Condor premium economy A330neo review: Is it worth the extra cost?

How much does premium economy cost to book on Condor?

Three months before departure, I booked a one-way cash fare from Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) to London’s Heathrow Airport for 520 euros (about $545). This included my 11-hour premium economy flight on Condor from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, followed by a connecting Lufthansa flight to Heathrow in economy — a short hop of one hour and 45 minutes.

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Here is a sampling of how much a round-trip premium economy flight from one of the U.S. airports that Condor serves to Frankfurt would cost:

Checking in to and boarding premium economy class on Condor

Condor charges for seat assignments from the time of booking until departure. Exit row seats were priced at 80 euros (about $85) for my flight, with other seats at 60 euros (about $63).

The seat map showed a ton of empty seats, so I decided to wait until check-in to see my options. Twenty-four hours before departure, I checked in on the Condor app and could select any available seat — including ones in the emergency exit row — for 18 euros (about $19).

I passed on an emergency exit row seat, as I didn’t want to be bothered by its proximity to the light and noise coming from the galley; I ended up getting assigned an aisle seat in the middle section for free. A few hours later, I looked at the seat map again, and there were other people in my row, so I paid the 18 euros (about $19) to move to a window seat.

How comfortable was premium economy on Condor?

The Condor premium economy cabin is large, with 64 seats (more than double the business-class cabin) set up in a standard 2-4-2 configuration.

Here’s the basic layout of the cabin and seats:

Premium economy is immediately followed by the economy-class cabin, with a small separator hanging from the ceiling. This effectively makes the two cabins one, as they share the same space without a curtain divider, and all passengers use the same five lavatories. Premium economy on Condor is essentially an extra-legroom economy-class seat.

The window seats are best for couples.

Middle seats are best for families and groups.

Here are my recommendations for the best seats in Condor premium economy:

Premium economy seats usually have at least 38 inches of seat pitch, the distance between your seat and the one in front of you. However, I came into this flight knowing that it only had 35 inches of seat pitch, which you usually get from an extra-legroom economy seat branded as Main Cabin Extra, Economy Plus and Comfort+ on the three major U.S. airlines.

What surprised me was how little recline this seat offered. As you can see from the picture below, 12 degrees doesn’t get you far. Sure, it’s more than the 8 1/2 degrees in economy, but barely more.

The seat base moved forward barely half an inch. Also, more than half of the footrests in the cabin were missing, including from my seat. When I told a cabin crew member I couldn’t work out the pattern of which seats had one and which ones didn’t, she said most were broken and in the process of being replaced.

Had I stayed in my seat after the meal service, I imagine I would’ve had an uncomfortable sleep.

Approximately 85% of the premium economy cabin’s seats were unoccupied, and the two cabin crew members dedicated to our cabin actively ensured no one from economy class crept in. So, I took the empty row of four across from me, raised the armrests, and set up two (scratchy) pillows and two (comfortable) blankets to lie down to sleep.

I’m 5 feet and 11 inches tall, and my feet did not protrude into the aisle. With the quiet ambience of the airplane and little-to-no turbulence, I got seven hours of (interrupted) sleep. At one point, a fellow passenger woke me up by trying to yank my top blanket from me. I think they were confused as to where the second one came from — the empty seat next to me — with theirs stowed away in the overhead locker.

While I’m (rightly) complaining a lot about the seat, the tray table was big enough at 18 inches diagonal.

I appreciated the neat, almost hidden device holder compartment for phones and tablets under the touchscreen.

The seatback pocket is deep, fitting two blankets, as shown below. However, the lack of side stitching was a design flaw; this meant small items I had stowed away — like my AirPods case, hand sanitizer and earplugs — easily fell out multiple times.

Warm sleepers will lament the lack of individual air nozzles, even though the cabin crew kept the air temperature relatively cool.

It was strange to me that such a new plane did not have automatic window shades.

