Originally Posted by
thijsseh
The reason why one flies a certain airline on a certain route is often much more complicated than the quality of the seat or the seating arrangement.
There is no doubt that the Q suite is superior to the EK 77W J seat.
Still, I generally accept the latter on the routes I fly. Schedule, connection, fare, upgrade possibilities, outstation lounges and CD all contribute to this. EK have looked after me well when I had a major IRROPS event in December 2020. On board service is spot on 90% of the time.
And when I have a window seat in the front 2 rows on the 77W (row 6 or 7), I am actually quite happy. I sleep well and the angle of the seat is not bad enough to make me slide to the footrest.
YMMV.
I don't have Plat status. Never had. Gold at the moment, but will fall back to Silver (again) sometime next year, unless something happens to require more travel than I'm currently planning.
These are interesting points which I would generally agree with hence I stuck with EK during a period of low a380 availability. The more times you fly the increased likelihood of things going wrong - missed connections, luggage going missing and recently crazy prices. Yet at the same time I have had some considerable miles compensated for my troubles, plenty of op-ups and this year alone I was able to guest family in to the F lounge who were not even on my flight. The cherry on the cake being a miles upgrade for parents (which would have cleaned me out of points) and then having the purser tell me I won’t get charged for it.
So yes I think the 777 J seat is terrible, crazy that it commands the same fee as an a380 seat and I know there are plenty who pay extra CD charges to go from an airport that is serviced by an a380. Doesn’t mean I need to jump ship to another airline.
I used to fly frequently from TUN to DXB on a 777 and not only was the J product terrible we would always end up on a remote stand. I asked the crew as we came in to land one time if we were getting a gate and their reply was - if you don’t want a remote stand don’t fly into DXB from Africa…