moorw003

Row 12 has more legroom than all of PE. Best seats on the plane.

yyj9

I was in 13a yesterday, because I was worried there wouldn't be enough legroom in 12. I will take 12 next time, as the woman in front was able to get out without disturbing her neighbour. Not having anyone recline in front would be great, and the legroom looks adequate. I'm not sure it has as much as stretching out under a seat though, and I didn't notice if they have a footrest.

For those saying it is same as old y bulkhead, it is not. I flew old y on the way out, to shanghai in 12. Lots of legroom, but no where near the same comfort level. Wider sear, greater recline, better head rest, way better service, better washroom accessibility, better food, bottle of water waiting in your seat pocket, lots of bins space. Absolutely worth a premium fare (even though when I bought, it was less expensive than flex)

CloudsBelow

Some thought when AC deployed the HD on YVRLHR all the big spending, high yield customers would run to their big competition on the route, BA.
Rather than add Premium seats in the market, BA has decided to not even bother selling F class to Vancouver as of mid-October.

Just the latest example of how low yielding the Canadian market is outside of Toronto. Recent changes from AC/WS make more sense every day

rehoult

Are you sure it isn't just related to them using a non-refitted 744 on the route? My understanding was that they were going to start selling old-F as J until they were refitted.

upgradesecret

But it still fits with the thesis that of the 100+ destinations that BA could select to downgrade, Vancouver was on the list.

CloudsBelow

Best products go to high yielding destinations. Even after AC downgrades to HD, BA decides old F should just be given to paid J passengers and there is no point/no market for First Class to Vancouver
Exactly.
A short list that includes well known low yield destinations like Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Futura

I took this plane in J cabin in May, Vancouver to Hong Kong. I was in the 1K I think? First row, far right.

I was travelling alone and after figuring out that I was not getting a classic pod but this new set up I was prepared for the worst.

I nice woman sat beside me and after we both finished playing with all the buttons on the chair we joked about how I was going to get out of my seat after she put her seat in full recline and was fast asleep. She wasn't shy and said to don't give it a second thought and to climb over her. I'm fit and lean so it was all managable in our case but this would be impossible for somebody, small, or not in good shape, or older like my parents.

I'm flying my 75 year old Mom to London and to make it as easy on her as possible, in J class. There is no way she could climb over, and nor should she, a stranger to go to the washroom. Big fail on this Air Canada. Since I'm not too skilled on figuring out what type of seating is on a plane I booked her on British Airways instead and am just staying away from Air Canada for her.

winnipegrev

If prices are fair, sure. Otherwise it isn't too much effort to look at the flight on ac.com which I presume you are doing anyway, click on 'view seat map', and see that no centre aisle seats (D, G rows 1-7) require any contortionist movements and ensure easy aisle access with no inflight disruptions.

I still think BA provides a much superior seat, though. If it didn't matter to you AC/BA, I too would go for BA instead of the 777HD J.

Get her the upper deck on the BA 747 if she doesn't mind a few stairs!

CloudsBelow

I'd usually agree on upper deck but If the J booking is paid and post-October, no-brainer to get a seat in the nose of the 747 in rows 1-5 being former "F"

seegs

The F cabin will be blocked off and only opened if all J seats are occupied. If the F cabin is opened, only BA Elites (and possibly OWE) will be seated there. The Upper Deck of the 747 is a great place to sit. Highly recommend 64A, 64K, 62A or 62K as seats!

Wallace99

First class and HD don't really go together. BA is eliminating First class on many routes not just Vancouver, in NA Las Vegas and pheonix will both lose it I'm sure others will too. I'm pretty sure they stopped selling into Toronto years ago. First class vs J/y are too seperated stratosphere of product.

The Question should be because of HD on that route have BA's Y/premium y/J sales increased/decreased - have prices gone up and down? Same goes for SC, if margin is higher over the long run its the right move. (which is probably is IMO).

Frayed_Yak

I just flew J HKG-YVR yesterday and echo many of the comments around the seat. I flew aisle H seat, and found it very narrow and somewhat hard to sleep in. Service and catering good, IFE okay.

I hope this move results in more competitive pricing. I don't think AC was ever going to catch CX on the product side anyways.

The other thing I found a bit odd was the wide disparity in seat comfort within the cabin.

yyznomad

I guess the majority verdict still stands on this one... 777HD sucks royally.

tyberius

Because there is no market for F, destroy Y.

Got it.

bocastephen

Since you were not privy to the internal BA memo that was sent out to industry insiders (I was privy, and read it), the decision was made to INCREASE business class seat capacity due to increased demand for these seats in specific markets against soft demand for F. They could have increased Y capacity if that was where the demand was coming from, but it's not, and that's not what will happen.

Again, AC's decision is to double down on decreased margin to increase overall revenue - the sales goal here is to grab as much incremental revenue as possible out of this aircraft through heavy discounting. I see ex-USA seats on AC to HK via YVR for less than it would cost me from SEA to Hawaii.

If that demand doesn't follow through, or the excess seats need to be filled with loss-leading rates, then AC will lose money on this aircraft. When AirTransat is offering better comfort and service than AC, you know there is a big problem.