Oh American Airlines, you shameless temptress! How did you know I am usually one to leap at any kind of upgrade offer without much extra thought? How surprised you must have been when I didn’t take it.
Airlines enjoy getting as much money for seats as possible, which makes sense because that is the basic tenet of their business. To do that, they will sometimes offer upgrades for an attractive price to get people to move up a cabin.
Why Didn’t I Take It?
The offer that presented itself for $500 was for a transatlantic flight from Dublin to Philadelphia. This flight is seven and a half hours, so it works out as $66 per hour extra to fly in the big seats.
This is seems to be a really good price all round, and usually I would take it. Not this time though, and there are a couple of reasons why I’m staying in Premium Economy.
Looking at dates later in the year, the price difference between Premium Economy and Business Class is about $630 for the whole return trip. That means that it’s $315 extra each way, making the $500 actually on the pricey side. So there’s that too.
Overall Thoughts
While the offer looks fantastic and usually I’d be taking it, I’ve decided to stay where I am. No doubt I’ll regret it the second I board and see the seats I could be sitting in, but my wallet is sure to appreciate the fact it remained closed for once!
What would you have done in my situation? Would you have taken the upgrade or would you stay in your travel class? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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I’ve been reading your comments and reviews for a while. I’ve been a loyal AA client since 1983. I’ve been an Executive Platinum for decades and decades and respectfully you’ve seem to lack information of the service offered in American Airlines Premium Economy.
That class of service is Premium Economy and not Business Economy. The food and the service are not even a step closer.
First, notice that the food cart comes from the economy class galleys and the drink cart is the same one that goes through all the economy class aisles. You do not get glass cups but the same plastic cups from the back. The wines served are the white and red wines in those huge plastic bottles. The hard drinks are the same from economy and they’re also free, even more if you are sitting in Main Cabin Extra. Legroom from a premium and cabin extra are almost the same if not the same. The seat in Premium Economy would certainly be close to the same as a domestic first class seats, but not the same.
Premium Economy food will be plated differently using domestic first class ware but you get beef and pasta and the row behind you gets chicken or your same pasta but in plastic. Same try cold hard bread, crackers, cheese and back there they get a brownie.
Like in Premium, economy passengers get your same tiny chocolate ice cream. But you do get silverware.
Just as a fun fact on international flights returning to USA economy passengers do get the same beef premium paxs get but maybe a little less.
In sum, it is offensive and unacceptable to compare AA’s BC with PE. Take peek through the curtain dividing BC from PE and look at the array of healthy expensive snacks, crudities, huge variety of sandwiches and real wine bottles and champagne. That’s not counting your middle flight snacks that you order from the menu.
In Business you get a small fancy plate sometimes chicken, beef or shrimp, 4 entree choices, 3 types of desserts, cheese plate, and the famous SUNDAE with tons of toppings and you can request a second one during flight if available.
Flight attendants go through the aisles countless times and your personal suite gives you privacy and comfort not I’m Premium.
So for your readers let’s now think Of Premium Economy an elevated step from Economy. I invite others to try Premium Economy right after having flown Business and international Economy.
Your $500 upgrade offer was a great gesture of gratitude from AA that you just let it fly away.
You do make some excellent points there, so thank you for contributing. The service is, of course, much better in business class, and as you rightly point out, there are self-service snacks – and good quality ones, such as sandwiches and so on – available for business class passengers throughout the flight. There are also far more meal choices available, where premium economy have just two. The ice cream is the same as provided in the main cabin, but the main meals are not. While they may come from the rear galley, that is just how they are loaded. Elements are the same as business class and definitely are not economy meals on plates.
Seating wise, having flown in main cabin extra a month ago, business class last in April and now premium economy, the latter is a huge step up over the main cabin seats, and are similar to, but better than, the domestic first class seats. It compares well to other airlines premium economy, but of course business class is going to far exceed it in terms of space, storage and comfort.
In this instance, the $500 upgrade mentions things like lounge access, extra baggage, priority boarding – all things I have with my status – was not worth it to me. I’m sure AA are not offended at my not taking up the offer.
Anyway, thank you for your comment, as I really do appreciate your opinion and the points you have made there.
Sounds like you made a prudent decision. If the price had been the same to upgrade from coach, I would have been tempted.
Agreed, it would have been a bit of a steal in that case!