Premium economy has the potential to be a great option. If you have status benefits, the experience on the ground is exactly the same as in business, while onboard it usually provides a meaningfully better experience over economy, particularly if you’re travelling as a couple. Experiences can vary widely though depending on the airline you’re flying with. I’d seen mixed opinions  about Finnair in premium economy and was looking forward to seeing things for myself.

Periodically, Finnair launches some fairly competitive fares to Asia in premium economy from various cities in Europe. For €1,009 per person we managed to find open-jaw tickets from Prague to Seoul on the outbound leg, and Hong Kong to Prague on the inbound leg. All flights in the itinerary were operated by Finnair with a connection in Helsinki. The cheapest fares involved a fairly long connection in Helsinki of just over six hours. This is longer than ideal, but Helsinki is a great airport and easy to connect through, so despite being long, I wasn’t too worried about the connection time.

Premium economy was around €350 each return more than economy, and about €1,000 cheaper than business. All things considered, premium economy felt like a great value option. Slightly more than economy, but not substantially so, yet significantly cheaper than business.

While I was fairly confident the hard product would be decent enough, I wasn’t sure what to expect from everything else. In economy, Finnair have adopted a semi-budget style experience. No snacks outside of mealtimes, a choice of just one option during the main meal service, and a maximum of either one beer or wine to accompany it. Premium economy is only slightly more generous – but we’ll talk more about that later.

Finnair Premium Economy Check-in

We started our journey in Prague. As we’d booked light fares, it wouldn’t usually be possible to bring a checked bag. Finnair do allow a free checked bag if you have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status though. As a result, our bags were checked through to Seoul. Connecting in Helsinki is both easy and fast. As we’d arrived from another EU airport, it wasn’t necessary to go through security again. Instead, we just needed to clear immigration. I’m not sure if I’m just unlucky, but this is probably the worst part of travelling through Helsinki. Immigration seems to be an unfriendly (sometimes almost hostile) process. This aside, it’s a great airport for connections.

Lounge Access and Boarding

Tickets in premium economy do not include lounge access. You can, however, buy access through ‘manage my booking’ beforehand. Finnair don’t publish pricing for this online, but I’d personally value it at around €30/€35 maximum, depending on how long you’re planning to stay. I suspect Finnair probably try and charge more than this though!

If you have oneworld Sapphire or Emerald, you can of course still use the Finnair lounges. As I currently have Sapphire status, I was able to use the Finnair Business Lounge (non-Schengen). Overall, the Finnair Business Lounge is a nice space to spend a couple of hours before your flight. Food options are limited though, and although the interior is nice, the lack of natural light is a minus. If you’re interested in my experience, feel free to read my full review.

Our flight was running to time, and boarding was a stress-free process. Since we were boarding from gate 55, the lounge was just a few minutes away.

Finnair Premium Economy Cabin

Finnair have two different premium economy configurations. Some of their A350s have 26 premium economy seats, while others have a slightly smaller 24. The larger cabin is better because it features its own dedicated bathroom. Unfortunately, this flight was being operated with the smaller premium economy cabin. In this case, premium economy passengers share the economy bathrooms. Apart from this though, everything else is the same.

As I have oneworld sapphire, I was able to pick seats beforehand. I’d have preferred the front row, but these weren’t available so we opted for row 2 of premium economy – seats 21L and 21J. One of the biggest upsides of premium economy over economy for me is the cabin layout. Typically this is 2 – 4 – 2 in premium economy, instead of 3 – 3 – 3 in economy. This makes a huge difference if you’re travelling with someone and avoids any middle seat problems entirely.

The seats themselves are only very slightly wider than their economy conterparts – 46cm v 45cm. The difference in pitch is more noticeable though at 96cm, instead of 79cm. Does it feel hugely spacious? No. The greatest upgrade to the seat, I’d argue, comes from the addition of the legrest. I find this makes a huge difference to the probabilities of sleeping. Of course it won’t ever be comparable to business class, but it feels considerably better than economy.

Comfort

Our flight to Seoul was departing at 17:30, so while I knew I’d likely want to sleep at some point, I wasn’t particularly tired for the first half of the flight. The seats recline up to 20cm and combined with the legrest, I found it easy enough to find a comfortable enough position to watch a film, or read a book. You can definitely feel the increased personal space. Likewise, the adjustable headrest made things feel noticeably more comfortable.

