Men in crisp white shirts tap away at their laptops, the immaculately-dressed cabin crew welcome passengers by name and glamorous women with bright red lipstick take selfies while lounging in their cream leather seats.

I feel slightly underdressed as I board the Airbus A380 aircraft in jeans and white trainers. In fact, this premium economy cabin has such a business-class feel to it that I’m forced to check with the cabin crew manager that the giant 37A seat is indeed mine.

‘Yes, Mrs Sime,’ comes the reply, as she directs me back to my throne and offers to take my jacket.

I’m travelling from Heathrow Terminal 3 to Dubai International Airport on board Emirates’ new premium economy cabin. My window seat is furnished in cream and beige leather, with huge gaps by the window for me to place my two bags, and a walnut wood-finished side cocktail table for my drinks.

The seats are arranged in a 2-4-2 layout, with two window seats on either side and four in the middle.

There are several pockets around me, one to the right of my feet where I find my headphones, and another under the huge 13.3-inch high-definition touchscreen where I find some branded chocolate and place my flight essentials – water, phone, ear plugs and lip salve.

Once feeling comfortably assured that I’m in the right seat, I settle in and narrow my eyes for niggles. But I can’t find a single thing. The 40 inches of legroom pitch and 19.5-inch-wide seat mean there’s acres of space both above, below and either side of my 5ft 7in frame.

There are USB points under the screen and free Wi-Fi (it’s so good that the passengers in front are able to watch a live Premier League football match throughout the flight). There’s no amenity kit but that’s not to be expected when flying premium economy.

I’m sitting next to a rather large Dubai businessman who tells me how he recently switched from flying Emirates business class to premium economy because the latter offering was so good.

‘It’s the best premium economy seat in the world,’ he says, sipping on an orange juice served in a glass tumbler.

‘I’ve always flown business with Emirates but switched late last year. It’s actually better than some business-class cabins offered by other airlines.

‘It would cost me two and a half times more to fly business and I just think the premium economy seats are too good to justify the extra cost on this route.’

I too have flown business with many other airlines and have to agree. This version of premium economy comes very close.

We’re flying the day of the Coronation and the captain tells us we’re grounded because King Charles needs a clear airspace for the Red Arrows to do their thing for the next 45 minutes. But everyone’s in good spirits and the cabin crew supervisor, Sarah, reassures those with onward travel in Dubai that they should make their flights.

We’re presented with a packet of salted nuts and a menu, which includes wine options as well as information about our three-course lunch and options for ‘light bites’ later in the flight.

The cabin is around 75 per cent full and, once boarding is complete, my new friend is offered a seat further back so he can have a row to himself. He asks me what I’d like him to do but we both agree there’s plenty of space for the two of us for the next six and a half hours.

The passenger in front of me reclines her seat as soon as we’re in the air, meaning I’m slightly hemmed in. But once my seat is reclined to its full eight inches at the click of a button, my cushioned leather footrest lifted, and the wings of my headrest pushed out, I’m back in supremely comfy mode and feel confident I would fall asleep instantly were this a red-eye flight. But it’s not – and I’m keen to explore every offering on board.

We’re given hot, soft towels that smell like clementine to freshen up before I take a peek at the toilets. They’re huge, with cream and gold walls, a floor-to-ceiling mirror and White Company hand cream and eau de toilette.

As we fly above Brussels and onto Luxemburg, I’m presented with a glass of the sparkling Chandon Brut Vintage 2016 wine (also served in business) and ask to sample the South African Ken Forrester FMC Chenin Blanc, which retails at £35 a bottle. Both are delicious, but the Chenin Blanc is among some of the best white wine I’ve tasted.

I go for the vegan meal option and tuck into sweetcorn rice and black beans, a lemony asparagus couscous and fresh fruit for dessert. The packet of raisins makes me feel like I’ve gone for the children’s option, but the rest is delicious.

After lunch, I put the window blinds down at the click of the button. There are two modes: one that dims the light and the other that provides black-out blinds for bedtime.

