Who has the best premium economy – Virgin Atlantic, British Airways or Norse Atlantic?

Who has the best premium economy product – Virgin Atlantic, British Airways or Norse Atlantic?

Norse Atlantic announced its new Cape Town route this week, going head to head with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. Norse offers a substantially different premium economy experience to those carriers and I thought it was worth comparing the three airlines to help you make an informed decision.

Who has the best Premium Economy seat?

Let’s face it.  Premium Economy is not a half-way house between Economy and a Business Class bed, irrespective of what the marketing may tell you.  It is simply a higher quality Economy product.

This comparison between British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Norse Atlantic is only for guidance, especially as the exact specification will vary by aircraft type. It is based on our own experience flying premium economy on all three airlines as well as information from the airline websites. Where cabins differ across the fleet we have tried to use the figures from the new A350 for BA and Virgin.

We have reviewed all three cabins in the past few years. You can see our review of Virgin Atlantic Premium here and our review of British Airways World Traveller Plus premium economy here. Our review of Norse Atlantic’s Premium cabin is here.

I should add as a caveat that we haven’t flown any of these airlines in Premium Economy in the last 18 months. If we’ve missed any recent changes, please let us know in the comments.

Free seat selection at time of booking:

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes, although you can pay for ‘Preferred’ seats
• British Airways: No (for non-Silver and Gold customers)
• Norse Atlantic: No – and the cost can be substantial

Virgin Atlantic bucks the trend here, letting you select your own seat for free, although it has ‘Preferred Premium’ seating which reserves c. 30% of the cabin (typically the second and third rows) for paid-for seat reservations. ‘Preferred’ seats are free for Gold members and free for Silver member from seven days before departure.

For a typical Norse Atlantic flight to New York you will pay $60 each-way for an aisle seat and $35 for a middle seat.

Dedicated check-in desk:

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes
• British Airways: Yes
• Norse Atlantic: Yes

As of February 2022, British Airways matches Virgin Atlantic and Norse Atlantic in offering dedicated check-in desks for premium economy passengers.

Lounge access:

• Virgin Atlantic: No
• British Airways: No
• Norse Atlantic: No

Priority boarding:

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes
• British Airways: Yes (Group 3)
• Norse Atlantic: Yes

Priority baggage handling:

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes
• British Airways: No
• Norse Atlantic: No

Seat width:

• Virgin Atlantic: 18.5 – 21 inches
• British Airways: 18.5 inches
• Norse Atlantic: 19 inches

Seat pitch (gap between consecutive seats backs):

• Virgin Atlantic: 38 inches
• British Airways: 38 inches
• Norse Atlantic: 46 inches

Norse Atlantic is the clear standout here, with eight inches more room than its competitors.

In-flight entertainment?

• Virgin Atlantic: 13.3 inch seat-back on the A350, gate-to-gate
• British Airways: 12 inch seat-back on the A350, gate-to-gate
• Norse Atlantic: 11 inch, in armrest

I found that all the airlines had a decent catalogue of entertainment. Virgin Atlantic obviously wins with the largest screen-size on its A350 fleet which are also mounted in the seat-back, unlike at Norse where the IFE screen is stored in the armrest. This has its downsides, including not being able to watch content gate-to-gate and a slightly more claustrophobic experience.

Headphones?

• Virgin Atlantic: on ear
• British Airways: over ear
• Norse Atlantic: earbuds

Surprisingly, British Airways wins the headphones game with its big over-ear headphones. Norse Atlantic performs worse, with its cheap in-ear buds available to purchase for $3.50 – not exactly a ringing endorsement for their quality.

Amenity kit?

• Virgin Atlantic: night flights only, contains eye mask, pen, dental kit and earplugs
• British Airways: yes, contains eye mask, socks, pen, dental kit, lip balm
• Norse Atlantic: yes, with eye mask and ear plugs

Norse is the odd one out here, with both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways providing amenity kits in premium economy, although you’ll only get one on night flights with Virgin. I prefer the British Airways amenity kit which is made form recycled plastic bottles and has a nice herringbone design. It also comes with socks and lipbalm, which Virgin’s kit doesn’t, although Virgin does a better job at reducing unnecessary plastic such as with their bamboo toothbrush.

Other amenities?

• Virgin Atlantic: fleece blanket, pillow
• British Airways: quilted blanket, pillow
• Norse Atlantic: blanket and pillow

Again, British Airways supplies a rather nice blanket for its World Traveller Plus customers. Norse’s fleece blanket is very thin and it doesn’t provide a pillow either, unlike both BA and Virgin Atlantic.

