Originally Posted by
Narrow Seat
I think even if you are in the same type of seat, being in a wide body plane has advantages for 9-10 hour flights. Here is why:
I feel less claustrophobic for some reason because the plane is wider.
The ride seems less bumpy in a wide body.
I think it is easier to get up and walk around.
It seems easier for the flight attendants to service the passengers.
There are fewer passengers per bathroom and if you want to upgrade to economy plus or business class the seats are much better than business class in a narrow body plane.
Just flew BOS->LIS on Delta narrowbody and that's about a 6.5hr flight. It was rather uncomfortable for many of the reasons you mentioned above, especially with a 3 month old and 2 year old in tow. The bathroom situation was really not good. On a 6+ hour flight many more people will use the bathroom many more times than on, say, a 3 hour flight where some might avoid using the bathroom at all. The lines were constantly long and the bathroom immediately filthy.
(The other reasons the flight was uncomfortable had more to do with the DL cabin crew than the plane itself...they rarely came through the cabin to collect trash or service items, they did not offer water or beverage service except at meal time and when I went to the back to ask for some water (I was breastfeeding and therefore extra thirsty) I was given the stink eye)
In the future I would consider other routing options from the US to Europe that involve a wide body