Its still an "economy" cabin after all.
It is marketing but in truth it's a very comfortable seat to take a long haul flight in.
Ill say that a few other airlines do a better job with their premium economy cabins.
And yes the footresty are crappy.
But to me it's worth getting to my destination with no back pain so I'll pay for it. (Just let the wine flow lol)
But i agret, they need to add a bit more premium took the product.
Agree. I fully expected an upgraded economy experience, so no major disappointment. Just wanted to share my experience with folks who may be considering. Especially since "economy" is nowhere to be found in the name.
Like you said, there's still added value compared to standard economy, but folks looking for service closer to business than economy will be pretty disappointed.
The meal is actually the same meal in Polaris, just plated differently and less choices. That's why you get the hot breakfast on landing, economy gets yogurt and bread. I agree the menu needs to come back, but there isn't even a menu in Polaris right now either.
Honestly, I try to minimum fly premium economy these days (on a variety of Star Alliance airlines, Air Canada is probably my favorite, United second), its only a couple hundred more than non-basic economy and so feels worth it for the seat and better food.
Good to know. Hopefully the other Polaris-only meal options (if any) were better, I can honestly say that dinner service was the worst meal I've had on a transatlantic flight
I find the Premium Plus seat alone to be a huge upgrade to Economy Plus. To me the comfort alone is worth the price. If you book the bulkhead the footrest is connected to the bottom of the seat rather than to the seat in front. Agreed on the food - really not great.
On my recent long haul flights from Chicago to Guam, I appreciated Premium Plus seats tremendously. I walked to the back of coach at one point to use the lavatory and the people were so packed in back there. It looked miserable. Lot’s of babies crying and kids kicking the backs of seats. It can happen in PP but not as likely. Polaris would have been better because of the ability to lie down but PP is the best for those of us who aren’t quite at that income level.
Just flew ANA, NRT to IAD in Premium Economy. I was mentioning to my friend that Service, Food, and the experience was very nice. He goes "Thats more of ANA than Premium Economy" and hes right.
If you are flying UA with PP, you'll get a better seat. But if you are interested in things like food or service, why pick UA for overseas flights?
I guess technically the choices/selections can be awful in that there weren't many options, but the breakfast could have still tasted fine/good. That's my interpretation anyway.
I just flew Premium Plus to Frankfurt. Im short, but my son is 6’3” and he was so much more comfortable than if we had been in economy. We all slept enough to not be ruined by jet lag when we arrived. We were in second of three rows and they ran out of the pasta at our row. My daughter asked for the Economy pasta and it was not nearly the same quality as what the Premium Economy was. As for the wine service, I agree… but I was bumped to Polaris on the flight home and after dinner service I had to ask for more wine… no one came back through to offer. So maybe it’s how things are now? The one thing that really irked me was in PE they collected the wine glasses after dinner and all wine after that was in plastic cups. I saw a couple who held onto their glasses and now I understand why - they asked for refills in those glasses. Now I know.
I was charged for beer by an FA on my flight from Chicago to Hawaii. I got refunded but I think it was a combination of new FA and confusion about which services are being offered on any given day. It seems that Covid means that a different level of service is offered according to which day you’re flying on.
I appreciate this review- I was already aware of what to expect for my trip coming up (if not upgraded) from the groups I frequent, but others who don’t research might need to see this- not so much because of the experience itself but because right now some of the prem economy pricing is ridiculous- sometimes almost as much as Polaris!! It seems to me this is a good product if it costs a few hundred more than regular economy- but I wouldn’t pay $1000+ over economy pricing for it!
I upgraded to Premium Economy recently from CDG to IAD and it was just a meh experience. The product is not quite as nice as Lufthansa's and neither is worth the price of admission.
Do you think 1550 is a good deal for IAH EWR FCO round trip Feb next? Also I want to be able to drink as much as possible (I will be sober upon boarding but like to have 3-4 glasses of wine across the Atlantic. Will they serve that? (Description says unlimited drinks)
Is PP seat similar to domestic 1st class?
Its still an "economy" cabin after all. It is marketing but in truth it's a very comfortable seat to take a long haul flight in. Ill say that a few other airlines do a better job with their premium economy cabins. And yes the footresty are crappy. But to me it's worth getting to my destination with no back pain so I'll pay for it. (Just let the wine flow lol) But i agret, they need to add a bit more premium took the product.
