757-200 Lie Flat Seats - Access

I'll be flying in BusinessFirst on a 757-200. If I sit at a window seat and the person on the aisle is sleeping with his footrest extended will I be able to get out of the row without bothering him?

I'd like a window seat but my first preference is easy access to the lavatory. It is an 8 hour flight so I expect several bathroom breaks.

Are any of the 4 rows preferable to any other?

You will have to step over the person next to you.....

seatguru sums it up well: row 1 has galley noise (not much of a problem IMHO) row 4 is close to the bathroom (only 16 J seats, so never a huge problem either).

I like the 752 both Y and J.

Two suggestions -

1. If you're tall, go for row 1, as it has a larger footwell than the other rows, and it's easier to lay on your side. I don't find the galley noise a problem either, particuarly after the food service is complete.

2. There is a slight gap between the seat and the casing. Be very careful with coins, pens, keys, and especially electronics, because if you drop something down there, it will typically take a mechanic to get it back (really). Easiest way to deal with that is to take a gallon sized sealable plastic bag with you. Put your phone and all the contents of your pockets in that bag and put it away for the flight. It's a good idea to write your passport number, date of issuance/expiration, and where issued on a piece of paper to keep in your pocket. That way you won't have to take your bag out to get to your passport, in order to fill out the immigration forms. There's a pen in the amenities kit which you can clip into the pen holder in the small storage area over one of your shoulders.

Thanks for the info.

In "stepping over" the passenger sleeping in the aisle seat, can I do this without waking him up? I don't mind the step otherwise.

Also, do the seats remain upright as far as those in the row behind are concerned? In other words, if I am in row 2 and row 1 is in the lie-flat sleeping position are those folks taking up some of my space? I was on a 777 where the answer there was no. I'm assuming the same here.

If reclining one's seat doesn't impact the row behind then it should be fairly easy to get out of one's row from the window seat, right?

Thanks for the advice on the keys, coins, etc. I'll definitely empty my pockets as suggested as my keys do tend to fall out on occasion.

1. Depends how tall/agile you are, but yes, it's possible.
2. There's a hard shell back on the seat (just like the one you saw on the 777), so no impact on your space if you're behind one.

+1

Hmmmmm. Never an easy answer - I am not tall (5'8") but I am pretty agile.

I'll have to ponder this.

It depends whether or not your seatmate is sleeping on his/her back/front (doable with some agility) or side (more difficult).

Row 1 is the best as explained above. Galley noise is nonsense, although I sleep with the free ear plugs in. Every seat on the 752 requires either stepping over or being stepped over -- I've never had a problem with either.

That was diplomatically worded. I'm 5'10", 190 lbs, age 55 and this is trivial, way on the easy side for international premium seating. Only walking around would be easier, e.g. in exit row Business on UA p.s. service. For comparison, ordinary domestic first can be impossible.

I'm 5'6 and very agile and I always try to step over but it never works. The only plus to have the hard shell is that instead of, like on the 764's, waking up 3 people(2 people in front and 1 next to me) I only wake up the person next to me. Luckily that person is usually my wife and when it's not it becomes very awkward.

Well, it sounds like the safe bet is to sit on the aisle. It is better to be woken up than have to wake up someone else to use the restroom. At least for me.

Really? I value my sleep, particularly on shorter transatlantic flights. I would not want to be woken up. I always operate under the assumption that whoever sits in the aisle implicitly accepts the fact that they may need to allow the window passenger out periodically. Of course on a long-haul/red-eye I try to minimize any disturbance of my neighbor, but sometimes it's necessary.

IME, other than a last-minute upgrade clearing due to a no-show, the vast majority of aisle seat passengers chose those seats (meaning the aisles are generally the first to be fully booked).

I know this is definitely true on the 772, but I flew EWR-SFO yesterday in 1F in a 752 and I thought it was far more limited in space than when I was in a non-Row-1 seat on the 772.

I'm 6'4 of course, but I thought it was supposed to be 6'3 space, and this most certainly felt like 6'0 of room if not less.

I have an upcoming 752 EWR-CDG route, and I'm debating whether to move to Row 2 instead of 1E if the space is larger...

You are much nicer than I. ^ FWIW, I am 5'11'' and find it hard, but possible, to get over the person in the aisle seat, though this sometimes involves using the hard shell to leverage myself over. If I may be frank, I'd say that if you expect to use the bathroom quite regularly, just choose the aisle. I actually found myself getting stressed about going to the bathroom because of the calisthenics involved (but not stressed enough to want to be in the aisle myself).