Is PREMIUM ECONOMY Worth It In The USA? (Delta vs American vs United)

Delta American United which has the best premium economy we're about to find out as we fly all three back to back let's find out together is this worth the upgrade hello jet Setters I'm Jeb Brooks from Greener grass.com right now we're in Atlanta we're traveling across the country in premium economy and all three major US airlines to find out whether this is an upgrade that makes sense for your next trip here's the plan we'll fly from Atlanta to Dallas with Delta then it's on to Denver with American before ending our experiment with United in De San Francisco each of these flights is about the same length and will give each Airline an equal chance to Showcase their premium economy offering then we'll rate and compare them all along five Dimensions Airlines originally created premium economy to carve out a category between first class and Coach they obviously wanted to generate more revenue and quickly discovered some passengers are willing to pay up for certain perks we're about to show you exactly what you can expect from The Big Three US airlines in premium economy on domestic IC flights so you can decide for yourself whether this is an upgrade you want to make our experiment begins in Atlanta with Delta Airlines who call their premium economy Comfort plus we booked seats 12 E and F for this 2hour flight over to Dallas will cover a distance of 731 mil so what are we going to be looking out for today how are we going to make this comparison well there are five factors that we think are pretty important here the first is how available are premium economy seats how many actual seats are there that you could book also what is your boarding position do you get to board the plane any earlier and how much space do you get how much bigger is the premium economy seat over a regular economy seat are any drinks included and finally what's the cost we're going to reveal exactly what we paid for each of these uh flights at the end of the video but my question for you is this what kind of Premium would you pay over a regular economy seat on a 2hour flight or are you good with the main cabin let us know and here it is our ride of the day this 31-year-old A320 is going to take us down to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport so let's get on board and check it out passengers with seats in Comfort plus are third in the boarding process here at Delta they're after first class and the airline's most frequent flyers Diamond medallions Next Stop Dallas now the boarding process is important if like us you're bringing bags you're hoping to put into overhead bins like all three Airlines Delta's premium economy is arranged in a 33 configuration on this narrow-bodied airplane and thanks to that relatively early boarding process we had no trouble finding space for our bags welcome on board Delta's Comfort plus now on this A320 15% of the seats in the economy class cabin are Comfort plus so let's check it out neither of us had any trouble fitting our backpacks under the seats in front of us something we won't be able to say about every one of these flights there are two plugs in each row for the three pass passengers to share you'll also have a standard pocket along with a tray table which of course you'd expect Now Delta Airlines touts seatback screens for every passenger but it's important to know that if you're on board one of their 717s you won't see this perk the screens do include a USB charging port though these overhead bins were supposedly reserved for Comfort plus passengers but whether that's truly enforced it comes down to the individual cabin crew as the final bags were loaded a flight attendant passed through the aisle offering headphones to everyone on board not just first class or Comfort plus passengers in something that seems to have become a bit of a trend in my travel experience the pilots never made any announcements until we nearly reached the runway when one of them said bye T please prepare the cab for departure call me oldfashioned but I at least like to hear the flight time before departure oh well it always feels good to be in the [Music] sky Delta's inflight entertainment is robust and offers plenty of movies and TV shows you can even watch live television using the system Wi-Fi is available across most of Delta's Fleet and it's even free to join if you are a member of their frequent flyer program it's not blazing fast but at least the price is right now let's get to what really matters space Here's my leg room in Delta's main cabin and here I am in Comfort plus now here's the same comparison for [Music] Suzanne but let's get more precise and for that it's time for the greener grass take measure pitch is the distance from a point on your seat to the same point on the seat in front or behind you here you'll get three extra inches in Comfort plus over main cabin the seats offer 14 in of knee room and have the same 18 in of width as the seats in main [Music] cabin about 20 minutes after departing flight attendants were in the aisle offering drinks and snacks in Delta Comfort plus beer Wine and Spirits are included in the price of your ticket that's why we chose to have some sparkling wine this morning sparkling wine is a breakfast drink right yeah absolutely Cheers Cheers it's a premium economy party now it's worth highlighting that on each of these flights there was one drink service during the flight and it wasn't an open bar I recently ran a poll over on Twitter now X asking whether passengers feel comfortable ringing the call Bell if they're thirsty in premium economy the responses and results were interesting but what about you when do you think it's appropriate to press that call Button our flight to Dallas was a pretty bumpy one but it didn't stop the flight attendants from serving the entire [Music] plane let's talk dollars and cents on the day we traveled we paid $259 each for our our tickets in Comfort plus that's a $120 premium over standard economy class well that was Delta and as you might have guessed since we're here at DFW American Airlines is next let's head on to Denver it'll take us an hour and 39 minutes to cover this second leg with 641 miles to Denver how many times do we just ride the