With the rocky economy, international Business Class fares are sometimes on sale these days at as much as half of their usual cost. The bad news: That may mean that frequent flier upgrades are harder to come by. And if you've missed the sale, regular business class fares can set you back more than $4,000 roundtrip to London and more than $10,000 roundtrip to Hong Kong.

Here's an alternative offered by a number of international carriers: Premium Economy.

Premium Economy costs less than double an economy fare in most cases (and sometimes a lot less), reports SeatGuru.com, but offers more legroom and service that's upgraded over economy. Premium Economy cabins are offered only on long-haul flights -- from the United States to Europe or Asia and Europe to Asia.

Airlines offering Premium Economy include ANA, British Airways, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Japan Airways, Singapore, Quantas, EVA, SAS, bmi and Thai. No U.S. airlines currently offer Premium Economy, though United Airlines offers Economy Plus, which has greater legroom but offers the same services -- and the same cabin -- as economy.

For a comparison chart of the seat pitch and other Premium Economy services, see www.seatguru.com/charts/premium_economy.php.

-- JANE WOOLDRIDGE

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