Emirates hadn’t stopped pampering us just yet, though. We’re offered coffee and tea (or more wine) after lunch as most of the cabin recline their seats and get stuck into a movie.

It’s not often you wish a flight would go on for longer, but I could have comfortably done double the time in my seat. An hour or so before landing, we’re offered an assortment of sandwiches and a scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

It’s much the same on my return flight a few days later. This time, I’m right at the front of the cabin. A young man boards asking the cabin crew ‘Is this first class?’, to which they politely answer with a smile, ‘No, sir. This is premium economy.’ The boy looks at his father and says: ‘Daddy, I’m going to fly like this when I’m older and rich.’

Well, thankfully, you don’t need to be either of these things when flying Emirates’ game-changing premium economy. Let’s hope other airlines catch on soon.

Transatlantic premium economy fares are roughly double the price of flying economy – with the former available from around £600 ($755) and the latter from around £300 ($380). But is premium economy twice as good?

Travel experts from The Points Guy UK help answer this crucial question with a fascinating video in which they trial the premium economy offerings of three of the biggest players in the transatlantic game – America’s three biggest airlines.

The video is a three-way battle between the premium economy cabins of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines on flights to the States from Dublin and London.

It’s a tale of wobbly tables, lost headphone sockets, upgraded napkins and ‘very tasty’ harissa chicken. Read on for more…

AMERICAN AIRLINES

Putting American Airlines’ premium economy offering to the test was Maren Gimnes. The Points Guy UK paid 53,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus £259 ($326) in tax for her Boeing 777-200 flight from London Heathrow to Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

The ups included decent legroom and good food.

She told MailOnline Travel: ‘The legroom was very generous and the seat was comfortable with a nice leather finish.

‘I liked that the cabin was quite small, which made it feel more exclusive.

‘And the food was lovely and well presented – I got metal cutlery and a fabric napkin, which was a nice upgrade from economy.’

And downsides? There were a few.

She said: ‘The table was very unstable, and I didn’t like that it folded down into the armrest as it made it hard to move around/get up without having to fold it down every time.

‘Plus, the charging points and USB ports were not in a convenient location, I paid $37 (£29) for the Wi-Fi but it didn’t work at all, and there was no fast-track security.’

DELTA AIR LINES

Putting Delta to the test was Nicky Kelvin, the head of The Points Guy UK. 

His ticket between Dublin and John F. Kennedy International Airport on a Boeing 767-400 cost £925.80 ($1,167), with the fare including a return flight from Charlotte to Paris in economy.

Nicky said the ‘ups’ included a retrofitted cabin that ‘felt very modern and fresh’, priority check-in and security – ‘not always offered with premium economy products’ – which meant ‘a quick and smooth airport experience’, and food that was ‘fresh, tasty and plentiful’, and that included a flatbread that was ‘an interesting and welcome addition to the curry’. 

There were, however, also downsides.

Nicky said: ‘The Boeing 767 is significantly noisier than other more modern aircraft and the premium economy cabin is close to the engines.

‘And the food felt like an upgraded economy class meal rather than a slightly less fancy business class meal. For example, there was no proper crockery.’

UNITED AIRLINES  

United’s premium economy was trialled by Liam Spencer, with his ticket in a 767-300 between Heathrow and Newark Liberty International Airport costing $1,152 (£912), including an onward flight to Charlotte.

He said: ‘The seat itself was incredibly comfy with a good amount of personal space and excellent depth of recline. On a long-haul flight, this makes a huge difference when it comes to grabbing a few hours of sleep.

‘I was also really impressed with the size and quality of my lunch. It included harissa chicken, chickpeas, a huge side salad, bread, and delicious chocolate truffles.

‘The small cabin, meanwhile, consisting of just four rows, felt secluded, private, and peaceful.’

But there were a few niggles.

Liam explained: ‘The toilet facilities were shared with the much larger economy cabin, meaning they were often occupied and busy.

