curioustill

I did AKL to MEL in 773 Premium Economy around Christmas.

Sat in 23K (right window seat), here are my thoughts:

-Ample legroom
-As small as you may be, the person in the aisle still has to get out before you can get out

And here's an anecdote:
1 hour into the flight I decide to recline my seat. Tugging with the greatest force I can muster, the seat refuses to recline. I call a flight attendant for help who says "Oh just pull the lever and push". After rocking backwards and forwards about five times like an idiot, the FA remarks (quite correctly), "you don't gym a lot do you?", before offering to sit in my seat and give it a go. She remarks (again quite correctly) that "this seat needs a bit more of force" or something like that. But she got the seat reclined, so top in-flight service eh.

Fast forward 2 and a half hours later, and we're about to land. I'm told that I need to put my seat upright, and after trying for about 10 minutes I inform the flight attendant that I can't. So I get moved to one of the middle seats for landing, which I actually found more comfortable overall. The only downside is, of course, that there is no window view.

There were about 3 crying babies (who cried for the WHOLE flight) in the first two rows of PE. When I went to visit my mates at the back of economy it was interestingly much more peaceful.

My verdict: I would only go PE on 773 if I was on Works Deluxe/$20 seat select. If it was a long-haul and I'm intending to pay more money may as well go for business. So either economy or business.

evanaggie

I think you just got unlucky with crying babies and that shouldn't really play into the decision. You could just have easily been unlucky in traveling on a flight where there were crying babies in economy.

I didn't have a single child....heck, person, younger than my wife and I traveling in PE both directions. What is the WD/$20 seat select you are referring to? When booking PE, did you not get to choose your seat? I agree: sitting in one of the two outer seats along the window seems silly to me. I used to be a window flyer, but switched to isle preference years ago when I valued more legroom, convenience to the lavatories, and the less-cramped feeling.

My seats functioned just fine, as did my wife's seat. She had one of her arms in a sling, so she had trouble exerting enough force both in the levers and in sliding down to make it move...

SpannerSpinner

On shorter routes eg. Trans-tasman NZ sells the 777 & 767 as two class, and customers that buy the economy works deluxe product get the PE seats. Some of the PE seats also become available to seat select a few days out if not fully allocated to works deluxe pax.

pepsi1336

Gold, Elite and Koru also get the PE seats complimentary on Short haul Australia & Pacific Island flights when travelling on an economy Seat, Seat + Bag or The Works fare

dadig

ex Auckland and maybe Christchurch. Wellington does not have PE seats complimentary?

KiwiJC

It's only on NZ flights/planes that normally offer PE - so that really restricts it to the 777/787 flights out of Auckland (East coast Aus flights are all A320 out of Christchurch and Wellington).

VA codeshares into those cities do have PE, but it's not a free product for NZ premium customers. It's also gradually being phased out to be replaced with a 'domestic style' business product (eg. recliners).

Gold, Elite and Koru do get extra legroom seats on the A320 flights at least, while it's not great it's better than nothing (and certainly better than a VA 737!)

Miles Down Under

Hasn't this already happened?

KiwiJC

Looks like you're quite correct, it's supposed to have been finished last week (as per AusBT) but there hasn't been anything to indicate whether they did manage it.

Mind you, for the prices they're currently asking - I can't imagine why anyone would even contemplate VA Business - $1500+ one way for a ~3 hour flight, no thanks....

cavemanzk

I've seen them do AKL-MEL one way for around $600ish.

But why pay $1200 return, when for $360 return on NZ I get an spaceseat?

NZbutterfly

Did / does anybody fly the middle space seats and try them in the suggested (as per inflight laminated pamphlet) positions? Like lying down or feet up on wedge / partner etc?

evanaggie

Heh, I told my wife 5'2" to attempt that but she never did. There is definitely space for someone smaller. That wedge adds a decent amount of room. I was able to sleep just leaning back within the shell and downing a couple of Simply Sleep pills.

SeaProf

I once had an empty middle spaceseat next to me from LAX-AKL and was able to lie down across both and get a decent night's rest. (Not exactly what you were asking but still worth mentioning.)

NZbutterfly

Sounds like she would have been a good size for trying it out. I'm 5'7" but I'll still give it a shot. On flights that long sleep is definitely the name of the game.

NZbutterfly

That is what I would call a score

(Sorry no idea how to do the multiquote thing despite pushing the quotation marks)

mchangmd

I just flew NZ#5 LAX-AKL (Mar 26) on a refitted 777-200 in PE, and NZ #2 AKL-LAX (April 6) on a 777-300 in PE. I have never flown the old 777-200.

In my humble opinion, the PE seats on the refitted 772 are more conducive to sleep than the Space Seat. I easily slept 6 straight hours without interruption. I think it was the leg support that made the difference. The calf support is excellent and there is a foot rest. Some taller people have complained that the bottom of their feet extends beyond the foot rest. I am 5' 10" and found the bottom of my feet slightly beyond the foot rest. So, I placed a pillow under my thigh, which elevated my feet to rest comfortably on the foot rest. The seat width was good, but no privacy from your neighbor.

The PE Space Seats on the 773 are more luxurious appearing. There is more overall space than the 772 and more privacy, especially the AB and JK seats where a partition blocks the view of your neighbor. However, I did not sleep well in the Space Seat. The recline seemed a little less than the 772 seat, and the bean bag provided almost no leg elevation. The bean bag was smaller than I expected (about the size of a deflated basketball). I had about 4 hours of interrupted sleep and found it difficult to get into a comfortable position. I reading other posts, some have found these seats conducive to sleep and others not so much.

My recommendation is 777-200 (refit) if you want sleep, and 777-300 if you plan to relax, watch movies, or read.