Einer

I have a roundtrip to LHR coming up (LAX-LHR-LAX) on nonstop 777s. I was able to snag 21J for both trips, so the way I see it, I'm in pretty good shape. My question for those of you who make long flights is, do you think it's worthwhile to use miles to try upgrading out of E+? I generally only fly short to mid-length flights inside the US, so I don't have much experience with 10-hour flights. I'm tall (6'5), so legroom is obviously a priority for me.

Thanks...

jhayes_1780

for me ANY C seat is beats the best Y.

But YMMV.

FlyinHawaiian

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

One thing to keep in mind is upgrading using miles to LHR requires certain fare classes, so even though you may have enough miles to support the upgrade and there is space (not always the case), you also may need to pay additional money to move your ticket into a fare bucket that is upgradeable.

That being said, I would do the upgrade if at all possible, but, if not, you have a very good seat.

UnitedF1RST

I wholeheartedly agree....unless you can score a whole Y row to yourself (which I highly doubt will happen)

rkaradi

I would w/out question a 10+ hour flight in Y vs. C. Nuff said.

turing

Even if 21H was empty, he still couldn't raise the armrests to spread out. So that's another point for upgrading.

kevinsac

Yep! Try for the u/g. ^

blue_dolphin

I agree with the other responses and believe it's worth the miles to upgrade, especially for that long flight. Yesterday I upgraded out of 21J from IAD-LAX. I would have been fine there and considered canceling the upgrade request but the flight was much more comfortable with the leg/foot rests and extra room in the C seats.

ORDGuy79

I survived 21J on a 10+ hour flight from NRT-LAX in April (my longest Y flight ever), and although I'm almost a foot shorter than you, the legroom will be the least of your worries. There's enough legroom for Shaq in the 21H/J seats.

That being said, as someone else mentioned, keep in mind you won't have movable armrests. Could be a detriment to you. Also, kiss the storage in the seat in front of you good-bye once they put up the crew rest curtain.

FlyinHawaiian mentioned fare booking codes; I'm assuming as a 1P you know the fare rules about upgrading. If not, you need to have a booking code M or H to u/g with 30K miles each way, or if you have a booking code Y or B it is 15K miles each way. W-fares are only u/g with a SWU from a 1K friend.

Buy-ups, though, might be readily available at check-in if space is available. Wouldn't hurt to ask. I am not sure what the going rate is from LAX-LHR, but my guess is somewhere between $600-$700.

LCY8737

London-West Coast is recently going for $700, depending on the load factor might go as high as $1400.

Mbenz

I would try for the upgrade too unless you had plans on using the miles (or SWU) for something else? I wouldn't be too disappointed if it didn't clear though, its a great seat, I love being able to just stand up whenever I want without being in an isle.

Outside of legroom though think of the better meals, drinks etc. and maybe better service you would enjoy in C as well.

Einer

Thanks for the advice, everybody. I think I'll try it and see how things go. I suppose I'll need to try it sooner or later, so there's no time like a present!

And I'm somewhat familiar with booking codes, though I refer to the info threads here periodically. I'm still relatively new to travel-heavy business, plus I mostly spread my travel around to maximize savings up until this year. (This is the first year I've made 1P, but I should make it consistently from now on.)