The TRUTH About PREMIUM ECONOMY (Tested on EVERY US Airline)

United, Delta, American. We're about to fly across the Atlantic three times in three days to test these top U.S. airlines in the ultimate premium economy comparison. Is this a smart upgrade or a huge mistake? Hello, jet setters. Is premium economy worth the splurge? We're going to find out as we cross the Atlantic three times. I'm Jeb Brooks from GreenerGrass.com, and you're coming along. Here's the plan. We'll fly from Newark to London with United Airlines, then we'll cross back over to JFK with Delta. And our final leg, we'll be on board American Airlines right back to Heathrow. One of the perks of flying in premium economy with United is that you get premier access. That gives you priority check-in, security, and boarding. So, let's get checked in, get this trip started. Here it is, the 31-year-old Boeing 767 that's going to take us across the Atlantic today. There are 22 premium economy seats on board, we'll be in two of them. International premium economy is a relatively new product, so I'm really interested to find out how much better is the offering of a regular economy, and how much are the airlines charging for it? As always, there's no perfect way to compare price because it'll depend on your exact route, dates, demand, and how early you purchase. But for our purposes, we'll compare round-trip tickets from New York to London for a week-long trip, 90 days out. Here on United, you'll pay $833 for an economy seat or $1,566 for premium economy. That's nearly double. To find out if it's worth it, we gotta get on board. Now, if you expect access to a fancy lounge for that price, you'll be disappointed. Instead, you'll have to entertain yourself out here. That's not a problem at Newark, though. Let me show you the back side, it says children should be supervised at all times, so that's why Suzanne's right there. Have you tried a premium economy, or would you like to? And if so, how much are you willing to pay over the price of an economy ticket for a flight, say, across the Atlantic? Let us know in the comments below, I'm curious. A premium economy ticket gets you into Group 2 for boarding, and that means more time to store your carry-on bags and get settled in. Let's check out United Premium Plus. Now, we passed through United's Polaris Business Class cabin and made our way to our home for the next six and a half hours. This cabin is arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration, and we're booked in the last row on the left side of the plane. These seats are pretty similar to what you'll find on first-class and domestic narrow-body flights in the U.S., with a couple of upgrades. At your seat, you'll find a pillow, blanket, amenity kit, and headphones. There's a remote control for the in-flight entertainment, and the seat controls are here, too. You'll also have a surprisingly useful storage compartment here. It's time for the greener grass tape measure. Let's check the pitch. 38 inches. Seven more than you'll get in economy. Width. It's really hard. 18 and a half inches. That's the same as economy. Now, practical knee room. 14 inches. We're adding a new measurement. That's screen size. Let's check it out. That's about 13 inches. And on that screen, you'll find 362 movies, including 42 new releases. We're on our way now, and the International Purser just made an announcement in the air that the Wi-Fi is not working on this flight. We can't even purchase it, which is too bad. I don't mind that it's not working. I'm sorry that the announcement didn't happen on the ground. I was planning to send some messages from the air, but now I can't. I guess the lesson here is never count on Wi-Fi. What you can count on, at least in premium economy, is an amenity kit. It's something you won't find in an economy-class seat, so let's take a look inside. This amenity kit is a real upgrade over economy. Let's check out what's inside. Eye mask, socks, lotions and potions, earplugs, toothbrush, the basics. Pretty nice kit. Drinks in hand 31 minutes after departure. That's pretty impressive. Hot coffee. Cheers. In economy on international flights, wine and beer are included. If you're booked into premium economy, spirits are also complimentary. While meals in economy are typically not very impressive and usually look about like this, mealtime in premium economy includes upgraded offerings, along with cutlery and dishes. About an hour and 10 minutes after departure and the food is on the tray. Now, we originally wanted to have both options. There's an egg option as well as French toast, so we can show you both. Unfortunately, by the time they reached our row, they've run out of the French toast, so we are both having the eggs and sausage, which looks pretty filling, but let's dig in. It would be easy to criticize United unfairly because breakfast is the more difficult meal choice, but this is something I would truly expect to be served on a domestic first-class flight, so this is nice. Maybe even nicer than that, to be honest. And about an hour and 37 or 38 minutes after departure, the trays are gone and we're settling in for the rest of the flight. We're expecting snacks, maybe drinks in the middle of the flight and then another meal service an hour and a half before landing. But for now, it's just going to be watching movies. The seat is surprisingly roomy. The recline is really nice. There's also leg rest and a footrest. The leg rest, I'm really not a big fan of. It sort of feels like the seat is at an angle and the leg rest just feels unnecessary. The footrest is nice and the space is certainly better than what you'll get in economy, so I