First meal service:

• Virgin Atlantic: three course meal. All meals served on china with metal cutlery, all meals upgraded vs Economy.
• British Airways:  three course meal with bread roll. All meals served on china with metal cutlery, all meals upgraded vs Economy.
• Norse Atlantic: three course meal with bread roll. All meals served in aluminium trays, wooden cutlery.

The British Airways premium economy meal service is actually quite good. Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have a minimum three courses served on real crockery, whilst Norse Atlantic will serve you a boxed meal with a main course, side salad and a dessert. (Meals are free in Norse Premium even though they are chargeable in Economy.)

On Virgin Atlantic, you also get access to the Wonder Wall (a box of snacks in the galley), the equivalent of the British Airways Club Kitchen – but which BA reserves exclusively for business class passengers.

Second meal service:

• Virgin Atlantic: afternoon tea or the new ‘picnic’ box (eg quiche and scone)
• British Airways: pocket pizza
• Norse Atlantic: pocket pizza and macarons

Both British Airways and Norse offer a pizza box as their second meal on shorter transatlantic flights, making Virgin Atlantic the clear winner (in my view) with its afternoon tea comprising of a scone and sandwich.

Drinks service:

• Virgin Atlantic: sparkling wine on boarding, wine, beers and spirits throughout
• British Airways: sparkling wine on boarding, wine, beers and spirits throughout
• Norse Atlantic: juice on boarding, wine and beer throughout, spirits available at extra charge

Both BA and Virgin Atlantic include a full bar service including prosecco, champagne or an alternative sparkling wine in premium economy. If you’re flying Norse, you’d have to pay extra for this, as well as for other spirits, which start at around $9.

Power socket at seat and wi-fi:

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes (wi-fi on most aircraft)
• British Airways: Yes (wi-fi on most aircraft)
• Nose Atlantic: Yes (no wi-fi)

Dedicated lavatories?

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes
• British Airways: No
• Norse Atlantic: Yes

Luggage allowance:

• Virgin Atlantic: 2 x 23kg
• British Airways: 2 x 23kg
• Norse Atlantic: varies from hand baggage only to 2 x 23kg

Dedicated cabin crew:

• Virgin Atlantic:  Yes
• British Airways:  No
• Norse Atlantic: Yes

The general view is that Virgin Atlantic offers superior service vs BA because specific crew members are dedicated to the small Premium cabin.

Frequent flyer miles earned on non-refundable PE ticket:

• Virgin Atlantic: 100% of miles flown plus any status bonus
• British Airways: based on your base fare, earning 6x-9x based on status
• Norse Atlantic: N/A

Because Air Passenger Duty and other charges represent a high percentage of the cost of a Premium Economy ticket, leisure travellers with no elite status are likely to be better off with Virgin Atlantic over British Airways.

Frequent flyer miles earned on flexible PE ticket:

• Virgin Atlantic: 200% of miles flown plus any status bonus
• British Airways: based on your base fare, earning 6x-9x based on status
• Norse Atlantic: N/A

If you have elite status with British Airways and are paying for a fully flexible ticket (New York is £3,000 return plus taxes for example), BA will probably prove more lucrative.

Can you upgrade your ticket to Business Class with points?

• Virgin Atlantic: Yes. Virgin Atlantic also allows Economy tickets to be upgraded to Business Class (requires a reward seat to be available in Upper Class).

• British Airways: Yes. World Traveller Plus tickets can be upgraded to Business Class, but standard Economy / World Traveller tickets cannot (requires a reward seat to be available in Club World / Club Suite).

• Norse Atlantic: N/A – there is no Business Class cabin

Conclusion

Whilst it used to be true that Virgin Atlantic Premium was significantly better than World Traveller Plus, in recent years British Airways has been closing the gap. BA’s meal service, amenity kits, blankets, pillows and the check-in experience have improved in the last five years.

Unlike British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, Norse offers a no-frills Premium service. Although it has by far the most space of all three airlines, its food and bar service is significantly worse and you don’t get an amenity kit or pillow either. You can’t beat Norse’s leg room though – and if you are tall this may be all that matters.

For a closer look, I reviewed British Airways premium economy (World Traveller Plus) on an A380 in late 2019. I have since reviewed Premium on Virgin Atlantic in 2021 and Norse Atlantic’s new Premium offering from Gatwick, in 2022.

And if you’re not sure about the upgrade, I take a look at whether premium economy is worth it in this article.