Saving is en vogue, and this even  goes for business trips as the majority of companies cut their executive's travel link to business class.

But travelling intercontinental distances packed in like sardines will no doubt spoil the excitement of flying and so the Airlines, feeling pity for the flying professional, have created a new product: an upgraded economy!

More than 20 hours is a long time for an ordinary commuter's journey to work - but in today's global economy, a growing number of corporations expect their employees to accept such a trip. A trip from Berlin to Auckland  or the west coast of the USA can easily surpass this

To lure this group of customers, air carriers needed to create a compromise: a class between business and economy; half the price of the higher class and with the advantages managers typically expect from a business class ticket. For example quick check-in on their own, more space to sprawl during the journey, better meals and sometimes even access to executve lounges.

Premium Economy is the term used by the majority of the providers and the price is sometimes 50%  of the business class equivalent. However the product on offer differs widely between carriers.

'More Space'  seems to the favoured catch-all for the carriers. Air New Zealand's "Pacific Premium Economy", for example, with a row spacing of 104 centimeters. Another is Vietnam Airlines, offering "Deluxe Economy" with 97 centimeters row spacing, plug-in for laptop and 40 kilogram of free luggage.

ANA from Japan offers 100 centimeters for "Premium Economists", an interesting play on words, and they even have open doors at the Executive Lounge in Tokyo. Other competitors are Icelandair, that saves it Premium passengers the fight for an armrest by seating only two people in a row of three seats.

Or SAS from Scandinavia, where Economy Extra is available at eight European Airports for continental flights. Russian Transaero offers its Premium Economy even inside the small Boeing 737 on continental flights, for example from Berlin to Moscow.

The last word has to go to Air France that invented two instead of one, the Alizé and Tempo Challenge - and is planning to add a third member to the gang, the Premium Economy.

The difference in row spacing between the upgrade and ordinary economy varies between 2 and 23 centimeters. The prices differ more widely: Air New Zealand for example charges for a business ticket Berlin-Auckland more than Eur. 6,000  (US$ 7,500), the Premium Economy costs just over Eur. 3,100 (US$ 3,900), while plain old no-frills Economy is about Eur. 1,000 (US$ 1,250).

SAS-flights in the Premium class "Economy Extra" from Hamburg to Seattle currently cost from Eur. 665 (US$ 830), whereas a Business Class ticket is over double the price, starting at Eur. 1,400 (US$ 1,750).