The US B767-200 [master thread]
Feb 22, 2012, 9:32 am
#61
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: PHL
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Posts: 3,294
Ha ha!!! I did the exact same on a 767 flight between CLT and PHL not too long ago. I was upgraded but walked all the way to the back of the plane to determine which coach seat would provide the least amount of pain for a TA flight. I think I determined it was the bulkhead seats at the every front of coach...
What's the current drill on bulkheads ... ? Day of flight only ... ? At airport only ... ? Or can CP line help out ... ?
Back in the day -- say 2+ years ago -- I used to have middling luck just calling general number (often as Silver), being nice (I try), saying I am taller than average (I am) even before day of flight. But I get the sense that things may have tightened up.
Feb 22, 2012, 10:43 am
#62
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
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Posts: 3,690
Bulkhead has less foot space on the 767.
Feb 22, 2012, 11:41 am
#63
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Feb 22, 2012, 4:31 pm
#64
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Programs: US - Gold Preferred, leisuring and MRing for status :-)
Posts: 172
Best possible coach seats on TATL
It sounds like, from the comments, that rows 5 and 6 with the hope that middle seats stay empty is the best option on this flight. Row 4 would be bulkhead with less legroom. At least we'd be getting off the plane earlier than most. I noticed on the US Airways seating chart for PHL-BCN on Mar 24 that, out of 186 coach seats, only 16 are still available. I'm starting to become concerned that the flight will fill up completely and we'll lose our open middle seats. *Sigh* Is it possible that they would switch back to the A332 based on demand or did they change the aircraft for some other reason?
Feb 22, 2012, 4:46 pm
#65
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: iad/dca
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Posts: 1,106
Did another trip to GIG
Upgraded to Envoy on the way down and the AVOD actually worked. ON my November-December trip the AVOD did not work. Both were one where they pass out the monitors which sit in some racks that fold out of the seat. They have to hook up some wires and then dismantle the whole thing before landing. Seats are very narrow and the galley/lav set up is odd. The planes are old. Envoy service was better the second time. Service in the back on the way home is dismal. It is the first flight I have been on where the FA's didn't even bother to make sure all the seat backs were up for takeoff. The people in front of me plopped down and reclined for the duration. I called the lapse to the attention of a FA who made a point of slamming my seat up for landing while I was asleep. Poor show all around. It is cheap though and they have the USG contract for the route.
Feb 24, 2012, 9:32 am
#66
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Alexandria, VA - DCA
Programs: BA Gold, American Airlines, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 5,075
Since I've put my party in each of the aisle seats on rows 5 and 6, I better bring plenty of ear plugs and drugs. My boyfriend will nearly explode if we have to sit through an 8 hour flight of screaming babies.
It sounds like, from the comments, that rows 5 and 6 with the hope that middle seats stay empty is the best option on this flight. Row 4 would be bulkhead with less legroom. At least we'd be getting off the plane earlier than most. I noticed on the US Airways seating chart for PHL-BCN on Mar 24 that, out of 186 coach seats, only 16 are still available. I'm starting to become concerned that the flight will fill up completely and we'll lose our open middle seats. *Sigh* Is it possible that they would switch back to the A332 based on demand or did they change the aircraft for some other reason?
It sounds like, from the comments, that rows 5 and 6 with the hope that middle seats stay empty is the best option on this flight. Row 4 would be bulkhead with less legroom. At least we'd be getting off the plane earlier than most. I noticed on the US Airways seating chart for PHL-BCN on Mar 24 that, out of 186 coach seats, only 16 are still available. I'm starting to become concerned that the flight will fill up completely and we'll lose our open middle seats. *Sigh* Is it possible that they would switch back to the A332 based on demand or did they change the aircraft for some other reason?
Feb 24, 2012, 4:17 pm
#67
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Programs: US - Gold Preferred, leisuring and MRing for status :-)
Posts: 172
On another note (and this is not related solely to the 767), yesterday, I counted 15 open seats in coach on this flight when looking at the seat map on US website. I know people have said this isn't always accurate, but I do not have an Expert Flyer membership to see more accurate seating charts / flight loads. However, today, I'm now counting 56 open seats on this flight, only one day later! Does US typically block off bunches of seats without them actually being reserved, only to show them as open later?
