What’s The Difference Between Economy Plus and Premium Economy?

A matter of confusion to many people is what’s the difference between economy plus and premium economy? Well firstly, economy plus isn’t actually a cabin class – it is just United’s name for the cabin class which I label as “extra legroom economy,” which pretty much describes the product. Since United’s introduction of Economy Plus in 1999, multiple airlines including Delta, American, and Air France have introduced extra-legroom economy class sections. However, premium economy debuted with EVA Air in 1992 with its Evergreen Class and soon also spread to Virgin Atlantic. But what even are the differences between, extra legroom economy (economy plus) and premium economy, and why should you care?

Extra Legroom Economy: Same Class, But More Legroom

Again, United was the forerunner of extra legroom economy class (there isn’t an official name to call it, so I kind of just made it up) when it introduced it in 1999. It actually was in competition with TWA and Amerian Airlines, who decided to give the entire economy class more legroom (a bad decision, as people went for lower fares, not more comfort). United, on the other hand, decided to give a few people more legroom if they paid more or if they had status on United. Economy plus has a few differences from regular economy class. First, (obviously) it has more legroom, or seat pitch, in airline speak. Most times in extra legroom economy, the seats have 3-5 more inches of legroom than in regular economy class, which is a savior to tall people, like me, especially on long flights.

Since then, more and more airlines have added extra legroom economy class to their aircraft. Notably, American Airlines (Main Cabin Extra), Delta Air Lines (Delta Comfort Plus), JetBlue (Even More Space), KLM (Economy Comfort), TAP Portugal, or even Frontier Airlines (Stretch). The list could go on and on. Secondly, on some airlines (such as United), the seats have a couple more inches of recline. Thirdly, sometimes airlines put additional features on their extra legroom seats, such as power outlets (such as on United), seatback TVs, larger tray tables (such as on Frontier), or even extra baggage allowance. Usually, extra legroom economy is in the same cabin as economy class and doesn’t even have a divider. Sometimes you can’t even tell the difference between the seats (as extra legroom economy class uses the same seats as in economy class), besides that usually airlines have different headrest covers in extra legroom economy.

Air Travel Analysis Definition: A class of service on many airlines which has more legroom than economy class and possibly other amenities although does not have significantly better service or seats than in regular economy class.

Premium Economy: Different Class, with Better Service

As opposed to extra legroom economy class, premium economy has better seats and service than in regular economy class. First, the staple of a true premium economy product is having better seats than in regular economy class, or even than in extra legroom economy class. The seats usually have much more legroom than in economy class, are wider, usually have footrests, and sometimes even have leg rests. The seats are traditionally about as good as or even better than domestic first class seats in the United States. American Airlines actually uses the same first class seat on some of their domestic first class flights as they do in premium economy on their long-haul flights.

Additionally, almost always, premium economy passengers receive food that is better than in economy class. That means that usually, premium economy seats are tolerable on long flights as opposed to the economy class seats that so often hurt your back. Premium economy passengers also usually receive better amenities than in economy class, such as better blankets, premium quality pillows, and often even amenity kits. More functional amenities are also provided, such as a higher baggage allowance and often even priority boarding. Some airlines (such as Norwegian or ANA) even provide passengers with lounge access, although usually only to the airlines’ lowest (if they have different tiers of lounges) tier lounge. Many long-haul airlines now offer true premium economy products, such as United Airlines (Premium Plus, not Economy Plus), Delta Air Lines (Premium Select), American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Air Canada, or Qantas. Again, the list goes on and on.

Air Travel Analysis Definition: A class of service on many airlines which has better seats with greater recline, legroom, and width than in economy class and also may have better food, amenities, or service than in regular economy class.

What’s The Difference?

