WHBM

I just did Washington return, in Y with the extra payment both ways for exit row, at the window. I've somehow dodged the 787 since introduction. Did the outward on the A380, and that was fine and pleasant. Boarding the 787 on the return, even as you come to the back of the PE cabin and look at the start of Y, you can see how much narrower the seats are. Sit in there, guy sits next to me, absolute squash, to the extent that I could not really move. And I'm not that big. Poor middle seat guy, of course, had this on both sides. It was a real challenge to get the video screen, or the tray table, out and back again. This all night long. Having the window indentation alongside doesn't help, because the seat is positioned so your shoulders align with the cabin wall, not a window.

Next day I'm actually checking my upper arm for bruises, as I can still feel it.

Now I'm aware that the 787 was designed for 8-across, and was reseated after introduction to 9-across, but it really is a step too far. No more 787 for me on long haul.

dddc

Welcome to the Nightmareliner.

It's getting to the point where new Boeing planes aren't comfortable to fly in Y thanks to max configs. 10 abreast in the 777 and 9 here, while its the airline choice, it shouldn't be an option in the first place. A350 and A380s long haul for me!

JFX1764

Airbus are really pushing for airlines to fit 10 across on the A350 and 11 across on the A380 (well, were!)

ahmetdouas

Depends on the body really. I am quite skinny, but tall, so pitch is the most important concern for me, funnily enough on the 787 I don't mind the seat width but I really don't like the pitch!

mikeyfly

10 abreast on Gatwick fleets is just as bad - I'm 70KG and found it an awful squash

ermis177

The 787 is awful in economy. I did it a few times for LHR-BOG but i have given up. Now i fly via Frankfurt with LH (A340). Who would imagine that such an 'old' plane would be 10 times better than a new plane....
I remember i read someone on tripadvisor that called BA to change his flight because he was on 787 in economy and the BA agent told him that 787 is extremely popular in economy among flyers and they never received any complains! ( pretty much same response we get from some of the BA fanatics on this forum...)

Bohinjska Bistrica

This forum has done me a great service in ensuring I don't set foot on a dreamliner in Economy class unless absolutely necessary.

I've experienced 10 across in a 777 and it was dismal. The journey was undertaken due to work travel with a strictly Y policy and I will do my utmost to avoid that aircraft in economy class for personal travel. Hopefully the 77X features a wider body so that an appropriate seat that doesn't cram everyone is fitted. Pretty sure the 10 across 787s have the same seat width in 9 across.

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SonicStar817

These threads about the 787 economy seats always intrigue me. I've flown 6 9 abreast 787s in Y back in 2018 (Air Canada 4 times and Norwegian 2 times) and never felt squashed or anything like that (I had people sat next to me on most of the flights). I can't imagine BA being any different.

corporate-wage-slave

My first ever World Traveller experience was on a 787, and as a heffalump it was a pretty shoddy experience. And that was benefiting from a slim Malaysian student next to me, a fellow assertive 'lump would have made it even worse. When ever I've seen someone in the POUG thread mulling over a 787 WT to WTP, I have tended to put out a public service broadcast advocating swift acceptance.

There are lots of complaints about this 787 seat in this forum, and a few in the other forums for 787s, but relatively few for the LGW 777s. I haven't tried that though!

warakorn

TX crams 10-abreast in Y in their A350 fleet.

WLX

There is something really depressing about the 2010 IFE on a lot of them too – resistive low-res touchscreens and useless handsets, yet just new enough that we will be stuck with it for ages. And very cramped down the back!

HIDDY

Could be worse....KLM use the 787 on the EZE route which takes around 14 hours. Plenty of people seem to fly it in Y and are able to walk off at the other end unaided. Not a journey I'd relish it has to be said.

LapLap

MrLapLap got sent on a BA B787-8 to Seoul in Y, and it’s the only time he’s ever complained about the experience (he generally flies about 40,000 miles a year in economy). The straw that broke him was the head rest.
That was back in 2015 and it permanently transformed my perception of long haul.
I joined him in Seoul using TK for indirect LHR-IST-ICN flights. They cost less than a third of what his did and were thoroughly enjoyable. My belief that direct flights are an aspirational “better” preference worth paying extra money for was utterly and forever destroyed.

He’s been booked onto BA006, a B787-9 in a couple of weeks. I hope it is an improvement. Took weeks of massage last time to loosen some of those knots.

osirisSFN

I've flown Virgin's 789 and AA's 788 in Y and I can't quite remember it being that bad to be honest.

snuffi

I've done just two flights on a BA 787 in economy and it wasn't the width of the seat that bothered me, rather it was the base of the seat where I found the cushioning be almost entirely absent and certainly one of the flights (to Baltimore) was one of the most uncomfortable rides I have ever had. I had to keep shifting myself around, and even sitting on the "pillow" they give you didn't add much padding. Put it this way, the price would have to be extremely low for me to consider it again.