Or, could this be a result of the demise of Spanair and people who were flying through BCN with a connection on Spanair? Perhaps people in such a situation were able to get their flights changed / rerouted and it opened up lots of seats?
Sorry for being off topic.
Feb 25, 2012, 12:11 pm
#68
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Alexandria, VA - DCA
Programs: BA Gold, American Airlines, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 5,075
KVS shows plenty of seats in coach albeit the lower fare buckets are sold out. Oddly enough, it shows zero seats (for sale!) in Envoy. I bet that's a fluke over the weekend and that a week from now we will see seats available again.
[KVS Availability Tool 6.9.4/Diamond - Sabre: Availability/FS/US]
PHL Philadelphia Metro / Intl PA US = PHL TTN [KPHL]
BCN Barcelona ES [LEBL]
SAT 24 Mar 2012
Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
US742 PHL 18:25 BCN 08:25 767
D0 Z0 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 N9 V9 W9 L5 S1 T0 G0 K0 U0 E0 R0 C0
[KVS Availability Tool 6.9.4/Diamond - Sabre: Availability/FS/US]
PHL Philadelphia Metro / Intl PA US = PHL TTN [KPHL]
BCN Barcelona ES [LEBL]
SAT 24 Mar 2012
Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C St Availability
US742 PHL 18:25 BCN 08:25 767
D0 Z0 Y9 B9 M9 H9 Q9 N9 V9 W9 L5 S1 T0 G0 K0 U0 E0 R0 C0
Feb 25, 2012, 12:43 pm
#69
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: AVL
Programs: AA EXP ; Cunard Plat
Posts: 4,211
Presently for US742 Mar 24 I see all Envoy seats as "occupied" (on EF) along with no Envoy seats for sale. Maybe there'd be cancellations, maybe not ...
Feb 25, 2012, 1:57 pm
#70
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Programs: US - Gold Preferred, leisuring and MRing for status :-)
Posts: 172
I called last week trying to UG (when I thought it was still on the A332 and had remembered seeing some open seats in envoy last time I had checked) and the agent said that not only were there no UGs available, but that envoy was completely sold out-- no more seats even available for sale. Thats when I checked and noticed the change in aircraft and said no wonder, there are fewer envoy seats on this plane! Surprised, but could it be bc it's the first direct flight of the season to BCN?
Feb 25, 2012, 6:25 pm
#71
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
Programs: None
Posts: 9,171
Deleted - for some reason I was thinking it was an A332 with 20 Envoy suites.
Jim
Jim
Mar 3, 2012, 3:11 pm
#72
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 36
Off to Rio
I leave Wednesday. Will do a mini-TR here at some point.
Mar 3, 2012, 4:52 pm
#73
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Programs: US - Gold Preferred, leisuring and MRing for status :-)
Posts: 172
Mar 10, 2012, 12:42 am
#74
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 36
Not as bad as people said...but not great.
All-in my trip down to Brazil took 24 hours and I've just finally gotten wifi access. A brief report for the 767 haters here:
US800 CLT-GIG 3/7/12
Envoy (1F/G)
General Appearance: The plane was very clean when we boarded and did seem well-maintained. The forward lavatory was a little worse for the wear and the overheads were old models, but I saw none of the duct tape and other horrors described earlier. The new seats--and one less row?--make the cabin feel smaller than the old recliners did, but I didn't feel particularly closed in on the whole.
Seat: NARROW--as in, I'd go to stretch my leg laterally and hit the arm rest repeatedly--and one sort of odd "fold" mid-waist that proved annoying. Also, the center arm rest was a little balky. It lowered with a mechanical button (think seat recline in domestic F), and if I pulled the arm rest up in a certain way the leather top portion detached from the metal and I'd have to snap it back. The old US First (on three-class A330) had this great relax pre-set that I still pine for, but the relax setting here didn't really do it for me. On the positive side, the bed was long enough (I'm 5'10") and the pillows and blankets were very soft. I may get extras on the way home and do a little self-made mattress action. Because of the near-perfect combination of flight time and time change, the emphasis here seemed to be on sleep: quick dinner, then bed for an easy transition to Rio time.
