DiegoSan

My first Dreamliner experience was last month on the Austin-LHR 787. I was so excited for this flight I actually had to jog from Dallas to Austin making my SAN-DEL trip a 3 stop itinerary. (Gracias to Orbitz who was the only website to offer this slightly odd routing and at no extra cost). As much as I loved the plane and my electronic window dimmer.....the window seats in coach are HORRIFIC for large guys. I'm 5-11 190 lbs and have size 14 shoes. OK, the shoes are big...but my body size isn't off the charts by any means. Yeah yeah, I could lose 15.

First off...the wall of the plane is almost touching your head when sitting straight up so the idea of putting a travel pillow between your head and the wall is pretty much out of the question.

Next, there are those pesky entertainment unit boxes under the window seats. I'm thinking....they can put a terabyte of data onto a drive the size of a deck of cards....why do they need this lunchbox under the seat?? But I'm not an engineer for Boeing or the video company.....yet half of the legroom is gone due to this device.

Then to add insult to injury...there is no room between the forward seat's left pillar and the fuselage to slide your foot in....like on the triple 7. so both legs had to go at an angle to the right for a full stretch.....making my flight with the stranger in the middle seat just a tad more...errr...intimate. I learned long ago to (after takeoff) pull my hand baggage out from under the seat in front and park it under my knees against the front of my seat for full leg stretch options.

Lastly....the RECLINING pax in front essentially put the TV screen two inches from my nose which caused eye strain and concurrent contact lens dryness....although the increased humidity of the Dreamliner should have made that slightly more sufferable.

So between the threat of deep vein thrombosis, corneal dryness, sleep deprivation, and general claustrophobia. ...I would avoid the window seat in the coach section of this aircraft if you are of the big footed long legged variety.

TravellerFrequently

Thanks DiegoSan for your detailed thoughts.

I have read some previous negative comments regarding the 787 Y experience, and I am sure that other posters will agree with your comments.

Cap'n Benj

As TV says, reports on WT on the 787 are universally bad, whilst pretty much universally good in WT+/CW. The WT seat is smaller than that offered on any other BA aircraft and as far as I'm concerned will be avoided at all costs.

What row where you in, as apparently the legroom is tighter in the last few rows, so if you weren't in one of them you should definitely pity those behind you!

Sixth Freedom

Thanks for your comments DiegoSan. ^

If I had to go WT I would certainly take a connection or another airline rather than a direct flight on 787 on any carrier other than JAL. Those seats are simply far too small.

GaxxyFlyer

Last time I went to Austin I flew to IAH and then drove for 3 hours. There was no way I was going in that sardine can!

chris1979

there's some discussion in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...y-seating.html

including pictures which include the IFE box that you mention: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23036880-post29.html

clarkeysntfc

The trouble is, airlines know that most passengers in economy don't think twice about what type of aircraft they're on or the seating within it. Therefore they know that they can get away with installing more seats than the manufacturer recommends.

paulwuk

I don't understand what this thread is doing on te baec forum. Evetybody flies CW or better.

Last weekend there was a whinging letter in the independent from someone that doesn't understand connecting flights
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/...w-9728575.html

In it he also stated:

Skipcool3

Ahhh. But he was quoting a budget flight on Norwegian airlines...... Which has slightly better seat pitch than BA on the 787 I am told.

angatol

.....

DiegoSan

I was in 23A...not very far back in the WT cabin (third row)

Cap'n Benj

That would definitely have been the standard then, looking at those other thread the last few rows have 2 fewer inches pitchwise!

DiegoSan

I can't even imagine it. I think next the airlines will be assigning seats based on height of the pax. I was complaining to a friend about the 787 when I realized she was 5-4 120lbs and couldn't relate.

britishchris

Having just got off BA102 from YYC I must agree that WT is disappointing. I was lucky to get 20F which is a bulkhead seat so had no-one in front of me, but at the same time the seat was very narrow. I appreciate that the bulkhead/exit rows are slightly narrower than others because they house the IFE screen and table, but even so it was cramped. eating the meal was definitely difficult and the person in the middle seat had a terrible time.

Definitely one to avoid in future.

Kgmm77

The way technology has moved on in the last 15 years can't IFE be distributed from central servers via cabling or wireless?