For the vast majority of passengers a long-haul Premium Economy seat means a bit more space, a bit more recline, and maybe a bit better catering. For a few dozen lucky LEVEL passengers every day, however, a premium economy ticket comes with a flat bed option, a much more comfortable way to cross an ocean.
Most of LEVEL’s A330s are configured with recliner seats, similar to competing products, in a 2-3-2 layout. But the airline also flies two A330-200s that previously operated for Virgin Australia, fitted with the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats in a 1-2-1 layout.
EC-ODB joined the carrier’s fleet in December 2023, operating in that configuration. EC-OHY joined in December 2024, doubling the carrier’s capacity for lie-flat trips. The lie-flat option can be a spectacular value, with near-business class comfort at a premium economy price. Assuming you can find it.
The carrier does not advertise the lie-flat beds on board any differently. It is just another premium economy seat in the sales channels. They do, however, show up differently in the seat maps.
Happy hunting.
On Board with LEVEL’s Lie-Flat Premium Economy Seat
As for the on-board experience, that is also a blend between premium economy and business class.
A small pillow and blanket await passengers at their seat, as does a nifty amenity kit, with the goodies packed into a reusable plastic water bottle.
That was especially convenient on this trip as I’d forgotten my regular bottle at home.
There’s entertainment on board, including a surprisingly broad selection of movies.
And there’s theoretically maybe inflight Wi-Fi available, though the crew announced during boarding it would not work on our flight.
The moving map option was virtually non-existent. A progress bar shared the time remaining in flight, but no indication of where the plane was or what it was flying over.
For my trip, however, the main focus was sleeping. At just under seven hours in the air Boston to Barcelona is barely long enough to rest and be refreshed upon arrival. I was reclining shortly after departure and asleep well before any service started in the cabin. I woke up about 40 minutes before landing, just enough time to figure out where I was and recombobulate for arrival.
Doing that in a flat bed on the cheap (~$1000 round trip including seat selection and bags; the daytime half of the trip was in a more traditional recliner seat) made for a great start to the week abroad.
Other Options
LEVEL is not the only carrier flying flat beds in premium economy, but the range remains very limited. AirAsia X, the long-haul arm of the Malaysia-based airline, offers angle-flat beds up front on its A330s. And occasionally Air Caraibes and French Bee share aircraft, resulting in a FrenchBee PremY seat ending up on an Air Caraibes bed.
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Guaranteed Level is NOT going to keep this seat configuration left over from Virgin Australia! I am pretty sure they are already in the process of converting the seat configuration on these Virgin aircraft to the standard 2-3-2 configuration for PE that is found on their other aircraft. I booked a flight from BCN to LAX for May 2026 and the seat chart has the 2-3-2 configuration. Being a for profit business it does not make any sense why they would keep flat bed seating in PE and not gut those seats.
They’ve been flying for a while now. If they wanted to change, they’ve had plenty of time to do so. And as noted in the report, both layouts are in service.
Doesn’t mean they won’t eventually change it. But that does not appear a priority. So long as bookings are not too far in advance I would not expect changes.