AVOD: The Digiplayers were fine for the overnight flight. The touchscreen controls were slow to respond, but the picture was great and I didn't have any need to reset the system. One issue: I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to play the music! Luckily, I bought a huge Bossa Nova iTunes collection the previous day. Finally, it was a little annoying not to have a moving map; however, the flight path is basically a dead reckoned line from CLT to Rio, so I was still able to open my shade just in time to see Puerto Rico for the first time.
Food: Actually, pretty good, but the service was a little let's-just-get-on-with-it at times. PDBs of water, prosecco, and juice were lovely (and in GLASS--take note UA). Warm nuts and drinks came after departure as hot towels, digipayers, etc. were passed out. Dinner was presented on one tray at once, which made for small portions of salad and appetizer, but c'est la vie. I remember flying the original Envoy (US Grey Stripes Forever!) and it was a drinks round, a salad cart, an appetizer, and blah blah blah--by the time you finished the damn dinner you were in Iceland! Save elaborate courses for the ULH to Dubai or Bangkok--thanks to the tray I got five or six hours of sleep and still had a quick breakfast before landing in Rio. Anyway, the appetizer was a beef thing with a tasty marinade--lettuces here were a little sad, but otherwise good--and the salad was very fresh. The main was a chicken with pecans that was greasy, but in a comfort-food way, served with mashed sweet potatoes and veggies. Desserts and cheese were offer as "OR" not "AND," which irked me, but I got over it after eating the caramel flan--very good, as suggested by a sweet, vaguely Brazilian FA. (After my seatmate doused all the lights and went to sleep, she was kind enough to silently keep my prosecco topped up as I watched a bit of a movie until my PR viewing session). Breakfast was an uneventful fruit plate with yogurt and these silly tiny cups of coffee of which I needed three just to approximate one of my mugs at home, but good enough to keep me alive during the long day of travel ahead (the quiche seemed too heavy for the 90-degree weather in Rio). Oh, completely forgot: the Frette linens were amazing. For those of you who don't frequent the china/silver/linens departments of the world, Frette is REALLY nice. The Mandarin Oriental hotel chain uses these things and a sheet set costs a small fortune. US may have overreached--read: overspent--here a bit on the Envoy changes, but the linens will last forever--sooo thick and heavy woven.
FAs: Nice enough, and it seemed that the entire crew helped out in Envoy when they could. Annoyingly, drink refills--save for the Prosecco woman above--weren't easily had, to the point I went into the forward galley for more coffee in the morning. Also, I think only one forward and one rear FA spoke Portuguese, but a LOT of the people on board were Brazilian, so I'm not sure how service ran in the back. (Side note: flights 800/801 continue to Orlando, so lots of Brazilian Disney Princesses were aboard, including in Envoy...blah.)
Overall: Not the most spectacular experience in a forward cabin--and thanks to the seat, not even by American standards--but not horrible. After my midnight ride home through the thunderstorms of the Amazon I may feel differently, but for now, US gets my vote for this sector.
US800 CLT-GIG 3/7/12
Envoy (1F/G)
General Appearance: The plane was very clean when we boarded and did seem well-maintained. The forward lavatory was a little worse for the wear and the overheads were old models, but I saw none of the duct tape and other horrors described earlier. The new seats--and one less row?--make the cabin feel smaller than the old recliners did, but I didn't feel particularly closed in on the whole.
