with Air France and found it fine, much better than standard economy and would probably do it again in future for a flight of that length (13 hours). Loads of space and the service was efficient. They were recently doing some good offers for premium economy but I'm not sure if they might have ended.