Premium economy

Tag Archives for Premium economy.

Eva vs Austrian Premium Economy Dilemma!

Found a great airfare between Europe and Austria with Eva, the Taiwanese five star airline for a seat in Premium Economy. Ticks a few boxes. Great value for money, a five star airline, a new carrier for me and Star Alliance for points earning. Oh and a cool looking amenity kit! I was close to booking this fare, when another Star Alliance carrier’s Premium Economy product popped up. This time it was Austrian for a price point much lower than Eva’s. They use older planes (often on a 767 – which I love). I hear…

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Finnair’s A350 First Commercial Flight

This week’s airline porn is Finnair‘s first every A350 visit to Amsterdam Schiphol: Oneworld airline Finnair have ordered 19 of the A350 to fly their long haul routes along with A330s. They will replace their current A340 fleet. Qatar was the A350 launch customer has ordered a whopping 80 of the type. A further 31 other airlines ordered the type. Airbus has sold 598 of the type. Finnair’s A350 has 297 seats in three classes: Business-class:  46 flat bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration with a 78 to 81″ pitch and 21″ width. Every passenger will have direct aisle…

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Knee Gadget Sales Rise

After “that incident” on United Airlines this week, the Knee Defender, a gadget that blocks airplane seats from reclining, has seen a boost in sales. It’s website crashed yesterday under the weight of orders for the $US21.95 Knee defender! The device consists of two clips that slip onto the seatback tray. The incident, occurred, on  United Flight 1462 from Newark, New Jersey to Denver, Colorado. A male passenger (48 years old), seated in a middle seat of row 12 used the Knee Defender to stop the female passenger (also aged 48) in the seat in front of him…

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Scoot crams 375 people into 787

Singapore Airlines subsidiary Scoot two weeks ago announced  that their 787-9 will have a whopping 375 passengers aboard. This number of seats is a far cry from Boeing’s promise of roomy flights with passengers sitting 2-4-2.  Budget airline Jetstar has gone with 335 seats on their 787-8s and Norwegian has 291 seats on theirs. The budget carrier will receive the first of their twenty 787s in November. The plane will replace their six Boeing 777-200s which were originally flown by Singapore Airlines. The plane will initially fly from Singapore to  Australia, Japan and Taiwan. The airline has orders for ten 787-8s and ten 787-9s. Eight…

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Changement d’Air France

Air France announced this week, a series of changes designed to reposition its products and services at the best possible level in the industry” . These changes are all designed to attract custom back to an airline which  has been hit by the  global economic downturn and volatile oil prices. Under a three-year plan dubbed “Transform 2015,” Air France- KLM is seeking to reduce operating costs by two billion euros ($US2.59 billion) with the proceeds going to pay down debt. This includes cutting more than 5,000 jobs by 2015. Alongside this, is a new focus on attracting…

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JetBlue WestJet Expand Space for Pay

JetBlue has made a lot of fuss about the extra legroom in their cabins. It is one reason I love them. I also have been very happy to pay the premium to get the extra row emergency exit seats. They call this Product “Even More(TM) Space”.  On JetBlue’s Airbus A320 aircraft, Even More Space seats with 38-inches of legroom are offered in rows 2-5 plus emergency exit rows 10 and 11. I like it because not only do you get more room (38″ instead of 33″), you also get Priority Boarding which means your luggage is first…

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Qantas Refitted 747s

A video of Qantas refitted 747-400 with A380 features including new seats, cabin mood lighting and espresso machines. The 747-400 has 58 Business Class seats, 36 Premium Economy,  270 Economy seats and no First Class.   Seat layout plan is here. Five have been refitted now. Three more 747s will be refitted by October 2012. It is great that the 747 is going to look great but it is of concern that Qantas are continuing to fly an aeroplane that should be retired. Not only will it cost Qantas more in excessive fuel consumption, but older planes cost more to maintain. I am curious that they are…

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Trying Spirit-First Time

A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines. Qantas: Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney  Virgin Australia: Melbourne to  Los Angeles in Premium Economy product. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats? Spirit: I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like as I have never flown them. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see. Related Posts Why is…

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Virgin America, America’s Best Airline to Dallas

The Virgin love in continues with my Virgin America flight from LAX to Dallas Fort Worth. I currently rate this airline as the best in the USA, slightly ahead of JetBlue. I wish Australia’s Virgin Blue was as good as Virgin America. The Aussie version started as a discount carrier and is evolving into Australias’ second mainline carrier so its history is very different. Check In The star difference hits you right from the start with Virgin American. For example, how many other airlines have “We are Family“ playing at Check in? Was fascinated that…

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