The cabin aesthetics are nicely done. The colour scheme feels modern and relaxed. Extra touches such as the small cocktail table on the armrest as well as the small storage space under the IFE screen made a positive addition, albeit subtle. Would I be prepared to pay double the price of an economy ticket for the upgrade? I highly doubt it. For the additional price I paid though, I was happy enough. In the end, I managed to sleep for about 5 hours, which for me, is very good!

IFE and Amenities

Finnair provide a blanket, noise cancelling headphones, a neck pillow and a small amenity kit in premium economy. While I forgot to take a photo, the contents were exactly the same as Finnair advertise on their website. It felt standard for premium economy, but there was nothing standout about it.

I’m not sure why Finnair decided to replace the traditional seat pillow with a neck pillow instead. The adjustable headrest is already good enough in my opinion.

The IFE system worked well throughout the flight – although my usage was limited to the moving map and flight camera. I love the flight camera feature – and the quality was excellent. Each seat is equipped with both a usb charger and a universal power plug – making it easy to keep devices charged.

Wifi was available but Finnair don’t offer any free plans (not even for messaging). This doesn’t bother me though – 12 hours without internet can feel like a nice break sometimes!

Finnair Premium Economy Cabin Food

While prior to the situation in the Ukraine Finnair had much reduced flight times to Asia because of their ability to utilise Russian airspace, today’s flight from Helsinki to Seoul would last for just short of 12 hours. It seems Finnair haven’t adjusted their meal provisions to reflect this extended flight time.

The main meal consisted of a tiny salad, a small main course, a bread roll and a chocolate bar. A (very) small bag of pretzels was also provided. Apart from this, nothing would be served until a couple of hours before landing. If you want anything extra, snacks are available – although only if you’re willing to pay for them.

Finnair don’t serve any welcome drink prior to take-off. I’d assumed, especially considering the length of this flight, that they’d do a separate drinks service after take-off, but prior to the main meal. I was wrong. Instead, everything was presented together on one tray. It was odd being handed a packet of mini pretzels alongside a main meal tray with hot food. Thinking better now though, maybe the pretzels are supposed to be to kept for later in case you get hungry? At least I’ll know if there’s a next time!

Upgrade over economy?

Finnair offer a choice of two main meal options in premium economy, and for flights from Helsinki it’s possible to pre-order your choice online up to 24 hours before departure. The menu is also available through the IFE screen. I don’t remember the exact menu description, however, I ordered what turned out to be a decent enough beef burger (or maybe giant meatball?) with green beans and mashed potato. Memorable? No, not at all. Decent enough? Yes.

The main issue is not the quality, rather the small amounts offered. The addition of a small chocolate bar, and a tiny salad don’t do anything to resolve this. Presentation is slightly better than economy, with the main meal being served on a china dish with metal cutlery. Drinks, however, are served in paper cups.

I slept through breakfast, although I understand the meal is exactly the same as economy. I might be wrong, but I suspect I didn’t miss much.

Unlike in economy, alcoholic drinks (excluding sparkling wine) are available throughout the flight. I asked for a wine a couple of hours after the meal service, and it wasn’t a problem. It should, technically, be possible to order through the IFE system. I did try this method first, but after 30 minutes of being ignored I opted for the call button instead. This seemed to do the trick and service was surprisingly quick and very friendly.

In all truth though, if you’re considering premium economy for better food or drinks, or a more premium feeling meal service, I’d recommend against the upgrade. Value can be found in some of the other elements, but catering certainly isn’t one of them.

Conclusions

In the end, premium economy ended up costing an extra €150 per long-haul leg compared to economy. At this price, I feel it represented good value. Is Finnair’s premium economy product radically different or dramatically more comfortable? No, not really – but it does offer better potential to sleep, and a more relaxed flight.

As I mentioned before, for me, premium economy is worth it particularly if you’re travelling as a couple. This does of course assume you’re always able to get window seats. Unfortunately, as I have discovered before, this doesn’t always happen. As with any travel experience, whether or not the upgrade is really worth it depends on a number of things and the travel experience you’re hoping for.

At the right price point, I’d maybe consider Finnair premium economy again – I thought the hard product was a bit better than Iberia’s premium economy, but the soft product was worse. I’m sure there are far better premium economy options out there!