SYD to LON - Premium Economy worth the price?

[richev]

My wife and I have been over here in Sydney for about 18 months, so it's time for our first trip back to the UK to see old friends & family. We're planning to go for two weeks around the start of June and will need to fly into Heathrow or Gatwick.

We're wondering if it's worth paying the extra to fly premium economy, and if so with which airline. Does anyone have any recommendations? (or warnings!)

On the times we've flown from the UK to Australia before we've always flown economy with Emirates via Dubai. Fine, but a bit cramped, and neither of us particularly like the bright lights and noisy retail experience that is Dubai airport.

Edited April 28, 2018 by richev

[gameover98]

I've been on premium economy on Cathay Pacific Hong Kong to New York. Economy was expensive at the time of the flight so I paid maybe 30-40% extra. I had a whole row of 4 seats to myself but in premium economy the armrests are fixed so I couldn't stretch out and sleep like I would have done in economy. Otherwise the seats were noticeably wider and the recline made it a lot more comfy.

It all boils down to price for me and for the most part premium economy is sometimes double or triple the price of a regular economy seat and I really can't justify paying that. Have not been on BA or Qantas in recent years, but the seats on Qatar/Etihad economy can be painfully narrow.

 

[CaptainR]

Worth considering that for the same price you may find business class with lie flat seats on Vietnam, Malaysian/OmanAir it similar. I’ve flown with all of these in business and have flown Cathay in Premium and would choose the bed any day.