Premium economy class on international flights

LionJim

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Oct 12, 2021
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Hopefully you are also going to Barcelona. We've been to Madrid and Barcelona about 7 years go. If we go to Spain again we want to visit Seville, Valencia, and Toledo.
Yes, all that. It’s a fairly comprehensive tour except we’ll skip the northern strip of the peninsula. We’ll be in Porto and in Lisbon, too. Two full extra days in Madrid, an extra full day in Barcelona. Yes to Toledo, too, super psyched. (Being exposed to great art has been one of the great joys of my life, and seeing El Greco’s work in Toledo is going to be awesome.)

 
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DaytonRickster

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Oct 25, 2021
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Yes, all that. It’s a fairly comprehensive tour except we’ll skip the northern strip of the peninsula. We’ll be in Porto and in Lisbon, too. Two full extra days in Madrid, an extra full day in Barcelona. Yes to Toledo, too, super psyched. (Being exposed to great art has been one of the great joys of my life, and seeing El Greco’s work in Toledo is going to be awesome.)

We did not get there but the Hospital Sant Pau is supposed to be worth touring for its architectural work. I have only seen video programs about the multiple buildings. It was forward thinking health care atmosphere for patients. Perhaps you are lready planning that tour.
 
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bdgan

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Oct 12, 2021
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Flew Premium Economy to Italy last fall. Wider seats and more leg room and shrimp cocktails!! Totally worth it for the 10 hour flight. I think any flights over 6 hours in the future I will be upgrading to the bigger seats. I arrived rested and not in pain from being cramped in economy. My knees are usually jammed into the seat in front me with my long legs. I was able to stretch out in premium economy. Plus it usually comes with 2 checked bags included(we only brought 1 bag each but needed to buy another suitcase in Italy because we bought too much stuff) and you do get to board before the economy class.
Premium economy is certainly a bit nicer but I've never "arrived rested" in one of those seats. Jut a bit more tolerable. Slightly better meals but I never got shrimp cocktail, even in business class.
 

LionJim

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Oct 12, 2021
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Yes, all that. It’s a fairly comprehensive tour except we’ll skip the northern strip of the peninsula. We’ll be in Porto and in Lisbon, too. Two full extra days in Madrid, an extra full day in Barcelona. Yes to Toledo, too, super psyched. (Being exposed to great art has been one of the great joys of my life, and seeing El Greco’s work in Toledo is going to be awesome.)

I’ll say this one last thing now and then settle down. Las Meninas is in the Prado. I cannot wait. Sargent’s The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit is my favorite American painting and I get to see the painting that inspired it, and well as countless other paintings. (The Picasso Museum in Barcelona has a room with 58 different interpretations of Las Meninas, wow that is going to seriously rock.)

 

PSUSignore

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Oct 25, 2021
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I noticed their mock up doesn't include any overhead bins and the upper seat has no luggage space under the seat in front. I guess they have zero carry on baggage allowance? The article also says the plan would be to have no screens and have passengers use their own devices. Good luck with that when screens have become ubiquitous on planes, power/USB outlets aren't always available, and wifi isn't free. I see lots of flaws here, even some that would likely be questioned by airlines despite the ability to cram more people on board with this setup.
 
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WanderingSpectator

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Oct 12, 2021
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I’m pretty frugal. For International, I book basic economy fares on American and use my Platinum status to upgrade to Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats. In April we flew nonstop PHX-LHR (10 hours) then connected to Rome for about $800 each. I just can’t justify spending an extra 6k for two of us to sleep better and have some airplane shrimp. I’d rather put that cash towards a couple of other trips.

The MCE seats worked for us but the key was having access to the Lounges (because of status) for the long layover.

I agree with others that if you do upgrade, do it on the outbound. The return is usually much easier because it’s during the day.