Turkish Airlines

Fourth—and also very good—is Comfort Class on Turkish Airlines 777s. Seat pitch is generous at 46 inches—it even beats business class on some lines—and comes with upgraded cabin service. Turkish is well regarded in all classes: Skytrax rated it Europe's best line in 2011. Other Turkish Airlines planes do not have premium economy.

The price is par for the course: A sample round-trip fare between Los Angeles and Istanbul is $1,598, compared with a promotional fare in regular economy of $998.