train um well we had to go back to get a really good shot of the guitar and the Emirates and a Korean airplanes I mean come on why would we only ride the the train once when we could see airplanes up close what does Qatar and Emirates have to do with us premium economy frankly not a lot except to serve as a reminder that International premium economy is a lot different than what you'll see domestically here in the US but more on that later so here we are in uh in Dallas but we don't have an American Airlines boarding pass yet so we're going to print it here at this kiosk well Suzanne is also we've not put in our frequent flyer numbers to ensure that we don't get any uh any upgrades and we can stay in the seats we selected so uh let's grab this boarding pass real quick and then um get this uh next leg started certain highlevel frequent flyers are eligible for free upgrades to premium economy it's a great way for Airlines to reward their top customers on American Airlines we'd also booked seats 12 E and F but this flight will be in a longer airplane both American and United treat their premium economy a little bit differently than Delta Delta Comfort plus is kind of its own cabin its own product however on American United they pretty much just sell seats with extra leg room so it could be in a bulkhead could be in an exit row so make sure before you book it to know what's going on cuz sometimes your underseat storage and a bulkhead can be limited sometimes your recline and an exit row can be limited or non-existent so double check before you book those seats anyway we're going to gate B6 here it is the 8-year-old Airbus a321 that'll take us out to Denver today American Airlines calls their premium economy main cabin extra and passengers book this there are invited to board with group five of their nine boarding groups next stop Denver now let's check out main cabin extra here with American Airlines main cabin extra is arranged in a 33 configuration just like the rest of economy class and despite boarding later we found space for our bags welcome on board American Airlines main cabin extra now on this a321 21% of the seats in the economy cabin are main cabin extra so let's check it out our backpacks fit easily under the seats in front of us and there's going to be no fighting over plugs here on American Airlines that's thanks to having one for each person in the row the seat has all the basics you'd expect including of course a pocket and a sturdy table but in place of Delta's seatback entertainment you'll find this clever device holder along with a USB charge port American has invested in streaming entertainment with the expectation that most passengers travel with a personal device they can use to watch it from Dallas Fort Worth to Denver upline time is 1 hour and 39 minutes and an altitude of 30,000 ft the device holder is sturdy and great for watching your own content to access Americans free streaming options though you'll need to log onto their Network as you can see there are plenty of options just remember your device your headphones and a power cord now I was able to access 20 minutes of free internet in exchange for watching a 30second ad the internet here is significantly faster than delt access to the internet for the full flight would have cost $12 here I am in American's standard economy seat and here's my space in main cabin extra and this is Suzanne we certainly seem to have more room on this flight in main cabin extra than the last one but the only way to be sure is to turn to the greener grass tape measure let's check it out although American claims up to 6 in of extra pitch if you're booked into our seats you'll only find an additional three the seats have 16 in of knee room and are 18 in wide service began on this flight about 25 minutes after takeoff on American Airlines Bank Cabin extra seats well you can get beer Wine and Spirits for no extra cost we chose Jin and tonic cheers despite the promise of a choice of snacks between Biscoff or mini pretzels I've only ever seen Biscoff on American Airlines but that's fine with me you really can't beat the taste of Biscoff don't miss my super secret recipe for your own better than Biscoff cookies I'll link to it in the description below now let's get to the dollars and cents we paid $185 each for economy class we then paid $35 more to select main cabin extra seats for a total of $220 each simply put it cost us $35 extra do to sit in premium economy on this leg with gratitude to American for getting us to Denver you know what that means it's time for United we're heading to San Francisco next and this third leg will take just over 2 hours to cover 967 mi into San Francisco [Music] you might have noticed that in these Airline comparison trip videos I tend to wear this Rick Steve's keep on traveling shirt keeps me motivated going through all these flights also I'm not super stitious but I'm a little stitious on this next leg in united we were booked into seats 14f relatively recently US Airlines have introduced premium economy on international flights and that's where you can really see a differentiation a different seat different food options there could be a lot more reasons to choose a premium economy experience on an international flight than a domestic one uh so make sure before your next international flight you look into that as a possibility what we're seeing today is not quite as differentiated as those experiences are but I'm still enjoying this premium economy Adventure across the country and I hope you are too did we save the best for last it's time to try United economy plus spoiler alert it's probably the worst and here it is the brand new 737 Max 8 that's going to take us all the way out to San Francisco today should we be concerned that maintenance is on board I'm going to hope not time will tell unlike the other two they don't offer any special boarding Advantage here instead United boards based on whether you're in a window middle or RIS seat My Window Seat got me into group three and Suzanne's middle seat meant she was in group four out of a total of six groups therefore we decided to just gate check our bags when given the chance so we're not fighting for overhead space when get when we have to board later in the