Seat: NARROW--as in, I'd go to stretch my leg laterally and hit the arm rest repeatedly--and one sort of odd "fold" mid-waist that proved annoying. Also, the center arm rest was a little balky. It lowered with a mechanical button (think seat recline in domestic F), and if I pulled the arm rest up in a certain way the leather top portion detached from the metal and I'd have to snap it back. The old US First (on three-class A330) had this great relax pre-set that I still pine for, but the relax setting here didn't really do it for me. On the positive side, the bed was long enough (I'm 5'10") and the pillows and blankets were very soft. I may get extras on the way home and do a little self-made mattress action. Because of the near-perfect combination of flight time and time change, the emphasis here seemed to be on sleep: quick dinner, then bed for an easy transition to Rio time.
AVOD: The Digiplayers were fine for the overnight flight. The touchscreen controls were slow to respond, but the picture was great and I didn't have any need to reset the system. One issue: I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to play the music! Luckily, I bought a huge Bossa Nova iTunes collection the previous day. Finally, it was a little annoying not to have a moving map; however, the flight path is basically a dead reckoned line from CLT to Rio, so I was still able to open my shade just in time to see Puerto Rico for the first time.
Food: Actually, pretty good, but the service was a little let's-just-get-on-with-it at times. PDBs of water, prosecco, and juice were lovely (and in GLASS--take note UA). Warm nuts and drinks came after departure as hot towels, digipayers, etc. were passed out. Dinner was presented on one tray at once, which made for small portions of salad and appetizer, but c'est la vie. I remember flying the original Envoy (US Grey Stripes Forever!) and it was a drinks round, a salad cart, an appetizer, and blah blah blah--by the time you finished the damn dinner you were in Iceland! Save elaborate courses for the ULH to Dubai or Bangkok--thanks to the tray I got five or six hours of sleep and still had a quick breakfast before landing in Rio. Anyway, the appetizer was a beef thing with a tasty marinade--lettuces here were a little sad, but otherwise good--and the salad was very fresh. The main was a chicken with pecans that was greasy, but in a comfort-food way, served with mashed sweet potatoes and veggies. Desserts and cheese were offer as "OR" not "AND," which irked me, but I got over it after eating the caramel flan--very good, as suggested by a sweet, vaguely Brazilian FA. (After my seatmate doused all the lights and went to sleep, she was kind enough to silently keep my prosecco topped up as I watched a bit of a movie until my PR viewing session). Breakfast was an uneventful fruit plate with yogurt and these silly tiny cups of coffee of which I needed three just to approximate one of my mugs at home, but good enough to keep me alive during the long day of travel ahead (the quiche seemed too heavy for the 90-degree weather in Rio). Oh, completely forgot: the Frette linens were amazing. For those of you who don't frequent the china/silver/linens departments of the world, Frette is REALLY nice. The Mandarin Oriental hotel chain uses these things and a sheet set costs a small fortune. US may have overreached--read: overspent--here a bit on the Envoy changes, but the linens will last forever--sooo thick and heavy woven.
FAs: Nice enough, and it seemed that the entire crew helped out in Envoy when they could. Annoyingly, drink refills--save for the Prosecco woman above--weren't easily had, to the point I went into the forward galley for more coffee in the morning. Also, I think only one forward and one rear FA spoke Portuguese, but a LOT of the people on board were Brazilian, so I'm not sure how service ran in the back. (Side note: flights 800/801 continue to Orlando, so lots of Brazilian Disney Princesses were aboard, including in Envoy...blah.)
Overall: Not the most spectacular experience in a forward cabin--and thanks to the seat, not even by American standards--but not horrible. After my midnight ride home through the thunderstorms of the Amazon I may feel differently, but for now, US gets my vote for this sector.
Mar 10, 2012, 5:47 pm
#75
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That's a good updated report. CO and DL have(or are in the process of going to) 2x1x2 in their premium cabins of the 767. It's a shame US didn't go that way when they refurbed the 767 a few years back and I doubt there will be another refresh before they are retired once more 332's come online, and the 350's start coming in a few years.
AA still is 2x2x2, though, but there are rumors that the 767-300 fleet will also go to a fully lay flat product up front, and hopefully 2x1x2.
AA still is 2x2x2, though, but there are rumors that the 767-300 fleet will also go to a fully lay flat product up front, and hopefully 2x1x2.