I am scheduled to fly HKG-SFO on later this month. It seems this aircraft will have the new J Product.
Since I am traveling with my family (4 of us), what would be the best seats to have us sit as close together as possible?

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_...leet/b_747_400
shows you the seat layout

the new J is all partitions so if you are all 6 foot 6" you can see each other, otherwise you are all in your own cocoons I guess the design is to make people stand up to talk to each other so you don't get DVT
as for sitting on a highly priced J class ottoman to talk to each other it reminds me of a flight on CAAC in 1983 to Peking when I saw the cabin staff sitting on small plastic stools on the 707

They're all equally bad. If you need to be in sight of your kids then you need to take a different airline.

If you can even fit on that thing. It's tiny! Yup, new J isn't all that great for families, but its great for single businessmen.

I wonder what % of CX revenue comes from single businessmen/women (or really any travel where you don't care if you don't talk to the person next to you), especially in J or F. Aka, people who might prefer the high levels of privacy. It seems many redeem tickets when they're with family, maybe a lot (not all...just a lot) of those who hate the privacy thing aren't actually those who matter from a revenue point of view. Being a single businessman I also love the privacy...my qualms are instead with flimsiness of the product, the hard seat in J, etc.

I like the new J, especially the choice of privacy for a 15-hour flight.

http://consumerist.com/339596/cathay...ecurity-threat

coffin seats great for families

whereas
http://www.design-engine.com/stories/airline.html
sounds like a nice idea with the swivel option
probably costs more than CX willing to pay

and
herringbone not intended for flying with a family so go sit up the back
http://www.airsafe.com/kidsafe/kid_tips.htm
Seat your child away from an aisle: Small children enjoy reaching out and exploring, but if they are on the aisle they could get hurt if their little arms get bumped by a person or serving cart passing down the aisle. Ideally, two responsible adults should sit on either side of the child. Also, one can seat the child on a row with a window on one side and a responsible adult on the other.

If emergency oxygen masks deploy, put your mask on first: (THEN STAND UP AND TRY AND WALK AROUND THE DIVIDER TO REACH YOUR CHILD OR CHILDREN AND FIND YOU CANNOT GO THAT FAR WITH THE MASK ON) This advice may seem cruel, but there is a very practical reason for it. If the brain is starved of oxygen (hypoxia), one can get confused or pass out and be unable to help themselves or their child. By putting on their mask first, the parent or responsible adult will reduce their chance of falling victim to hypoxia

- so what does the FAA advise for herringbone seats and flying with kids ?