Update on the dreaded B74Bs
 

I'm reprinting here information on the much-delayed (due to last year's SARS outbreak) completion of the B74B (old business class) to B744 (NBC) conversion from Guy Betsy in case you missed it as it is buried in the SFO/JNB thread:

My own interest on the conversion completion is to see that Empower and AVOD will finally be on ALL the 747s, specially SFO-HKG which is my main transpac route and notorious for getting an unfair share of the dreaded B74Bs. It's always a big disappointment whenever I board the SFO-HKG flight to find that it's still the OBC, thus no Empower, no AVOD!

bp888 thanks for the info. I am flying to HKG tomorrow and routing via LAX in order to avoid the 74B scheduled on the direct flight and get the new seats for better sleep and more productivity once I get to DEL.

I was under the assumption that all of SFOHKG service was on the 74B; I am on HKGSFO on the way back (not able to connect trough LAX); are you saying I have a chance of getting a 744? Say it is so... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

dupe

[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited Jan 16, 2004).]

Yes, your chances of getting the 744 vs the dreaded 74B are getting higher as March approaches. Even though todate 14 of the 19 B747-400s have been converted to the 744 or 74J configuration, it seems that SFO gets a disproportionate % of the dreaded 74B. And as luck would have it, I seem to be on these birds more often than not!

Does JFK-HKG still have the unfortunate chance of getting the 74Bs?

I am leaving mid February.

Thanks.

Schedule-wise, no. But last minute replacements do happen, so we can't predict that till at least 24 hours prior to departure... or worse... when you get on the aircraft!

While I understand many people don't like this aircraft, I often have hoped my next J class flight to be this aircraft because CX has upgraded me to the front cabin on more than a few occasions.

Some good news: SFOHKG and HKGSFO will be scheduled 100% 744 effective 09FEB. Until then, you get an "EQV" every day except for MoWeTh (where you get at 744) on the period 19JAN02FEB, and except for WeThSu on the period 04FEB08FEB.

This is all great, but I'm on it this Saturday and it's still showing a 74B http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Ok, you guys have my attention.

I will be on the 74B HKG-JNB 15FEB in 1A
and JNB-HKG 26FEB in 2A

Why dreaded?

For those who have the luxury of flying F....there will be no issue.

The "dreadful" applies to us who are unfortunate enough to fly in J and end up in the old blue seats.

It does impact F in that the B series doesn't have AVOD, while the new configuration does.

Nor in seat power - even worse on the long haul http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

But it does have them tapes, which I find a sufficiently adequate alternative, with even better movie selection. The no EmPower is a real downer, though, especially on the long long hauls.

I just checked on cx.com and now it says 744, so does that mean it's the converted one? I'm more concerned with power than entertainment.

So I have SFO-HKG on 2/24. CX website says aircraft is "EQV". By then 17 out of the 19 747s will have been converted to the 744 configuration as opposed to the dreaded 74B, nevertheless I have a sneaky suspicion that I will again be on a 74B. Drat! But then again CX also shows "EQV" on other SFO-HKG flights that week even though the inbound flights earlier in the day show "744". Go figure!

OT: Yay! My post count matches part of my handle.

[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited Feb 06, 2004).]