recommend it for that, but I kind of wish they'd not had the leg rest. I think it comes up. Time flies when you're having fun. Two hours and 54 minutes into the flight, coming around with snacks, drinks are coming next. A nice way to break up the middle of the flight or so. With about an hour and a half left in flight, they just turned the lights on in the cabin and I think we're here for our pre- or ready for our pre-landing meal. Economy passengers receive these sandwiches. Incidentally, the same flight attendants serve both economy and premium economy cabins in this flight, but our pre-landing meals were truly noteworthy. With about an hour and a half left in flight, I am impressed. It's way more substantial than what you'd see as a pre-landing meal in business class in a lot of airlines, so let's give it a try. It's a pepper steak, good flavor. This pre-landing meal is actually a very nice upgrade from economy. I'm used to those warm sandwiches. This is like more like a business class pre-landing meal, so I'm quite impressed. Also, thank you, United, for keeping AHA, my favorite drink on board. We touched down right on time, which was great. It meant we had enough time for a quick sleep because today it's Delta's turn. We're trying out Premium Select. Now, that includes SkyPriority benefits like expedited check-in, security, and boarding. Let's head inside and get this trip started. You might be wondering what time period we're doing this in, and we're doing it fully back-to-back. Three days in a row, three flights. I've got to confess, one of the real challenges with making this video is keeping track of what each airline calls these things. When it comes to airline branding, like so many things that we've discovered as we've started comparing these big three U.S. airlines, they really do their best to be as similar as they can, it seems. Premium Select, Premium Plus, Premium... I don't know. Anyway, I know I'm about to get on a Delta airplane, and here it is, the 24-year-old Boeing 767-400 that'll carry us across the Atlantic today. This airplane has 20 Premium Select seats on it. Again, we're booked on the left side of the plane, but not at the back of the cabin this time. I was really impressed by the experience we had yesterday with United in their Premium Economy. It was actually my first experience with Premium Economy on an international flight, and I really liked it. But my question still is, how much extra are the airlines charging for this, and kind of is it worth it? So let's find out what it costs to fly Premium Select. A round-trip economy ticket from New York to London with Delta costs $565, and Premium Economy is about three times that price at $1,617. And we're about to show you exactly what you get for all that money, starting with boarding in Zone 2. Next up, Premium Select. The first thing I noticed was that the seats look almost identical to the ones we saw yesterday on You'll get headphones, an amenity kit, a menu, a blanket, a pillow, and a bottle of water. We can't recommend putting anything in the seat pockets. It just falls right through. The most significant difference between United's seat and this one is there's a spot for a water bottle, and the storage compartment here is slightly smaller. We'll get precise about the numbers once we get in the air, but for now, it feels about like United, which makes sense. They're such similar seats. Having this printed menu feels very premium, almost like business class. With 491 movies to choose from, including 25 new releases, you could spend a significant amount of the time just looking for something to watch. Today's flight will take us 7 hours and 12 minutes, so let's get in the sky and get comfortable. I started to settle in with a Coen Brothers classic, but I didn't get too comfortable. We still have some work to do. Let's check the numbers. 38 inches pitch, width, 19 inches on the nose, practical knee room, 14 inches of usable knee room, and time to check the screen. It definitely looks big and bright right at 13 inches. There are 20 seats in this cabin, but only eight passengers today. Our dedicated flight attendant appeared with a warm towel to kick off service. So 20 minutes after departure and drink service begins. You gotta stay hydrated with this much flying, so I just had water. This is definitely elevated above United. There's a tablecloth, glassware. This is pretty premium. While pre-ordering is not available, we were able to preview the menu. The starters looked tasty, but the main dishes really appealed. I planned to have the Penang chicken with Thai rice, choy sum, and cashews, and Suzanne was looking forward to trying the tomato and mozzarella cannelloni with spinach and Parmesan cheese. It also seems like, unlike yesterday with United, here on Delta, we have a dedicated flight attendant just working this cabin. Some really nice service, at least so far. 30 minutes after departure, we are eating. I'm having the chicken, Suzanne's having the pasta, and I would not be surprised to see this meal in Delta 1. Really good flavor. I guess there's some coconut in there. That's really nice. Okay, Delta so far is winning the meal game. I would say this pasta has a slightly better flavor than pasta on United yesterday, but that being said, I kind of wish airlines would get more inventive about their vegetarian offerings. It seems to always be a pasta in a cream cheese sauce, and that's just quite heavy on a plane, so I wish they'd get a little bit more inventive. I was trying to cut into this, and it didn't work. 50 minutes after departure, that's trays clear. Time to settle in, watch a movie, and really enjoy the ride