malpas

Agree with the comments of luv 2 fly. Flew on January 2 with partner. Could not carry on a converstion for the duration of the flight unless I stood in the aisle. Otherwise shouting at partner.
The pods are excellent for those travelling solo, wanting to get work done, wanting to snooze or sleep.
Always liked the "old" two seats, side by side. Would welcome a choice.
Great service, very good food all the way.

Clipper801

For those interested, link to BA's new Club World seat being progressively introduced since November 2006 with completion expected by spring 2008.

www.newclubworld.com

BA has been offering flat bed since 2000. AC is only about 6 years late.

yyznomad

Yep, that was me
Too bad I didn't have the FT luggage tags with me. Would you have brought up conversation if you saw them? I met KH sitting beside me once on 142 a few months ago... he had a FT-ness about him

yyznomad

Hey, better late than never.

Besides, BA has had that kind of branding for awhile.

yyz_atc_qq

I'll give you all a TR on their CW seats in a couple of weeks. I'm tasting them very soon. Perhaps for the first of many trips with BA.

Have you looked at CX's new J product? Or their new F? Who really needs a 16:9 17" Wide Screen PTV???

yyznomad

So far I haven't had the misfortunes that you've encountered to cause an order from the J/F tasting menu of airlines...

yyz_atc_qq

I've been a huge supporter of AC over the years. I've even managed to get 4 Elite members under my wing here at work. Caused purely by showing them the good side of AC. I never thought in a million years that I would ever find myself travelling on a *O carrier. That is tantamount to blasphemy. How the winds of change have blown through this life. We shall see if it is a short change of fortunes or a permanent change.

YYZSFOShuttle

Or for maximum insanity, SQ's new F has a 23" LCD PTV

Someday I'm flying SQ F just to bask in the ridiculousness

yyz_atc_qq

nice... you know you're in a quality F product when the IFE screen is bigger than your home computer screen I'll have to add that to my list of things to do before I die.

YEG ex Executive Platinum

YWG Flyer - fantastic site and trip report. Thanks for sharing!!!

Freedom55

Flew AC 849 LHR-YYZ Jan 3rd with my wife. Assigned 7A and 8A. I agree with the comments of Luv2fly and malpas except that on this flight the FA's were knowledgable and did everything possible to keep the systems operating.

Additional comments:

I found the pod to be very confining. The lie flat position was very uncomfortable. If you are claustrophobic these seats may not be for you. Almost impossible to carry on a coversation. If you like privacy its great. if you are travelling with someone, not so great.

Loved the AVOD except my fvourite feature, the route map, is not yet working.

When we boarded 3 of the seats 3K, 6A and 6K were unservicable.
My seat recline system, 8A, was also found, after takeoff, to be not working and could not be reset. Luckily there was another seat available where evrything worked. The tray table on 7A would not extend. Mrs freedom had to move to another seat for dinner. Very difficult to extend tables. Watch you don't pinch your fingers. The whole pod appears to be flimsy. Really wonder how durable this configuration will be?

Only 24 seats in J Going to be much more difficult to upgrade.

Overall, the new J looks great. The "WOW" factor will impress a lot of people. Once beyond the "WOW" however I was not impressed. Everything considered I think the A330 and A 340-300 J class is a more comfortable way to travel.

YWG Flyer

Thanks for the comments on the website everyone.

There's more trip reports to come.

And of course, the latest fleet info for all major carriers in Canada are updated constantly.

Matt

Jclass

Since the seats are in the pod do they still have to be in the "fully upright and locked position" for takeoff and landing? Flew on an NZ 777 in the spring and there was no requirement for the seats to be upright for takeoff or landing. In fact the FAs were coming around and encouraging us to make ourselves comfortable for takeoff - feet up on the footstool, seat reclined, and orange juice in the cupholder. Headphones were allowed. The only requirement was that the video display had to be stowed, although it was fully functional, and any luggage had to be stowed.

A real nice treat after being forced to sit upright all the time.

zorn

Since the (valid) explanation for traditional seats being upright with the tray stowed is to create the maximal space for pax to navigate through rows of seats in an evacuation, one might expect that since there is no difference in cabin manoeuvrability no matter what position an empodded seat is in, that the seat could be in any position.

So what have the cabin crew been saying to pax about these flights?

luv2flyJ

I recall a pax behind me was asked to remove headphones and to bring seat back forward. He was not in a the lay-flat position, just reclined at about a 45 degree angle.