‘And I was disappointed not to receive a menu ahead of the meal service, and instead given a very economy-feel choice of chicken or veg. The food turned out to be very tasty and plentiful, but I would have appreciated a wider range of options.’

For more tricks and tips from The Points Guy UK visit thepointsguy.com/uk-travel and click here to see the original and full-length premium economy review video.

A gunman opened fire at a crowded outdoor mall Saturday, killing at least eight people – before being killed by a hero police officer.

The shooting happened at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, a small suburb north of Dallas – and saw at least seven others injured. 

Dashcam footage shows the moment the gunman, dressed in full SWAT garb, pull up to the outdoor outlet before opening fire on unsuspecting civilians, using an AR-15 to mow down a crowd that included children.

Cops for the most part had kept quiet as to the exact extent of the tragedy prior to specifying the number casualties – releasing sparse statements confirming several were killed, without specifying how many and whether a shooter was still at large.

However, disturbing footage captured at the scene – as well as multiple witness accounts – laid bare some of what had transpired, showing at least four bloodied bodies lying outside the H&M where the gunman was seen beginning his assault.

Scroll down for video: 

‘One of our officers was on an unrelated call at the outlet mall,” said Brian E. Harvey, the chief of police in the suburb roughly 20 miles from Downtown Dallas. ‘He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect, and neutralized the suspect.” 

Another distressing clip, filmed a few stores away, showed the deceased gunman shortly after he was gunned down himself by the unnamed Allen officer who instantly ran toward the sound of then ongoing gunfire.

At first, reports from local police sources initially indicated that there may have been two gunmen – the one killed and another at-large – though cops during the late night presser revealed they are confident he acted alone.

‘We believe at this point that the shooter acted alone,’ Harvey said late Saturday.

 Harvey, however, did not provide a name for the deceased gunman – whose motive for carrying out the killings remains unknown.

Other footage and snaps taken at the scene, meanwhile, help piece together what exactly transpired at the outdoor mall, with some showing at least four people, including children, slumped dead after the gunman’s rampage.

One video shows the moment the first shots rang out, in which the still unidentified gunman is seen pulling up in a car to the store where the dead bodies were later spotted.

In the short clip, the gunman is seen arming himself with what appears to be an AR-15 before firing indiscriminately at a small crowd of shoppers.

In a statement four and half hours after cops were first called to the mall, the Allen Police Department revealed that one of its officers subdued the shooter while responding for an unrelated call, when they heard gunshots just after 3:30 pm.

That officer, a rep for the department said, ‘engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat.’

Police Chief Brian Harvey did not identify the officer who took down the shooter Saturday, but confirmed there were several fatalities. He would not specify how many – though cops are expected to offer more details later this evening.

Prior to the 8pm update, police said they still considered the scene ‘active,’ with local law enforcement sources telling CNN that one of the suspects was still at large.

Cops, however, were quick dismiss that theory in their 8pm presser, indicating the shooter acted alone and was no longer a threat. 

Hours before, police and ATF agents were seen sweeping stores for several hours during the site’s mass evacuation, more than two hours after police first descended on the complex after receiving reports of gunfire. 

In terms of the number of victims, cops also kept mum – though a spokesperson for Medical City Healthcare a few miles away said eight victims are being treated at their facilities.

Some of the victims, as much of the disturbing video being seen online had suggested, were children, with the rep telling Fox 4 they ranged in age from 5 to 61.

Aerial video shows citizens being escorted off the premises, many with their hands on the heads looking visibly distraught – while more shocking clips laid bare the incident’s fatalities, including the dead gunman.

Footage captured by a Fox helicopter showed at least four dead bodies outside the H&M store seen in newly surfaced video of the first gunman, which showed him opening fire on several unsuspecting victims after pulling up to the shop in a grey Dodge Charger.

Distressing video footage of the same site hours later showed bloodied corpses surrounded by items including backpacks suggesting some of those slain were children.

