At 180 you'll probably fit. If you and your kids are happy being pretty much left the their own devices then CX would be OK. You probably wouldn't be able to see an 8 year old in a CX cubicle from any other cubicle.
I flew HKG-JFK on the new CX 777 and the seat was fine. I am 182cm and 78kg so I found that the seat was a little short. The FA's kept bumping my feet but the width was fine. The IFE was awesome. Your 8 year old will be loving it. Many, many choices and a huge flat screen.
Get 64K on a BA 747 if you are worried about leg room.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by christep
"Normal" American size or "normal" Asian size? Huge difference. Many "normal" American size males will find the CX partitions too close together for their shoulders. And anyone much over 6' tall may find the BA bed too short to stretch out flat.
But for a family I would rule out CX new J (and nearly all HKG-LHR flights are new J these days) on the grounds of no seats together.
I definitely agree with the second comment. CX J is great for solo travelers, but for couples or families you're really cut off from each other. Unless your kids are really content with being on their own the whole time (granted, in a very comfortable way) for such a long flight, you or they will be bouncing up and down to talk over the partitions or to hang out in the aisles by each other's seats. Inconvenient for you and probably not at all welcomed by the other passengers in the J section.
Can't comment on Qantas, but I'd think BA would be a better bet than CX. The partitions between the side-by-side seats (which face in opposite directions) on BA can be raised and lowered electrically. For the fifth family member, get an aisle seat. And go to seatguru.com or seatexpert.com to find those that give you extra leg room, if that's a concern.
As for the size of the seats, I'm 6'2" and 205 lbs, with fairly broad shoulders, and find the CX seats fine. But their width and length just about pushes it for my comfort range. I'd think anyone taller or wider might find it a bit tough. The BA seats are fine for me on both counts, in that by checking those seat sites I've found the window ones that offer more leg room and easy access to the aisles.
AVOD on BA is more limited than CX, but still more than sufficient. Service fine on both airlines.
Then moving and declaring CX the winner in this round, I'm curious to hear how BA J compares with IB J. And then also JL J. Considering a RTW to and through MEX, so could go LHR-MEX in J with BA or MAD-MEX with IB. Then could go MEX-NRT in JL J or MEX-DFW-NRT in AA J. Anyone flown all 4 in J???
BTW: I am 5'10" 185# traveling with another similar size. Looks like BA only offers a daylight flight while IB offers a daylight or overnight flight to MEX.
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From having read other threads and posts, my distinct impression is that BA definitely beats IB, JL and AA. But of those, have only flown BA and AA in J. BA is the very clear winner there in all regards, but especially the seats.
I'm curious to hear how BA J compares with IB J. And then also JL J. Considering a RTW to and through MEX, so could go LHR-MEX in J with BA or MAD-MEX with IB. Then could go MEX-NRT in JL J or MEX-DFW-NRT in AA J. Anyone flown all 4 in J???
Depends what your primary motive is: cabin comfort / quality of hard product v. mileage bonuses. As an AA Plat you'll get your 100% elite status bonus on AA and IB only. You might also like to consider, if you're still able to, adding South America to your DONEx. You'll also get the elite bonus on LA flights: something like MEXSCLIPCSCLGRU would net you 23,425 miles after COS and elite bonuses.
As for BA or IB to MEX, you'd get 12,670 miles doing this in IB J v. 6,910 in BA J. For quality of hard product, personally I'd swallow the lower miles and do this segment on BA. But it all depends what's more important to you...
From having read other threads and posts, my distinct impression is that BA definitely beats IB, JL and AA. But of those, have only flown BA and AA in J. BA is the very clear winner there in all regards, but especially the seats.
You probably meant old AA J. The new J seats are good and in my opinion better than BA
You probably meant old AA J. The new J seats are good and in my opinion better than BA
I think there are people who love the new AA seats and people who don't.. for sleeping, I'm clearly in the later category. I much prefer a horizontal sleeping arrangement and can't really get comfortable in the slightly slanted seats.
BA seats were great for sleeping and the AVOD was on par if not a touch better than AA for business.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
The new AA J seats are better than the old ones, but I cannot see how they are better than the BA seats in any way
Dave
I completely agree. I know that all of this is subjective and in this comparison part of the difference hinges on how much you value privacy and what you consider comfortable for working, relaxing and sleeping, but I see BA winning hands down in all of these respects. In contrast, I'd put the new AA seats near or at the bottom of the barrel of the range of new J class seats that various airlines have introduced over the past several years. Certainly a nice improvement over the old AA J, but otherwise nothing special.
