desi

Few comments:

Four different seats had audio problem with IFE system.
Crew tried rebooting and trying different headsets but could not solve the issue.

Pretty unfortunate having just spend so much money on installing these new seats.

Also, single seats with tables on both sides such as 2A have coffin like feel.

Most other seats has some opening on one-side to alleviate this problem.
3L turned out a good seat.

Overall better seat than one on AB but not as good as BA or Virgin Atlantic or 9W or any of the Middle East carriers.

intuition

Rebooting sounds like the trouble wasn't actually in the seats but in the central AV controller, ie not with the new seats? (or possibly that rebooting is the only cause of action staff knows about and nobody really knows why IFE didn't work). IFE isn't AY's strong side (regardless if it is working or not)...

I agree with the coffin feel of the single A-seat, but many like the privacy of that seat. I'd say the single seat is great for day flights, but prefer the L seats on night flight. I' not the greatest fan of this "new-j"cabin, but I still put it above the 8-abreast dormitory BA sells as business class.

NoWindowSeat

What about 747/380 upper deck - feeling is far from triple seven or 747 downstairs..you still prefer AY? Especially the 747 UD is great and 380 is so new and silent that it makes huge difference..AY will get those 350s soon so that might even things up..

Benzin

I'm avoiding BA biz if I can be it upper or lower deck. If I remember correctly the 747 upper deck feels like you're in the attic. And the face-front back-front conf is just terrible. Second worst it the herringbone.

NoWindowSeat

Tastes are different. I personally find BA 747 upper deck really private and calm, compared to AY, for example...plus you can travel the world with them, not just to/from Asia..

SAN_Finn

I have to agree with you. To me the BA CW (new or old) is miles ahead the new AY offering. Only exception is the middle pair on the BA config if travelling alone.

To me the AY seat is just too narrow. On paper its 19" vs BA CW at 20" but in th e sleeping position the difference seems to be larger. My shoulders just don't fit in the AY coffin in the sleep position.

intuition

B747 upper deck is much better and I have enjoyed that on BA once - but those seats are sought after and extremely hard (impossible) to secure, especially if you don't hold BAEC gold or above.

Haven't done A380 on BA, but on KE. And only in F. Knocked my socks of.

NoWindowSeat

Yep, for elites that's really not a problem with BA's seating policy, unless booking at the really last minute.

I wouldn't say BA, or anyone else, is miles on ahead of AY in LH J, they are all mostly more or less the same today and differences are somewhat small, here on FT we just tend to make big fuss about really small things. Our typical first world problems.

Particularly about the opinions here...this AY board is a really small community around a very small airline so it's only natural it is very pro-AY here..I have the feeling that many who praise AY J the most have limited (at least recent/frequent) experiences with the other products out there. AY J is really nothing special, as a whole it's actually rather spartan experience, as are most J products with European/US carriers. At the end of the day it's just a reasonably comfortable seat, with something to eat and drink, to take you safely from A to B, nothing more.

For someone who flies not only to/from Asia AY is not even a feasible option as the main carrier...just try to get to Africa or South America with them...so the wider comparison is not even possible.

Cupart

It seems to me that controling the actual IFE is a wide problem across all travel classes and airlines in general and 99% of the time it's because PAX have no idea how to treat/use the remotes that controls the IFE and how the system actually works. Of course you shouldn't need a MSc in Computer Science to be able to use the IFE system but neither should you have the patience of a 5 year old. This said, most IFE systems do not deliver the same experience as you would expect from a home media hub BUT these are literally 1'000 of feet apart

Basically, when the system is running slow (for whatever reason) people have a tendency to press harder on the remote or press the touch-screen even harder thinking it will solve the issue. A bit like when your old CRT telly didn't show a "perfect" picture, there was nothing that a hard bang with your fist on the top of the box wouldn't solve.

I never use the IFE other than the maps and front/belly cameras so I don't really care...

Cupart

How is that terrible?

intuition

Haha, so in a week or two, the forum body have been accused of both being too harsh on AY and too pro-AY..

Anyway, all too true that these are small differences and problems. But we are flying freaks and if we didn't talk about this, what would be the use of FT?


I think I belong in the group of AY-whiners, not praising them very often. My admitedly high expectaions are seldom met on many airlines. Also well known is my distaste for BA. Besides the seat and the cabin layout of CW, I cannot accept to be made feel a second grade person. On AY you can get the indifferent crew, but never the down right elitist condescending staff that exists on BA.

(Naturally, by avoiding BA, I can not form a new opion. It is set in stone by the few flights I've done with them)

It is just opinons. I am happy that enough people like and pay for BA 8-seat abrest dormitory-class, so the BAEC elites can choose to sit somewhere else..

NoWindowSeat

Not related to any specific post but generally us Finns are really shy and do not want to face another person voluntarily, at least if we are not drunk enough.

In BA J you have the risk of facing another person for few minutes, might be too much to handle to many..he/she might even ask something just to be polite..oh that would be horrible..

intuition

IMO because that makes the seat very narrow and because BA staff will never look you in the eye serving you - they will come up behind you and throw something on your table.

NoWindowSeat

Absolutely!!

One thing is also that with the AY Plus earning changes it makes very little sense for someone already hooked with AY and traveling mainly to Asia to try something other than AY, 200% + status bonuses really add up quickly.

Same with BA, elites get 100% bonus on Avios on BA metal/code..no point flying AY J with BA card.

For Y-travelers it doesn't really matter, you earn basically nothing anyway..

OW alliance is getting more and more isolated within the alliance, it seems to me..airlines are getting more and more protective of their own clients/elites, which makes perfect sense but decreases the overall value of the alliance a lot..

In a sense we are stepping back in time with the whole alliance thing...AA already scrapped the OW awards from Advantage, huge strategic move and most likely a sign of things to come.

remymartin

Actually, BAEC tier bonus is also accrued on IB/AA/US and maybe others. But like you say, not with AY.