8 airline upgrades worth the money

Are upgrades worth it? Sometimes. Especially if you've had your travel plans on hold for the past two years. You deserve to turn left, and here's how...

Which upper class cabins are truly worth your pennies and which premium cabins offer the best value for money if you’re planning on treating yourself to a little luxury, but don’t want to break the bank? We’ve taken a look at eight airlines with premium cabins – ranging from premium economy to upper class – worth splurging on.

Etihad

The second flag carrier of the UAE, Etihad Airways is slowly phasing out its A380s and replacing them with A350s. The airline received its initial A350s aircraft in 2019 but the first one only took to the skies in March 2022.

The planes, which will be rolled out on medium-haul routes this spring and long-haul routes by the end of summer, will have entirely new economy and business class cabins, and it’s the latter we’re most excited about.

Etihad A350 (Image: EA Photography/Shutterstock) EA Photography/Shutterstock

To start with, there’s plenty of room – the seats are 20 inches wide and convert into 79-inch-long flatbeds. There’s also plenty of tech – in addition to an 18.5-inch TV screen, there’s a wireless charging pad and Bluetooth connectivity. Can’t quite stretch to business class? You’re in luck, because the A350s have a new category known as Economy Space, which comes with four extra inches of legroom.

It's also worth noting that if you’re prone to claustrophobia on planes, Etihad (and its new A350s) might be a great option, because it has the highest ceilings (almost eight foot/2.4m) of any aircraft.

Finnair

All too often, passengers who splash out on premium economy are left pondering precisely what sets their seats apart from standard economy. Not so with Finnair – in March, the airline launched what many are touting as the best premium economy seats in the sky.

To start with, the airline offers a whopping 50% more room than the airline’s economy seats, and there will be just 26 seats per premium economy cabin. Other perks include memory foam cushions, the seat’s eight-inch recline and a six-way headrest.

Finnair premium economy (Image: Finnair.com) Finnair.com

Finnair is definitely the one to watch right now – the airline is expanding its route network and will serve over 100 destinations in Asia, Europe and the US by the end of 2022, and the recent announcement that it will be investing £167 million in its fleet of long-haul aircraft makes the airline a top option for longer flights.

Delta

Planning on treating yourself to an upgrade and wondering which airline offers the best value for money? It’s worth considering Delta, partly because it will be much easier to bag a better seat – new routes being launched by the airline in 2022 mean there will be 143% more premium seats (or 750,000) than there were in 2021.

The fact that there are now five options (Delta One, Delta One Suites, Delta Premium Select, Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin) means more opportunities to experience a little luxury without breaking the bank. Delta’s Premium Select class features have been enhanced and will expand to transatlantic routes this summer. Passengers who book this option will get wider seats with deeper reclines, adjustable foot rests and leg rests, luxury amenity kits, noise-cancelling headsets and memory-foam pillows.

Emirates

It’s the scenario we all dread. We splurge on an upgrade with our favourite airline (despite previously being perfectly happy with its economy class options) only to spend the flight working out whether the extra cash was worth the free glass of (cheap) prosecco and tiny bottle of posh hand lotion.

Opt for Emirates’ new Premium Economy service, however, and we suspect you’ll be glad you splashed out. From this summer, you’ll find the new Premium Economy cabin on Emirates’ daily flights between Heathrow and Dubai. Perks include one of the largest premium economy seats (it’s 19.5 inches wide), a 13.3-inch TV (one of the largest in any premium class cabin), an extra-wide dining table and a cocktail table.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emirates (@emirates)

Virgin Atlantic

Wondering which airline has the best upper class cabin? Virgin is definitely a contender. The airline revamped its upper class cabins on its A350s in late 2019, adding supersized 18.5-inch television screens (to put this into perspective, the ones in the airline’s premium class have a width of 13.5 inches), and a flat bed with a length of 82 inches.

But the most exciting launch came in early 2022. The airline is famous for its upper class cabin bars, but these cabins on the A350s now have something known as The Booth – an intimate, luxurious space with lounge-style seating.