over to New York. But first, let's check out the amenity kit. People ask us all the time, can you take these with you? Absolutely. This is not my favorite because it doesn't have a zipper. Let's see what's inside. Eye mask, earplugs, socks of course. Ah, I love this. A pen. These are really good ones. Toothbrush, and some lotions and potions. A slight critique of this seat, or maybe it's just a recognition of an element that United does better than Delta is the placement of these plugs. Unfortunately, if I need to get out of the seat, I'm gonna have to unplug everything and get out, whereas with United, the plugs are sort of behind the seat in the armrest, which is, I think, a little bit more convenient. And I did climb out. In the galley at the back of the plane, you'll find drinks and a tray of snacks for the taking. But we didn't need them, though. Our dedicated flight attendant in premium economy was checking on us throughout the flight, frequently offering more snacks and drinks. It was a step above yesterday's service, that's for sure. Meanwhile, in the economy cabin on the 767-400, you'll find the seats arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, meaning if you're traveling as a couple, sitting at the window gives you the same amount of privacy you'll get in those seats in premium select. I also took a seat in an empty row here in economy, and you can clearly see the difference in the amount of pitch you'll get versus a premium economy seat. For the sake of comparison, this is pretty much the same seat you'll find in economy on the other two airlines, too. Back in premium economy, in our seats, the recline is similar to what we had with United, but the leg rest was a different design with a built-in footrest. Again, we didn't really care for this feature, and neither of us really used it for the flight. I worked 17 minutes after departure, and snack basket just came around, so we grabbed a couple of things. Wi-Fi was available for purchase for $5, and it worked really well. We've got about an hour left in flight, and it looks like we're about to have a pre-landing meal, so I'm excited to get another taste of this Delta catering before it wheels down. We had two cold options, a traditional tea or the beef plowman's plate. We both went for the latter, which included a selection of meats and cheeses. That was a great meal. In fact, the same thing is served up at Delta 1 as a pre-landing meal this flight, the afternoon tea or the plowman's lunch. It was really tasty, everything great flavor, but that said, United did serve a hot pre-landing meal yesterday, so even though it was delicious, it wasn't hot. To me, that really felt more like Delta 1 Lite than a premium economy. What do you think, Jeff? I agree. I mean, it felt like a completely separate class of service, which it wasn't quite the case with United, but we're about to find out how American does it, because we've got one more flight across the pond, this time with American Airlines in premium economy. Back across the pond again. Let me be very clear, this was her idea. She planned this video. Meanwhile, our American Airlines trip started off with some confusion as we kept getting told to check in at different places. American Airlines premium economy includes priority benefits like expedited check-in, security, and boarding. Now, we've tried to find the expedited check-in and we've failed. It's not in the priority line. It seems to be over with special services, so I think we're just going to use the regular check-in kiosks so we can get through and get this trip started. A little confusing way to get started, but we'll make it work. You know, if I had words of a special trip, this wouldn't feel very premium. Not off to a great start. That really was quite a confusing experience figuring out where to go and did not, as Suzanne said, feel like super premium. Everything on the website about premium economy for American Airlines is focused on the word priority, so I was really looking for that word on a sign somewhere and it just wasn't there. We also got three different answers about where to go, so it was, like, overall, it was just confusing. Hopefully, the onboard experience is a little easier, but now let's go find the plane. And here it is. The 24-year-old 777 is going to take us across the Atlantic. It's not this streamliner right here, but the 777 back there. Our premium economy tickets allowed us to board with group four out of nine. It's time for American Airlines premium economy, the final leg of this trip. With a total of 24 seats, our cabin is arranged in a 242 configuration on this 777, and we're in the middle of the three rows. And yet again, the seats seem like they're the same ones. A pretty good recline, though. If you like windows, then row 14 is for you. I had two just to myself. Welcome aboard American Airlines premium economy. American was the first airline to introduce this product across the three. The seat feels remarkably similar, almost identical, some might say, to the one on United. The footrest feels like a little bit of a gimmick. I haven't used it yet, and that includes deltas, which was a slightly different design. I guess maybe it's helpful for people with just the right length of feet. Suzanne's are too short, mine are too long. It's something. You'll get an amenity kit, headphones, a pillow, and a blanket. I was glad to see the plug placement. It was like United's too. It's nice to have the wires tucked away back here. The screen has 393 movies, 91 of which are new releases. That's far and away the most new movies to choose from. It's time. Well, you know what time it is. Right at 38 inches, 18 