In another disturbing snippet, the deceased gunman is seen laying dead outside another Allen store on a few dozen feet from the H&M. He is seen dressed in tactile gear with a semi-automatic rile at his side.

Other accounts posted to social media from 5pm to 8pm offered a glimpse of the events that led to the shooter’s death  – and the mass evacuation of the entire shopping center rocked by the sudden storm of gunfire.

One such account, posted a little over the first of dozens of shots reportedly rang out, provided an idea of the horror shoppers faced, and came from mom whose car was pierced by two bullets as she fled the scene with her young daughter.

‘Do not go to the Allen outlet!!!’ Van Alstyne resident Kimberly Blakey wrote in a post to Facebook at 5:13pm. Attached to the post were multiple photos showing the damage to the door of her car by the two bullets.  

‘Peyton and I were just there and someone starting shooting,’ she recalled after escaping the scene with her eighth grade daughter.

‘People were running and we were just trying to leave.’

‘The shooting,’ she added, ‘was nonstop.’

‘My car got hit by two bullets. We are so grateful to be OK.’

Other photos posted by eye witnesses showed the still unidentified shooter shortly after he  

Few other details regarding the shooting, and it is still unclear if there have been any fatalities. Multiple shots, however, were fired, according to both cops and those who survived the tragedy.

Earlier in the day, a rep for Collin County Sheriff’s Office – which is aiding in local cops’ probe – confirmed Saturday there were ‘some’ victims, though their status, as of 10pm ET, still remains unknown. 

As officers said were ‘investigating’ the shooting, video from a Fox 4 helicopter showed at least four bodies covered in blood in white sheets.

In his evening update, Chief Harvey said a police officer, who was on an unrelated assignment at the time, gunned down the shooter after hearing the first hail of gunfire, which is heard and seen in the dashcam footage.

Aside from those slain in that clip, officials could only account for at a further nine victims who were transported to hospitals. However, as Allen fire chief Jonathan Boyd said, several more victims may have been taken in private vehicles.

Elaine Penicaro, another local mother, also described hearing a nonstop hail of gunfire while shopping with her own daughter.

‘We were outside the Converse store and we just heard all this popping,’ Penicaro told Fox 4 after also fleeing the scene, ducking for cover when they heard the shots reportedly around 3:45pm.

‘We kind of all just stopped, and then a second later, just “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” and there were sparks flying like it was right in front of us.’

Brayson Jones, a 17-year-old who was working the PM shift at the outlets’ Champs Sports store, told the New York Times that he heard “probably 20-plus shots” and saw people running out of stores.

‘As soon as I heard the shots and people yelling, I didn’t wait to see what was going on, I backed out and got out of there,’ the teen recalled of the hectic scene.

He added that in the frenzy he rescued a random stranger, who he said ran toward his car when the shots were fired and motioned to let him inside.

Other aerial shooting shows the mass evacuation that transpired as cops reportedly swept each store to assess their safety, with hundreds of shoppers filed away from the H&M location where the bodies were seen.

The same store was seen in the background of the footage that showed people running through a parking lot in front of the shopping center – all while the loud popping sound of gunfire emanates in the background. 

A woman named Colleen, who did not wish to provide her surname, told CBS Texas she was with her son at the mall at the time of the shooting.

They described the shooter as wearing all black in and wearing ‘like a SWAT uniform without the letters SWAT on it’. 

She said the shooter was a ‘big guy’ and was carrying a rifle before he opened fire and people began to run screaming in different directions.  

Colleen and her 22-year-old son said they saw the killer dead on the ground when they were evacuated by the police with other bodies on the floor too.

Her son initially thought the gunshots were construction noises before he saw the killer in front of the store.  

He said: ‘Out of nowhere I heard about like 10 pops go off and I look at the customer next to me and I was like “was that gunshots?”.

‘And he said it was probably just construction and more shots go off, heard like 10-15 more shots go off and so I ran to the front of the store and we’re like no that’s shooting.