Often there is a distinct difference between premium economy and extra legroom economy class. For example, it often is clear in airlines that offer both products. For example, American Airlines offers both Main Cabin Extra (extra legroom economy) and Premium Economy products. United offers both Economy Plus and Premium Plus. Air France offers both Seat Plus (extra legroom economy) and Premium Economy. As a baseline, if the cabin has better seats than in economy class, then it automatically qualifies as premium economy class, although if the only difference between the two cabins is the amount of legroom, then it automatically qualifies as extra legroom. On some airlines, premium economy class is almost equivalent to what old school business class used to be on long-haul flights – big recliner seats and good food. However, here’s where it gets tricky – often airlines’ marketing may confuse you on what actual travel class it is.

Multiple airlines market their extra legroom economy class sections as simply premium economy. Along with other airlines, both Condor and Air China market their extra legroom economy sections as Premium Economy. However, in both of those airlines, the only difference between the seats is that they have a little more legroom. No better food, no leg rests, no greater recline, no greater seat width. By definition, Air China’s and Condor’s so-called Premium Economy cabins fit the description of extra legroom economy class, not the description of premium economy. Airlines sometimes try to upmarket their extra legroom sections of economy class as premium economy, while in reality, they aren’t. In general, most airlines that have true premium economy products market it as simply premium economy, such as Air Canada, Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, ANA, Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, etc. However, there are a few airlines which label them differently, such as United’s Premium Plus, British Airways’ World Traveller Plus, or SAS’s SAS Plus.

As a general matter, most airlines’ true premium economy products have either the words “premium,” “plus,” or “comfort” in them. Terminology for extra legroom economy class varies a lot, although a lot of airlines offer it label it as simply “Comfort Plus” (such as KLM or Finnair). If you can’t tell if the seats are different from regular economy class, just look at the seat map of your aircraft. If it the premium economy or extra legroom economy product is in the same configuration as economy class, chances are that it has the same seats as in economy class and is just extra legroom economy class. If it has one or two fewer seats than in economy class, then chances are that it is a premium economy product with bigger, wider seats and most likely with better service.

Prices

Generally, extra legroom economy class doesn’t cost that more than economy class. For the most part, per segment, it usually doesn’t cost that much more than regular economy class. Per flight, it usually only costs $50 to $100 more in extra legroom economy class than economy class. However, sometimes on long haul flights (especially on airlines that tend to overprice it…US Airlines), it can be up to $200 more than regular economy class per flight. However, for the most part on foreign airlines that offer extra legroom economy class, it is very cheap and can be as little as $30 on a long-haul flight (I just booked a medium-haul KLM flight in economy comfort where it was almost that cheap). Most often, extra legroom economy is simply booked as an add-on when you are almost done purchasing a ticket when you are selecting seats, not as a separate cabin class, like premium economy.

True premium economy products are almost always booked as a separate cabin class at booking and aren’t just add-ons to economy class. Also, on long-haul flights, premium economy class is most often multiple hundreds of dollars more than regular economy class. On some ultra-long-haul flights, premium economy class can be up to over a thousand dollars more expensive than regular economy class. That does make sense because premium economy is essentially equivalent to what business class used to be 20 years ago. Just to give you a feeling for price differences on long-haul flights between, economy, extra legroom economy, and premium economy, here are the approximate prices for the three cabin classes on a roundtrip flight from Newark to Frankfurt in the off-season on United:

• Economy: $850 Roundtrip
• Extra Legroom Economy: $1050 Roundtrip
• Premium Economy: $1,300 Roundtrip

Premium Economy usually is significantly more expensive than regular economy class, while extra legroom economy class is usually only a couple hundred dollars off from economy class on roundtrip flights.

Conclusion

Premium economy and extra legroom economy class have their distinct differences. Extra legroom economy generally has the same services, entertainment, and seats as regular economy class, besides that they have more legroom. Premium economy most often has larger seats, more recline, leg/footrests, amenity kits, and better food than in economy class. As one would expect, premium economy costs significantly more than extra legroom economy class while extra legroom economy class costs usually a bit more than regular economy class. Premium economy and extra legroom aren’t the same thing, and there is a fine line between the two of them, and I hope that I cleared up the differences between them for you in this article.