and a half inches wide, 14 inches of usable knee room, 11 and a half. The others were 13, a little smaller here. Each of these airlines offered plenty of dedicated bin space for premium economy passengers. Bottle of water dropped off the seat. Very nice. Our six hour and 10 minute transatlantic crossing starts soon, so let's get in the air. I have to say it took a while for the cabin crew to make their appearance on this flight, and I was getting hungrier by the minute thinking about the menu, which we could pre-order online. Suzanne went for the vegetable shepherd's pie, which the crew called lentil stew, and I opted for the braised beef, which was presented on board as beef tips. 58 minutes after departure, food survived along with drinks. They came together. That's much longer than United or Delta. The food seems really nice. The beef is tender. Suzanne is having the vegetarian option, the lentil stew, which it's nice to have a vegetarian option. It's not, as she said yesterday, just cheese upon cheese upon cream. I have to say the highlight of my tray are the sun-dried tomatoes on the salad. That's an hour and 28 minutes after departure, and the trays are cleared. It's time to really settle in. Now the crew on this flight is like the crew on United, working both cabins. So there was one cart with food, followed by another cart with drinks, and now another flight attempt is just clearing the cabin. Definitely, as always, a shout out to the cabin crew who are working really hard today. Let's check out the premium economy amenity kit on American Airlines. Might need Jeb's help opening this one. Here we go. Eye mask, socks, earplugs of course, lip balm, lotion, and a toothbrush. That's it. A second drink service was available, and Suzanne went for a cup of tea. That was the last time we saw our flight attendants until just before landing. At this point, everyone else had closed their windows, so I decided to be a team player and do the same thing, at least until sunset. Wi-Fi was available to purchase for a whopping $35. Again, it was five bucks on Delta. That said, American's Wi-Fi was not nearly as fast as Delta's. Here's a reminder to always review seat maps before booking. Remember how economy on Delta's 767 was arranged in a 232 configuration? Well, 777s have wider fuselages, and that allows airlines to put more seats in them. Here, economy is arranged in a 343 configuration, meaning the 242-configured premium economy cabin is definitely better for couples than the seats in the back. With about an hour left in flight, we've got a pre-landing meal. No choice this time, unlike the other two airlines, which is a difference. It's this sort of modified Cobb salad kind of thing, I guess I'd call it. Having a toothbrush in the amenity kit was a given the number of onions in this. In terms of pre-landing meals, this one has to rank at the bottom. What does American charge? Well, again, looking at a week-long round-trip flight from New York to London, we're seeing fares for economy at $845 per person. But premium economy? Well, that's an eye-popping $2,275, almost three times the price of a regular economy ticket. It's the highest we've seen yet. But how does American stack up against the others? Well, the best way I know to figure that out is with the JEBS score. Hopefully this unscientific comparison can provide a framework to help you decide when it makes sense to upgrade. First, let's compare the airport experience. Delta and United both tie for first place in their clearly signed and well-branded priority check-in boarding processes. American comes in last place for not having a designated priority check-in area or ground agents familiar with premium economy. We were sent in three different directions. Next, let's compare seats. We give Delta the win for the slightly wider and more padded seats. American is last for their lack of a leg rest. It's time to talk food. United comes in first place with their hot offering on that pre-landing meal. American comes in last place for unremarkable food and lack of snack offerings. Let's look at IFE. Delta wins for their well-priced and fast Wi-Fi with top movie selections. Unfortunately, United finds itself in last place because they had the fewest movies and their Wi-Fi didn't work. Time to talk service. Delta runs away with this category. Our dedicated flight attendant made premium economy feel like a separate class of service, almost like business class. American is in last place here thanks to their mid-flight disappearing act. And tallying it all up, the winner is Delta Airlines by a mile. But before booking a premium economy seat, there are a couple of things you want to consider first. In general, paying double or triple the price of an economy seat seems excessive for what you'll get, even on Delta. Sure, an elevated meal and a couple of extra inches of space are nice, but not at those prices. Instead, maybe try a regular economy seat, but pay up for an extra legroom seat. Delta charges about $75, at least for a starting price for that privilege, and there you'll have three extra inches in their comfort plus. Otherwise, here's another idea. Fly business class going to Europe to make the most of the bed on an overnight flight, and then fly back in economy for a daytime flight. For about the same price as premium economy, that might be a better experience for you. Between now and the next time, see you in the sky. The eggs taste like eggs. 14 inches, that's two feet of usable knee room. Rise and shine. Let's get ready to vlog. Okay, ready to vlog? I'm always ready to vlog. We don't have coffee yet. Uh-oh, might be time for a new greener Crest tape measure.