So, time of the year again, where business is a 3rd of the price of economy (yep, all discounted Y seats gone, so at 560 Euro rtn it seemed like a good thing to book in business from PEK-BKK via HKG)

Thing is, that there are still some of the old herringbone designs onboard the A343. And we happen to have that on the way from BKK-HKG (only one sector). Since I am travelling with a partner, and its only a 3 hr flight, with lunch, I would much prefer to have a different seating arrangement.

LAst year I was offered some compensation for accepting a volunteer downgrade, and it was perfect! (blocked seat next to me in PY, cash, voucher etc..) The plane was changed from a B777 to a A343, so it had old herringbone.

This time its seems to be old herrinbone on the A343 again.

How would you go about changing into Premium Economy from Business? I guess I could always ask after boarding, but if PY is full, then I would also need to ask if two people like to swap, and not sure if thats even allowed by the airline.

What you guys think? Any one done something like this, or has some bright idea how to get two adjacent seats in PY instead of the two seats behind each other in J? (adjacent makes no sense on the old herringbone, as too far to even hear each other without shouting!)

Thanks