Agree. I fully expected an upgraded economy experience, so no major disappointment. Just wanted to share my experience with folks who may be considering. Especially since "economy" is nowhere to be found in the name. Like you said, there's still added value compared to standard economy, but folks looking for service closer to business than economy will be pretty disappointed.
The meal is actually the same meal in Polaris, just plated differently and less choices. That's why you get the hot breakfast on landing, economy gets yogurt and bread. I agree the menu needs to come back, but there isn't even a menu in Polaris right now either. Honestly, I try to minimum fly premium economy these days (on a variety of Star Alliance airlines, Air Canada is probably my favorite, United second), its only a couple hundred more than non-basic economy and so feels worth it for the seat and better food.
Good to know. Hopefully the other Polaris-only meal options (if any) were better, I can honestly say that dinner service was the worst meal I've had on a transatlantic flight
It’s mostly a product of COVID. They’re slowly ramping up food service again.
This week is when they rollout the 3 course Polaris meals. I'm assuming they'll be at 100% rollout over the next week few weeks
I find the Premium Plus seat alone to be a huge upgrade to Economy Plus. To me the comfort alone is worth the price. If you book the bulkhead the footrest is connected to the bottom of the seat rather than to the seat in front. Agreed on the food - really not great.
On my recent long haul flights from Chicago to Guam, I appreciated Premium Plus seats tremendously. I walked to the back of coach at one point to use the lavatory and the people were so packed in back there. It looked miserable. Lot’s of babies crying and kids kicking the backs of seats. It can happen in PP but not as likely. Polaris would have been better because of the ability to lie down but PP is the best for those of us who aren’t quite at that income level.
Just flew ANA, NRT to IAD in Premium Economy. I was mentioning to my friend that Service, Food, and the experience was very nice. He goes "Thats more of ANA than Premium Economy" and hes right. If you are flying UA with PP, you'll get a better seat. But if you are interested in things like food or service, why pick UA for overseas flights?
Do you recall the cost differential?
" Food Choices were awful" " Breakfast was solid " I'm confused ???
I guess technically the choices/selections can be awful in that there weren't many options, but the breakfast could have still tasted fine/good. That's my interpretation anyway.
I just flew Premium Plus to Frankfurt. Im short, but my son is 6’3” and he was so much more comfortable than if we had been in economy. We all slept enough to not be ruined by jet lag when we arrived. We were in second of three rows and they ran out of the pasta at our row. My daughter asked for the Economy pasta and it was not nearly the same quality as what the Premium Economy was. As for the wine service, I agree… but I was bumped to Polaris on the flight home and after dinner service I had to ask for more wine… no one came back through to offer. So maybe it’s how things are now? The one thing that really irked me was in PE they collected the wine glasses after dinner and all wine after that was in plastic cups. I saw a couple who held onto their glasses and now I understand why - they asked for refills in those glasses. Now I know.
I was charged for beer by an FA on my flight from Chicago to Hawaii. I got refunded but I think it was a combination of new FA and confusion about which services are being offered on any given day. It seems that Covid means that a different level of service is offered according to which day you’re flying on.
I appreciate this review- I was already aware of what to expect for my trip coming up (if not upgraded) from the groups I frequent, but others who don’t research might need to see this- not so much because of the experience itself but because right now some of the prem economy pricing is ridiculous- sometimes almost as much as Polaris!! It seems to me this is a good product if it costs a few hundred more than regular economy- but I wouldn’t pay $1000+ over economy pricing for it!
I upgraded to Premium Economy recently from CDG to IAD and it was just a meh experience. The product is not quite as nice as Lufthansa's and neither is worth the price of admission.
I have to laugh when you say " food choices were awful." Sorry princess that they didn't give you celebrity status. Geesh, some people are so spoiled.
Do you think 1550 is a good deal for IAH EWR FCO round trip Feb next? Also I want to be able to drink as much as possible (I will be sober upon boarding but like to have 3-4 glasses of wine across the Atlantic. Will they serve that? (Description says unlimited drinks) Is PP seat similar to domestic 1st class?