expatboy

Hi all

we are planning to travel from BNE to LHR (and back) early next year. We will be going in J, and have a restricted set of routes/airlines that we can fly. Given the ages of our kids (8, 6, 5 & 3), does anyone have any thoughts or advice on the J class cabin layouts that would work best? Last time we flew this route we went SQ so that between Mrs EB and I we had line of sight with all the kids. They'll be a bit older next time which will make things a little easier, but I haven't flown EK, QF or CX longhaul so don't have any experience of the J products.

We can go with:
QF/CX & CX/BA via HKG,
SQ via SIN,
EK via DXB

The SQ layout is great on the BNE-SIN sector (2-2-2 on the A330), but their J product is angled lie flat, which I can't sleep very well on (first world problem #3742 ) and the kids struggle on that all the more so, as they slip down the seats too easily.

I'd like to balance layout with comfort on the overnight sectors, so avoiding the angled lie-flat if possible. Any thoughts on how a layout such as CX longhaul or EK would work for a family such as mine?

bhomburg

On a GRU-DFW flight I took (on an AA 773, same 1-2-1 all-aisle access layout and same seats as CX) there was a large family who placed the kids (aged maybe 7 to 13) all in the "A" single window seats one behind each other, while the parents were seated across the aisle in the "D" seats. They asked me to swap my seat with one of the kids so they could have them all in view, and we got to talk a bit.
This worked well for them. The middle seat pairs are laid out so you can't see your seatmate unless you lean forward, and there's no quick reaching over either as the V-shaped way the seats are angled pretty much prevents that. With the kids across the aisle, they had visual contact with them as the seats are angled towards the aisle and getting up to assist with anything was easy and quick.

Plus, CX has the cabin divided on most plane types. With a little seat selection luck, you can have your family occupy the whole left side of the rear mini-cabin on the A333 that CX runs from BNE to HKG (and there will only be one or two strangers in the same on the 773 from HKG to LHR depending on which config you will encounter). It doesn't get much more private than that.

Edit: If I had a family I'd wish for more airlines with NZ's skycouch product. I think that's fantastic for traveling with younger children. Unfortunately they seem to have this monoplized so far, with only China Airlines adding it next year or so.

expatboy

Thanks bhomburg, much appreciated...good to hear some experience.