Who’d have thought it would be cheaper to fly premium economy than economy?
Well, I got that pleasant surprise this month when booking an Easter getaway.
I was prepared to pay a little more than usual, as I’m flying on Good Friday and my ticket from British Airways was indeed on the steep side.
It cost £500 instead of the usual £300-£400. That’s my fault for choosing peak time, but still the cheapest option of all the airlines I could have used.
But rather than growl when handing over my card details from the clutch of my wallet, I left the BA website with a grin as I’m flying premium economy on the way out which should hopefully make the four-hour journey easier to bear (I don’t like flying, especially turbulence, so anything to improve the journey is a big thing for me).
Yet I never asked it to show me tickets in that class as I’d selected economy.
When the results came up I thought there was a glitch on the site as it said the cheapest tickets for the day I wanted were in World Traveller Plus instead of World Traveller (whatever happened to economy, premium economy, business and first? That’s for another day…)
But it was fine, I went through the booking process and I have indeed got a premium economy seat on the outward leg.
I checked with BA’s press office to find out if this was an anomaly or is usual.
I was told when all restricted (when it’s expensive to change) tickets in one class of travel sell out, it may be cheaper to fly on a restricted ticket in the next class up, rather than on a flexible fare in the lower class.
Credit to BA for offering a cheaper seat in a higher class even when I’d not asked for it. It’s something to keep an eagle eye out for when you’re booking.
You may be offered premium economy for your preferred journey or, if you’re flexible, it may be worth picking a different flight when premium economy is reasonably priced, and get something more than you hoped for.
Has this happened to you? You can leave your feedback in the MSE forum or in the comments section below.