process than we would normally do on the other airlines so that's a key difference and one of the reasons we're considering the boarding order as part of the Matrix or the the the rating system for this premium economy Showdown next stop San Francisco let's check out economy plus we left our bags at the end of the Jet Bridge and boarded which introduced us to the now familiar 33 layout of this airplane welcome on board United economy Plus on the 737 Max 8 36% of the seats in economy our premium economy so let's check out the seat I had room for my backpack but Suzanne struggled to get hers to fit that's because there's some kind of a box under this middle seat that meant she had less room the seat has the same pocket and sturdy trade table we've come to expect but there's a surprise here too this is one of United's newest aircraft which means it has an inflight entertainment screen while not as common as they are in Delta United claims to be adding more all the time I'm glad we were able to gate check our bags these bins filled up fast there are two plugs for each row along with a USB charge port and by the inflate entertainment as boarding wrapped up a flight attendant offered free headphones to anyone who wanted them the snow kept falling and I suspected we'd need to be deced snow has started again so we probably have to do a quick deicing our plan flight time is 2 hours and 10 [Music] minutes most of United's Fleet offers streaming entertainment which like Americans is great as long as you have a device with you but this built-in seatback entertainment is extremely nice the screen's bright and crisp and there plenty of choices it worked really well now the best way to find out whether you're booked onto a flight with this kind of seatback entertainment is to check the United app for details about your flight internet is available for purchase and if you're a member of United's frequent flyer program it only costs $8 it's also worth saying that even if you have seatback entertainment on your airplane you can still access the streaming service through your device let's talk space here I am in United economy and now economy plus now here's the same comparison for suzan now this felt like the smallest seat we'd encountered so far but let's put that to the test as on the other airlines you'll find three extra inches of pitch but you'll only have 13 in of knee room and a seat that's a mere 17 in wide well you may not have as much space on United as you will on the other airlines you'll definitely enjoy access to the only inflight magazine among these three Airlines and who doesn't love checking out the Fleek and the root map and about 30 minutes after we departed service began with snacks and drinks unlike Delta and American United does not offer free alcoholic beverages and their economy plus so I chose to have sparkling water instead of sparkling wine and I just went with regular old water so here we go hydration now the dollars and cents we paid $200 each for our economy plus tickets on this leg that's 96 more dollars than a standard economy class ticket made it to San Francisco but it's not over yet it's time to find out who's at the top and whose product is not worth your premium dollar let's compare them using that Matrix as always whenever we provide ratings or comparisons in this channel it's unscientific and based on our own experiences that said we'll take a look at the availability of Premium economy boarding Advantage extra space any free drinks and the price premium we paid for these flights and then we'll reveal which one is the best now when it comes to availability in order to be fair We compare to aircraft types all three airlines operate looking at both the a321 Neo and Boeing 737800 United has the most premium economy seats and American the fewest United wins here in terms of boarding position United does not Advantage premium economy Flyers at all American gives you position 5 out of 9 and Delta offers Comfort plus passengers position three out of 8 Delta for the win here when it comes to the additional space each Airline offers three extra inches of pitch over their standard economy seats however we found more width and knee room on American than the others so they win both American and Delta include a free beer glass of wine or even a mixed drink but United fails to offer anything like that so that puts United behind the other two in this category in terms of cost United charged us an extra $96 for their economy plus seat but Delta's premium seems practically ridiculous at $120 compared to American's $35 price tag American wins this one so all things considered our winner on this premium economy Showdown is American Airlines so is premium economy worth it well for $35 in American Airlines yes the extra space and ability to get off the plane sooner especially with a tight connection well that makes a ton of sense however over on Delta and United where you'll double the price of your economy ticket to sit in premium economy my answer is no but as always it's up to you between now and the next time see you in the sky I stepped on that we can we can start over we'll you I want to start over I want to get it smooth okay so what things are we going to be paying most attention so what things are we going to be so that was Delta and as you'd guess no yeah are we uh taking a little break from the uh premium economy life yeah we are we're headed in there just for just for a little bit just lunch so uh you think a lot of Delta to American Connections happen here but the and escalate whoops people sure do love a tji Fridays at an airport including me

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 392,279

Keywords: Premium economy, premium economy class, united airlines premium economy, american airlines premium economy, delta airlines premium economy, delta air lines premium economy, premium economy class comparison, delta v american v united, best premium economy, usa premium economy, delta premium economy, american premium economy, united premium economy, travel vlog, flight review, airline comparison, trip report, is premium economy worth it, delta vs American vs United

Id: uYqznk3zOqE

Length: 19min 21sec (1161 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 24 2024