Deal alert: Fly premium economy to Europe for half-price

Discounted premium economy fares are available on multiple airlines to destinations across Europe, including Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark. You can enjoy spacious seats, free checked luggage and an amenity kit, among other perks, while flying this elevated economy class.

Long-haul premium economy flights from the U.S. to Europe usually start around $1,500 round-trip and this deal features flights as low as $822.

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Deal basics

Airlines: Air Canada, American, British Airways, Delta, Iberia, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS and United.
Routes: JFK/LAX/SEA and others to BCN/BER/CPH/MAD/WAW/ZHR and others.
How to book: Directly through the airline.
Travel dates: February-May and October-early December.
Book by: N/A.

Today’s deal was originally sent out from Scott’s Cheap Flights, which sends deals up to 90% off via its Premium membership, which users can try for free for 14 days and then $49 per year. You can also upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year and receive all the Premium deals plus premium economy, business-class and first-class alerts.

Plus, Scott’s Cheap Flights is currently running a promotion where new users can receive 20% off a Premium subscription with the code “HAPPY22” between now and Jan. 31.

Read more: Going for gold: A review of Emirates’ new premium economy cabin on the Airbus A380

Sample flights

This deal is particularly expansive, featuring round-trip flights from the U.S. to destinations throughout Europe, such as:

• Los Angeles (LAX) to Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH), starting at $973; Barcelona, Spain (BCN), starting at $969 nonstop; and Madrid (MAD) starting at $980.
• New York City (JFK) to Barcelona (BCN) starting at $822 nonstop; Madrid (MAD) starting at $965 nonstop; Copenhagen (CPH) starting at $994; Berlin (BER) starting at $988; Warsaw, Poland (WAW), starting at $989.
• Seattle (SEA) to Madrid starting at $1,030 and Zurich (ZRH) starting at $1,090.

Because this deal is so expansive, I would recommend starting your search by looking at flight availability on Google Flights. Just remember to filter your search to only show results for premium economy.

Premium economy offerings depend on the airline, but you can generally expect free checked baggage, a basic amenity kit, wider seats with extra legroom and better meals than you'd find in economy class. Some carriers, including Lufthansa, have a reclining seat.

The mid-tier offering between economy and business class has "increased in popularity across the industry in recent years" for its "more economical buy-up than splurging for a lie-flat business-class pod," says TPG senior reporter Zach Griff.

I first flew this class to London on British Airways, which calls their premium economy class World Traveller Plus, and was underwhelmed, but your own review of such certainly depends on the airline.

Maximize your purchase

Don’t forget to use a card that earns points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 in these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar spent on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar spent on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar spent on travel). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

If you've never flown premium economy, this deal is a good opportunity to do so as you can experience it for less money than you would normally.

Be sure to double-check any COVID-19-related entry protocols specific to your final destination.

Read more: I flew premium economy for the first time: My coach mindset says it’s not worth the extra money