Europe

New Premium Economy Service Brings Low Cost and 4 Feet of Legroom

Looking to really stretch out on that next flight to Paris or Amsterdam? Try British Airways new Premium Economy spin-off. Chocolates are included.

During the 1950's, "Open Skies" was a Cold War plan to let the U.S. and Russia fly spy missions over each other's territory to ensure neither was planning an attack on the other.

Has that ever changed.

Open Skies now means crossing the Atlantic in luxury, dining on meals made with "locally available, seasonal foods," cleansing one's palette with chocolates, and then stretching out with more than 4 feet of glorious legroom.

What's more, it all comes at about the price of unrestricted coach fare.

You get it all by flying the British Airways' new spinoff airline, called Open Skies, from New York to either Paris or Amsterdam. Additional routes to Milan, Brussels, and Frankfurt are in the works.

The name still comes from a political agreement, but this time it allows flag carriers to fly to more destinations outside their countries of origin. (BA continues to offer only its standard services to London.)

The new service was designed in response to the growing reluctance of corporate travel departments to pay any more than coach fare for their executives' trips abroad. "The product is really custom-tailored for corporate travelers who [face] a policy against booking business class," said Open Skies Marketing VP Tracy Sanford, as reported by the meetings industry website, MiMegasite.com.

Premium Economy

Generically, Open Skies is one of the latest of a series of Premium Economy programs. This fourth class of service exists on a number of international carriers, including Japan Airlines, Qantas, Nippon, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand, with Icelandair planning to add it. As yet, no U.S. lines have adopted the strategy.

In addition to the perks above, BA's Open Skies allows three bags of free checked luggage of up to 51 pounds each, online check-in from home or office, and express boarding procedures, all included in the price.

But it's the price that's garnered much of the attention. Reports have it at about $2,000 roundtrip for a transatlantic jaunt, compared to up to $8,000 for a comparable ticket in business class. Introductory prices were as low as $1,200 when the service began.

In fact, says Open Skies VP Chris Vukelich, "the prem+ product we're offering is what other airlines sell as business class."

Reviewers caution that not all Premium Economy services are comparable to the new BA offering. Room to stretch out is one difference. Where Open Skies jets provide 52 inches of seat pitch (the industry term for legroom), Qantas offers 42 inches. And the seat pitch on Icelandair's 757s will be just 33 inches, less than some domestic coach seats.

Comments about the new line have been positive, but many business owners still prefer that employees utilize their own resources for the added luxury, though they do allow other forms of leeway. For example, Ken Deans, of LGI Worldwide in Los Angeles, lets his travelers keep their frequent flyer miles.

"I have no problem with them using their mileage for upgrades," he says.