I paid $400 to upgrade from KLM economy to premium economy on an 11-hour flight — was it worth it?

19.12.2024 - 15:57 / thepointsguy.com / Delta Skymiles

I had to travel to South Africa for a work conference in October, and I was dreading the thought of spending 22 hours in economy to get there.

The last time I flew such a long distance in coach was three years prior when I hopped aboard Qantas for the 17-hour trek from Dallas to Sydney. The only nice thing I remembered about the experience was the Tim Tams.

Luckily, on this recent trip, I only ended up flying in economy for the first leg and was able to upgrade to premium economy for the second segment. I paid just under $400 for the upgrade — and I made about half of that amount back since there was an issue with my seat, and the airline issued me a credit by way of apology.

Here's my advice on whether it's worth upgrading to premium economy on your next flight and how the experience was for me.

Six weeks before departure, I paid $1,722 for a one-way economy ticket on KLM from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Cape Town International Airport (CPT) with a connection through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). That was a high price, but it was comparable to what other carriers were charging on the route. Plus, I didn't have much date flexibility.

Looking at the price of this flight on Google Flights over the next year, one-way economy tickets start at $1,160, while premium economy tickets are almost double that at $2,010.

When online check-in opened 24 hours before departure, no business class or premium economy upgrades were available on the 10-hour flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam. I was bummed about this, as I wanted to maximize sleep on the overnight flight.

However, I received an offer to upgrade to premium economy on the 11-hour flight from Amsterdam to Cape Town for $382, so I took advantage of it.

I put this charge on my Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which I use for most of my airfare purchases because of its superior travel protections; plus, I earn 3 points per dollar spent on the travel purchase. In hindsight, I should have put it on The Platinum Card® from American Express to earn a higher 5 points per dollar spent as I already had travel protection from my original purchase.

My coworker, senior hotels reporter Cameron Sperance, was flying from Boston and joined me for the second segment. He, too, received the premium economy upgrade offer, for which he paid 25,000 Delta SkyMiles. (He booked his ticket through Delta, which means he could redeem SkyMiles for his upgrade.) According to TPG's December 2024 valuations, his 25,000 SkyMiles were worth $300, which means he paid 21% less than I did.

My journey started at SFO, where I checked in using the Sky Priority lane; I had access since one of my two flights was in premium economy. The process was quick. It took less than five