Comments on: American Airlines Unveils New Premium Economy Class

By: Scott Mackenzie

Scott Mackenzie — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 05:17:00 +0000

In reply to Pam.

They do. And I expect AA will, too. But BA doesn’t have systemwide upgrades like AA does, and BA didn’t just announce a new award chart like AA did.

I explained in the post why I don’t expect the current AA upgrades to be replaced with Premium Economy instead of Business Class. Instead, we’re likely to see either an intermediate upgrade tier for an intermediate price or another widespread change to the award chart. You can’t just replace business class with premium economy. It would mean moving business class into first and raising the cost of first class even more.

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 04:03:00 +0000

In reply to Scott Mackenzie.

I hope so. If you look at British Airways, they count their premium economy as an upgrade category and I anticipate that AA will – eventually – follow suit.

By: Scott Mackenzie

Scott Mackenzie — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 03:37:00 +0000

In reply to Pam.

There will be a new upgrade level, I’m sure. We don’t know what that will be yet.

It’s possible the current upgrade options will remain available to passengers in coach looking to go straight to business class, and that a reduced upgrade cost will allow an upgrade to premium economy.

By: Scott Mackenzie

Scott Mackenzie — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 03:36:00 +0000

In reply to Robbie Plafker. Stupid change in naming schemes... Thanks for the correction.

By: Robbie Plafker

Robbie Plafker — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 01:04:00 +0000

787-9 😛

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 00:16:00 +0000

With the intro of this new cabin category will also come the intro of a new upgrade level. Upgrading from coach will now be into premium economy.

By: Scott Mackenzie

Scott Mackenzie — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:19:00 +0000

In reply to David.

Pricing is the biggest question. It will probably be comparable to WT+. I suspect most people who read this blog are interested in the upgrade situation.

Given that AA just announced changes to its program that include a devalued award chart and fewer eVIP upgrades, I’m not concerned that an “upgrade” will mean moving from coach to premium economy. That would just double down on the devaluation. Instead I think we’re likely to see an intermediate upgrade tier priced somewhere in between.

On the other hand, we won’t see a lot of this premium economy product until late 2016 and into 2017. AA could always wait to release a second devaluation next year. It’s not a problem they need to address yet.

By: David

David — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:52:00 +0000

I’ve found the AA mini-cabin E+ on its 77Ws to be a pretty good experience if your eVIP doesn’t go through. The only special nature of the seating is more leg room and 3-3-3 vs 3-4-3, but being in an enclosed and curtained off space, plus having its own dedicated pair of washroom just behind the J washrooms, gives a more exclusive ambiance than UA’s E+ or even BA’s WT+. Though the meal is no different from the rest of coach, the service certainly seemed to be more personal in a cabin of 27 vs 200+ further back. It will be interesting to see what this new offering is like, how it is priced, and how exclusive it’s kept to be worth the extra cost. (I suppose this also means we may soon be able to redeem devaluing AA miles for PE seats on other OW carriers too.) BTW one of the benefits of WT+ is getting The Glenlivet instead of BA’s back cabin whiskey, though lately not the 15-year old version but an un-“vintaged” bottling. Also, while the BA “amenity kit” in WT+ is pretty pathetic, the clear plasticized zip case does do future duty to store various cards, vouchers and foreign currencies.