Virgin Atlantic The Booth (Image: Virgin Atlantic) Virgin Atlantic

Passengers can sign up for wine tastings or chocolate and cognac pairings, and The Booth can also be booked for private dining experiences. The Booth launched on planes flying Virgin’s popular London to Orlando route, but it will soon be rolled out onto other flights.

READ MORE: The world's best airport lounges

Air Asia

Air Asia has always been one of the more innovative budget airlines, and its Premium Flatbed seat is a case in point. Regarded as the world’s cheapest premium cabin, the biggest perk of this class is the seat, which transforms into a full flatbed.

The fact that there aren’t walk-up onboard bars or four-course meals (although Premium Flatbed passengers get complimentary meals, unlike economy passengers) means you’ll get exactly what you pay for – in this case the flatbed. In other words, it’s a great option if privacy (there’s a privacy screen around the bed) and extra space are the main reasons you’re considering an upgrade.

Air Asia is yet to restart its UK to Asia routes but to give you an idea of the price, a Premium Flatbed flight from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, which takes eight hours and 15 minutes, will cost £760. Mile-for-mile, you’ll struggle to find a cheaper rate for a flatbed cabin class.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand stopped flying from the UK just before the pandemic, but it’s hoped the airline will restart flights in the near future. Either way, if you’re undertaking the mammoth journey from the UK to New Zealand, it’s highly likely that the second leg of your journey will be with the airline, and considering it’s still a 10-hour flight from popular hubs such as Singapore to the country, the chance to enjoy a bit more space will undoubtedly appeal to many passengers.

Full disclosure – this is more one-to-watch, but the airline recently announced it’ll be revealing a totally revamped Business Premier cabin, and although details are scarce, the airline says that it’s the result of 80,000 hours of design and engineering work and 18 months of customer research, so we’re expecting great things.

The airline is remaining tight-lipped, although it’s stated that key highlights will increased accessibility to seats, making the new cabin especially suitable for passengers with mobility issues.

ANA

When it comes to the best business class cabins, Japanese airline ANA is a strong contender, and a reminder that opting for smaller airlines for long-haul routes is an approach which often pays huge dividends.

ANA is one of the few airlines with fully-enclosed private suites in its business class cabins. Similar in size to British Airways’ first class seats, the suites have full-height sliding doors, supersized 24-inch 4K monitors and extra-wide seats which convert into flatbeds (which, by the way, are insanely comfortable – ANA uses mattresses and bedding from luxury bedding brand Nishikawa).

ANA The Room (Image: All Nippon Airways/Facebook) All Nippon Airways/Facebook

The suites, known as The Room, were rolled out in late 2019 and are available on long-haul routes such as flights from Europe to Tokyo. A fun fact? ANA was the first in the world to introduce 4K resolution TV screens on commercial aircraft.

How to get upgraded

Finally, some advice for those of you wondering how to access those sought-after premium cabins. Obviously, one option is to pay upfront, but it’s worth considering other options before splashing the cash. Using accumulated points to nab a seat in a more luxurious cabin can offer great value for money, but bear in mind airlines normally only allocate a handful of seats for passengers who wish to pay for their ticket using points.

Wondering how to get upgraded for free? It’s worth noting that you’re more likely to bag an upgrade if you’re (a) travelling solo and (b) flexible. If flights are overbooked, passengers who volunteer to be moved to a later flight are often offered upgrades to sweeten the deal. The bad news is that getting a free upgrade has never been harder...

This is because flights are fuller than ever, upgrades are now almost always done electronically using a number of metrics, ranging from the highest air mile tallies to whether a passenger paid for their ticket using cash or air miles.

Emirates First Class lounge (Image: Sorbis/Shutterstock) Sorbis/Shutterstock

Finally, find out if your airline uses upgrade auctions – a process now used by dozens of airlines, including Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia. After booking, you’ll be offered the chance to enter the maximum amount you’re happy to pay for an upgrade. You’ll find out if your bid has been successful around 48 hours before departure.

Lead image: Leeloona/Shutterstock