Originally Posted by
bbriscoe34
I fly from Oklahoma to Europe a few times a year, and our company policy requires we buy an economy ticket on flights under 14 hours - which is miserable. I'm a big guy - 6-2 and I just can't sleep sitting straight up. I've tried United Economy plus - even got an entire row to myself, but those seats are still horrible.
My question is - is there any economy class on any aircraft that reclines significantly more than the 10 degrees or whatever that you get on your standard 737?
I don't have to lie flat - to me even the F seats on an MD-88 are infinately better for sleeping than coach. But can that level of recline be approximated in coach on any aircraft?
As others have noted, some international carriers offer a very expensive 'Premium Economy' product. Pitch is usually 36" or greater (I'm thinking of AF, TK, TG), one less seat per row, so seats are wider, much wider armrest, much more legroom. Sometimes there's a foot-rest, although I've read that it doesn't work for folks over 6'.
Unfortunately, IME, the downside to all of these is that the recline is still very limited (much less, I think, than you used to see years ago in economy, where sometimes you felt like the head of the pax in front of you was practically in your lap if they were fully reclined). The three carriers I mentioned all use a new (awful) type of 'sliding' seat - it doesn't really recline, it sort of slides forward. The idea was that the pax would get some recline without actually intruding into the space of the pax behind. It just ended up being a seat that doesn't really recline enough for good sleep.
I personally still go for Premium Economy - the benefits for me generally outweigh the negatives, but I also do it because I'm often flying carriers where I have no chance at pre-booking an exit row - I have often observed that if I could get an exit row, I'd be just as comfortable (or uncomfortable, given the lack of recline) for a lot less $$.