We put four low-cost premium-class cabins to the test to learn how they measure up.

TRANSATLANTIC PREMIUM ECONOMY
Best price: $1,156 round-trip
Airline: OpenSkies | Route: New York-Amsterdam | Class: Prem Plus
Comparison fare: $2,456 round-trip on Delta in business class
Seat comfort: More like true business class: wide leather seats with 52 inches pitch (more if you sit in the bulkhead row) and 160 degrees of recline.
Service: Excellent. Crew on both flights were relatively young and eager but professional.
Food: Drinks and warm mixed nuts arrive quickly after takeoff; smoked salmon appetizer and generous portions of pasta, beef, and chicken paired with vintage wines uncorked at your seat.
Entertainment: In-flight video on demanvd, power ports.
At the airport: Only some Prem Plus fliers (depending on how much they paid for their ticket) may gain access to British Airways airport lounges (for a fee). No dedicated security or check-in lanes, but at JFK all Prem Plus fliers check in with other British Airways premium passengers.
Booking: Web site works well, but so does calling the toll-free concierge
Service:. When a much lower fare was advertised only a few weeks after purchase, airline agents readily refunded the difference in fares in the form of a $450 voucher, and they even booked us a hotel in Amsterdam.
Highlight: Spacious digs and nearly empty cabin prompt fantasies that youre on a private jet.
Low point: Cooling our heels at the gate at JFK while the boarding time came and went without an announcement. We boarded 45 minutes later but were never told what had caused the delay.
Best for: Those who are in search of an affordable splurge but cant justify a full business-class ticket.
Bottom line: An exceptional value, with an in-flight experience that is well above what other premium-economy cabins offer. Too bad the airline flies only two routes—between New York and Paris and between New York and Amsterdam.

DOMESTIC FIRST CLASS
Best price: $209 round-trip
Airline: Virgin America | Route: Las Vegas-San Francisco | Class: First
Comparison fare: $339 round-trip on US Airways in first class
Seat comfort: Cushy, white leather seats—only eight per plane—with an impressive 55-inch pitch and lumbar massage.
Service: Enthusiastic and pleasant.
Food: Tapas and fine wines (more substantial meals served on flights two hours or longer). Food ordered via touch screen comes quickly.
Entertainment: Live TV at all seats, but only those in premium economy and first class may watch the movies for free. A power outlet, USB port, and Ethernet jacks (Wi-Fi access fleetwide by mid-2009) also at every seat.
At the airport: No lounge access when we tried it, but first-class and premium-economy fliers can now buy access to Virgin Atlantic lounges—and those it shares with other airlines—for $35 a pop.
Booking: Couldn't have been simpler. Probably the best domestic airline Web site around, and certainly the most fun.
Highlight: Mood lighting in varying shades of violet—corny, perhaps, but a surprisingly pleasant antidote to sterile airline interiors.
Low point: No lounge access when we flew.
Best for: Those who care more about flying in style than building up mileage points on a major carrier.
Bottom line: A good value—an upstart that hasn't lost that new-airline feel. But the fact that even first-class passengers have to pay for lounge privileges and can't apply mileage points to sister carrier Virgin Atlantic is a major drawback.