fodorsuser71829

due to the 12 hour flight and the extreme discomfort of sitting in economy for 12 hours we are going to splurge and fly premium economy.
Planning a trip for May 2025 living SE PA but to fly direct we can go out of EWR (Newark) using United or out of JFK using ANA.

we have flown out of EWR several times so very familiar with off airport parking options, etc., we have never used JFK airport.
does the quality of PE in ANA make it worthwhile to fly out of JFK or is United PE pretty comparable?

All opinions welcome...thx

janisj

I've only flown ANA in coach and that was ages ago. At that time it was nicer than UA's economy IMO. So I can't give you first hand info about PE. But ere is a review of ANA PE. https://www.nextleveloftravel.com/tr...-class-review/

He gave it very top marks for value, seat comfort and service - food not so much

Seamus

Have not flown ANA, but am enamored of UA's PE service - seats are great, IFE, food terrific and every time we've flown PE the service was excellent. Actually prefer the PE seats to the Polaris ones which feel sort of coffin like to me.

mjs

I have found ANA and United premium economy seating to be fairly similar. My partner though prefers ANA. Food and drinks different but not better IMHO. Thought there was more service for drinks on United. ANA does give you lounge privileges that United does not. When flying ANA out of SFO once, the United lounge closed before the flight so we were given $40 vouchers for food or drinks in any of the nearby restaurants.

fodorsuser71829

i am seeing some EWR-HND PE seats as low as $2750 using google flights or skyscanner....but i am hoping for closer to $2500 so will keep searching and waiting.

mjs

If you have United miles, one good way to use them is for upgrades. It may only cost 10K -20K miles to upgrade to premium economy one way which may be less than cash. Then an upgrade to Polaris might be something like an additional 20K plus $550 probably on waitlist. Unfortunately the only way I have found to see such upgrade possibilities is to buy an economy ticket then see what the upgrades cost, then cancel the economy ticket if you do not want it. Sometimes even buying miles when United has a sale can also be more economical than cash. A subscription to Going may also be helpful to you to catch flight sales. Garlyloo might have some further suggestions since he/she knows much more about this than I. We flying later this month SMF-EWR economy plus (star alliance Gold so upgrade free) -LHR in premium economy. Excursion fare Turkish business LGW-IST. Return business class BER-ZUR-IAD and then economy plus to SMF. Cost 130,000 miles or $2600 if bought by buying United miles. (we are paying our own way back IST-LHR and from LHR-BER)

mjs

I should add that upgrading on United is a bit of a complicated situation. There is a thread on Flyertalk on this subject which i useful. Upgrades by miles or cash to premium economy are usually not that difficult especially if you are buying well in advance. Often upgrade by cash is immediate while miles are on waitlist. Upgrading to Polaris is dependent on the flight and dates of flights, fare basis, status and whether one upgrades with miles or cash. Different routes tend to have less or more availability of upgrades and time of year matters. As an example it was easier to upgrade to Polaris from SFO to KIX than TYO. Buying your ticket well in advance can allow easier upgrades. Often I find cash upgrades to premium economy go through immediately while upgrade with miles require a waitist. Much easier to upgrade from premium economy to Polaris I think if you pay with cash for the upgrade to PE. Highly recommend Polaris for long flights involving sleep.

fodorsuser71829

I am seeing some flights departing late April returning in May duration 10 or 11 nights - prem economy non stop EWR To Narita - $2175 per person
its $400 more each to fly in/out of HND.
is this about the best price i can expect ? I have been looking for a couple weeks and this is about the lowest i've seen
is it worth the savings to use NRT instead of HND - i assume its a longer train ride into Tokyo.

mrwunrfl

>> is it worth the savings to use NRT instead of HND - i assume its a longer train ride into Tokyo.
No-brainer that it is worth $400 savings and double-worth it for your $800. Longer ride, but easy enough. Consider using the limo bus directly to your hotel or limo bus plus taxi/walk.

mjs

I don’t know the fares to Japan from EWR as I fly out of SFO but my subscription of Going shows me flights from many place to various parts of Japan and I think the best you are going to do is $1900-$2300 on a direct flight. Haneda is a much nicer airport than Narita but it’s not worth $400 more a ticket and especially if there is more than one person traveling. It’s about 2 1/2 bus ride to many Tokyo hotels from Narita or 1-1/2 hour train ride. Haneda is closer, maybe an hour by bus or train depending on your hotel location. Haneda is about a 15 minute taxi ride from my hotel.

mjs

This is not in your time frame but there is now a $1545 RT Air Canada EWR-YUL -NRT
with return NRT-YVR- EWR for January and September although flights are in economy domestically and premium economy internationally.
​​​​​​.

mjs

The Premium Economy Air Canada flights via Montreal and Vancouver to Tokyo are now apparently good now for April 2025. About an hour and 30 minute connections. Think normal economy seating within North America and premium economy to and from Japan. Air fare same as above and apparently good for about a week

mjs

Flew premium economy EWR To LHR last night United 767-300.4 rows of 6 seats in tandem. Separated from business and economy with own toilet. Pleasant and a definite step up from economy plus