Transatlantic airfares have been exceptionally high in all classes of service. I haven’t seen much like premium economy (think: domestic first class plus a foot rest) at reasonable pricing until now.

Delta and its partners are offering roundtrips starting at $860 for premium economy between October and May, a wide period of time that includes peak travel periods. And it’s available from numerous U.S. cities to several cities in Europe and back. This was first spotted by Thrifty Traveler‘s premium airfare deal alert service.

Fares are available from Boston, Miami, New York JFK, Washington Dulles and Orlando and offer travel to cities including Copenhagen; Gothenburg; Oslo; Stavanger; Stockholm; Warsaw; Buckarest; Budapest; Krakow; Trondheim; Paris; and Milan.

This compares very favorably to other fares that have been in the market. While these aren’t the only other fares by any means, for a simple comparison other premium economy fares on the route are generally much higher.

Given how high airfares have been, under $1000 roundtrip for premium economy is really strong – especially given the long booking period and that holidays aren’t excluded (although may not be available on all flights).

Key details of fare basis GKDJ86P2:

• Departures Sunday through Wednesday
  
• Returns Tuesday through Friday
  
• 28 day advance purchase required
  
• Saturday night stay required
  
• Stopovers permitted but those roughly double the price
  
• Non-refundable but no change fees

Premium economy, Credit: Delta

I’d probably be crediting miles to Air France KLM Flying Blue for 75% of flown miles, or to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for 100%.

However for Delta’s top elites a real opportunity here is that it’s now necessary to purchase premium economy in order to list for an upgrade to business class using a global upgrade certificate, so this is reasonable pricing that makes that possible.