Happy

How can a 2-3-2 layout would be without neighbors?!

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Jap...77-300ER_B.php

Their staggering seats are much more "staggered" than those found on AZ and IB, i.e. the neighboring seats have larger section being joined to each other.

The blogger's pictures clearly show the seats are only separated by a pull-up divider. You definitely have a neighbor sitting right next to you, but the pull-up divider gives an illusion.

Happy

I dont think you mean it is norm though it got someone thinks there might be a loophole exists in the system. My take is it is caused by agent error however since the system does not reject the wrong booking, one can consider that being a glitch that works in the passenger's favor when and if that happens.

Happy

It does look claustrophobic to me because in order to pretend you dont have a neighbor sitting right next to you, you need to pull up the divider - this makes the seat area like a narrow box which width is the exact seat width of 25"?

The reversed herringbone design give both privacy AND space (1-2-1 setting versus 2-3-2 setting in the SAME width of 77W). The reversed herringbone seat is much more spacious plus you are truly without a neighbor on the window seat because it is 1 seat.

stephem

Keep saying that and maybe it will be true, eh? As I said before, comparing an angled/herrigbone layout to a straight across one is misleading. The CX seats are simply NOT as spacious as 1-2-1 straight across, like SQ or Oman.
BTW, maybe you should fly the JL suite? Maybe then you could actually formulate an opinion based on experience? Kind of amusing to see you consistly argue with those of us who have flown it...

Cdnblue

We're just back from Beijing and happy to report we were able to upgrade from the AA PEK - ORD flight to the PEK-HKG-ORD CX business class flight. I checked availability through the BA website daily and when I noticed 3 business class seats open up I called the China office of AA to redeposit my award miles and upgrade to the CX flight. All went well in the process except that T Mobile Wifi calling kept cutting out on me making the booking take a few tries. All worked out in the end and we flew home comfortably after a lovely Thanksgiving week in Beijing!

freakazoid

Is there something special about LHR - HKG ? No agent (I tried various countries and agents) seems to be able to see F or C 22 Oct + despite plenty of availability (especially in C) showing on JL award search. ZRH - HKG on the other hand seems to be no problem.

txflyer77

I just booked HKG-LHR in CX F last week for June, wasn't a problem.

Happy

Different people have different preferences. Some dont mind the coffin-like feeling of sitting in such narrow boxes. Some do.

Below are straightly from the comment section on an 11/30 article on a blog praising the JL biz seats. The posters obviously feel the same way as I do.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...rlines-dallas/

<<matteo says:
December 1, 2015 at 3:51 am

I flew this new J class from ORD-NRT and honestly if felt like a coffin.
Loved the access to the isle but felt so damn slim and box like.
Tight is not for me and yet I am tall but tone.>>

<<Matt D says:
December 1, 2015 at 8:33 am

I flew JL J SFO-HND on their 77W this past August. Not a bad product but I’m not sure it deserves the praise its been receiving. Seat width felt a little tight (I was in the center) and getting to/from that seat was a pain. The very, and I emphasize narrow, passageway between the aisle and seat make it impossible for even very slim people like myself to get through.

Food was alright but I’m not going to put them down for that considering the SFO flight leaves around 2AM.>>

Mind you, the above persons did fly the JL new business seats and did NOT like it, did not think it deserved the praise given.

Even the CX 1-2-1 is not true 1-2-1 on a row it is still far better than the maneuver one needs to get in and out of one's seat like the JL seats. Like I said, you need to pull up the divider between seats in order to gain privacy on the JL set up because you do have a neighbor next to you. So you pull up the divider then create a "box" for yourself to get privacy. No "box" is needed on the CX or AA's reversed herringbone in order to feel private.

No reason for me to go out of the way to fly the JL via NRT when CX is available especially the seats do not look appealing to me. The narrow passageway to get in and out the seat to the aisle is particularly bothersome to my husband who feel the window seats of the staggering AZ and IB seats are not easy to get in and out even though he is very slim by any standard - he would be extremely annoyed with the JL seat, not to mention an extra connection for an itinerary when the destination is not NRT but HKG.

freakazoid

I asked for that direction and the only F flight they found was the one with 2 seats available, not those with 1 seat. Still for LHR-HKG they can't see C with 4 seats available. (For BA on the other hand, LHR-HKG seems to match what JAL shows)

Global321

Has anyone tried calling Australia to book these seats?

For Etihad bookings (using AA miles), often time the USA agents cannot see the seats, but Australia can and does book the seats.

frebay

Does anyone know what time CX releases F seats 330 days in advance? Is it 12AM PST, EST etc....

CGRA

In my little experience ex FRA and MXP are usually easier to score than LHR.

SeeBuyFly

CX releases award seats ~355 days in advance. If any awards remain, AA allows them to be booked 330 days in advance., not at midnight but closer to 5am Eastern.

frisbfreek

I think CX is now choosing not to release any F inventory for JFK-HKG (and vice versa) at ~355 days out, as I am seeing a ton of flights with no F seats sold (F6 on ExpertFlyer), but no availability on BA. I do see *some* F seats available for LAX-HKG, but not for all flights. For example, Oct 27, 2016 (330 days out) is showing 1 F bookable on CX881 and CX897 but not on CX885, while all 3 of those flights show F6 on ExpertFlyer. Looks like CX availability is per-flight now; we can no longer assume every flight will have an F seat bookable.

jamienbaker

Exactly. If using AA miles, it doesn't matter when CX releases, it matters when AA can book. Earlier in this thread I posted an example, however, about how a material number of awards APPEAR to disappear between the time CX releases and AA can book. I say "APPEAR" because to be accurate, I'd have to roll forward the analysis over several weeks. All I did was compare CX awards at the edge of its 355 window and CX awards at the edge of AA's 330 window, and AA window had far fewer seats.

But again, I didn't conduct the analysis in the correct way. But I've personally been burned by watching awards get snagged between the two windows. Particularly on HKGDPSHKG where I debated using Avios, but ultimately rolled the dice (and lost) with AA.

Good luck - Jamie