The 13-inch, high-definition touchscreen is impressive, with quick response times and adjustable brightness; you can also pull it out to change the viewing angle when the passenger in front reclines.

Amenities in Condor premium economy

The inflight entertainment selection was disappointing, with more than 250 movies and TV shows but limited options in English. Several of the 11 “new releases” were released over a year ago, and most of the TV shows were from the 2010s. I also didn’t recognize any artists in the music section. Therefore, my advice would be to download content onto your own device before your flight.

The airline’s earplugs are cheap and of low quality, as you can probably glean from the image below.

It’s better to connect your own headphones through Bluetooth pairing on the touchscreen. Luckily, my AirPods paired in less than 10 seconds and gave me superior noise cancellation while watching entertainment.

You’ll find one USB-A and USB-C port each and a headphone jack below the screen.

Wi-Fi on my flight cost 20 euros (about $21) for unlimited data or 7 euros ($7.39) for messaging (which is free on an increasing number of competitors). It was an easy two-minute process to purchase the data pack and check out with Apple Pay.

However, the Wi-Fi speeds were slow, peaking at 1.2 Mbps download and 0.8 Mbps upload. The Wi-Fi also cut out several times, and I had to reconnect to the signal.

Screenshot the username and password generated for you if you want to switch between devices.

The amenities kit is made from cardboard packaging and is supposedly reusable, but you can’t securely close it after opening it. You’ll receive a toothbrush and toothpaste, an eye mask and a pair of white-and-beige Condor-branded socks. (I wondered why they didn’t do navy blue and white or orange to keep with the brand’s colors.) Earplugs are available on request for “environmental reasons.”

As mentioned before, the 280 premium economy and economy-class passengers share five lavatories between them, giving a ratio of 56 passengers to each one. Luckily, my flight was not full; if it were, I imagine there would have been long waits.

Try to use either the left-hand-side lavatory at the front of the premium economy cabin, which a lot of passengers didn’t seem to know about; or the left-hand-side middle lavatory in the middle of economy, which is the largest lavatory I’ve ever seen on a plane (except for in first class). It made it easy to change in and out of my pajamas (I brought my own) at the start and end of the flight.

How was the food in Condor premium economy?

A small three-page food and drinks menu was waiting at each seat. Apart from the green Condor-branded stripes, I found the gray text dull, and I felt more color would have added some life to the menu.

No one offered me a predeparture beverage, although there was a water bottle waiting at each seat. Twenty minutes after takeoff, I got to choose between sparkling wine or orange juice served in a flimsy plastic cup. (Economy class passengers must pay for alcoholic drinks, but those in premium economy don’t.)

A four-course meal service — albeit all on one plate — came 40 minutes after takeoff. While staff members served the post-takeoff drink from the front to the back of the cabin, they served the food and second drink from back to front. I like it when airlines do this to equalize the service between all passengers; however, the second meal service should’ve been served front to back to achieve this aim (which it wasn’t).

The starter was a refreshing coleslaw topped with biltong strips (like beef jerky), which I removed, as I’m pescatarian.

Would you recommend Condor premium economy?

I was apprehensive about flying this product on an overnight flight because it is not a true premium economy product.

The cabin was quite empty — and the plane is the quietest I’ve ever flown on — so I could stretch out across four seats and get a good (albeit interrupted) amount of sleep. Plus, the service from the cabin crew was friendly, proactive and efficient.

However, the main downside of this product is that it is essentially an extra-legroom economy-class seat. You do get to board before economy, enjoy free alcoholic drinks and receive a small amenities kit; however, there aren’t any other substantial perks.

The food quality pales in comparison to its competitors. The seat is narrow and has little cushion, and the Wi-Fi is slow and unreliable.

My advice would be to upgrade from economy to premium economy if it cost up to $15 per flight hour extra. So if the price difference between economy and premium economy were $150 for a 10-hour flight, I’d pay it. If it were over that price, I’d start to question its value. I would also be more likely to pay the higher price on an overnight flight versus a daytime one.