‘We saw the guy dressed in all black wearing a vest, has an assault rifle and he’s just shooting at people.’

A witness told CNN he saw the gunman exiting his vehicle before ‘shooting his gun everywhere for the most part’ on the sidewalk outside.

He said: ‘The door opened and I was letting the customers come inside the store.

‘He was pretty much walking down the sidewalk and blazing for the most part and shooting his gun outside the store.

‘He was walking down the sidewalk towards Fat Burger and he was just shooting his gun everywhere for the most part.’

Another man, who was shopping with his wife and six-year-old son, said his family ran into a changing room and stacked cardboard boxes against the door to protect themselves.

He said: ‘We hid ourselves in the try-on room and there were spare boxes so we tried to lock it with the boxes and a couple of other ladies were there.

‘We hid for around two minutes and heard the noise. We didn’t realize [what was happening] because the noise was coming from outside.

‘To be frank, for 10 minutes I was completely scared, I couldn’t imagine what could be because we just parked the car and it was hardly five minutes.

‘When the police started the evacuation we saw the dead body and I didn’t want my son to see but he also saw.’

Another witness named Jamil said: ‘We were inside the store and all of a sudden we heard a gunshots and everybody was panicking but the store we were in they were very helpful. They took everybody in the back and then police came, a SWAT team came, they brought us outside and they escorted us out.

‘When we were walking outside across from Michael Kors we saw the dead body, the guy had all the gear, he looks like a police officer but when you look at this shoes he was wearing converse.

‘So that makes you think he was just trying to trick people and he was shot right in his forehead.’

One man rushed to the scene after his daughter who was at the mall texted him saying ‘daddy I love you, there’s a shooting’.

He said: ‘My daughter just texted her mom and me and said “daddy I love you, there’s a shooting and I am surrounded by the police just pray for me”.

‘We rushed here and we saw the police outside her door and they told us to let go and that they were still looking for the person.

‘This is America, people are dying in the hospitals, waiting rooms and on college campuses. There’s no more safe places.’

Other witnesses said they were taken into the back of stores by employees before exiting from that side once police said it was safe to leave.

The shooting has left the city of Allen looking for answers, and comes at least 199 mass shootings this year in the US.

It also comes just short of the year anniversary of the mass shooting across the state in Uvalde, which saw nineteen children and two adults fatally shot by an 18-year-old gunman with an assault weapon.

This incident, at the time, sparked national outcry due to local cops’ hapless handling of the attack – a response that comes in stark to the Allen officer’s still of the Saturday event, which was praised by brass at the Allen outlet Saturday.

‘We are horrified by today’s senseless tragedy and outraged by the violence that continues to plague our country,’ Allen Premium Outlets said in a statement Saturday night,

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and others affected by this heinous act. We are thankful for the police officer’s heroic actions and for the support of all the first responders.’

The shooting, while still shrouded, also prompted a response from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who touted how his office has sent state officials from multiple agencies to aid Allen police with their investigation, including the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas Rangers.

‘Our hearts are with the people of Allen, Texas tonight during this unspeakable tragedy,’ said Abbott in his written statement.

‘I have been in contact with Mayor Fulk and DPS Director McCraw as well as other state and local leaders and offered the full support of the State of Texas to local officials to ensure all needed assistance and resources are swiftly deployed.’

The Governor’s response, however, was soon met with criticism by some on social media, due to his and others’ insistence that the US shooting epidemic does not stem from lax state and federal laws involving gun control. 

Mayor Kevin Fulk, a lifelong resident of Allen, added: ‘Today is a tragic day for the city of Allen … We know the days ahead will be difficult and somber.’

Texas Senator Cruz also issued a statement that said he and his wife Heidi ‘ are praying for the families of the victims of the horrific mall shooting in Allen, Texas. 

‘We pray also for the broader Collin County community that’s in shock from this tragedy,’ the Republican, an outspoken opponent of harsher gun laws, said.