Twin seats in economy - worth the cost?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 35
Twin seats in economy - worth the cost?
Hi all,
First time in this forum - sorry if this question has been asked before, I tried using the Search function but couldn't find anything there. My fiance and I have booked our honeymoon to Cambodia and Vietnam this autumn, and we'll be flying with Emirates (Economy saver tickets). This will be the first time we've flown with them, and in fact it will be my fiance's first ever long haul flight.
I'd like to select our seats for the flights in advance, because check-in will open at the exact time that we're having our wedding ceremony so we won't be able to select them then. I also like the idea of the twin seats so that we get a bit of privacy. However, my fiance is balking at the cost - GLA-DXB is £40 per seat for a twin seat (Boeing 777-300ER), and DXB-BKK is £60 per seat for a twin seat (Airbus A380-800). (BKK-REP doesn't have seat selection available because it's Bangkok airways.) That would mean an extra £200 for the seats, and we're already slightly over budget on the honeymoon, so I can understand his concerns.
The twin seats on the Airbus A380 would mean that we get to sit upstairs, so I'm tempted to insist that we book those - but for the Boeing 777, are they worth the extra cost? Or would we be fine with the regular seats? We'll definitely want to sleep on the A380 flight as that's overnight, but the Boeing 777 flight leaves in the afternoon, getting us into DXB at midnight, so we might not need to get any sleep on that flight.
Thanks in advance for your advice, and if you need more information to be able to help, just ask.
First time in this forum - sorry if this question has been asked before, I tried using the Search function but couldn't find anything there. My fiance and I have booked our honeymoon to Cambodia and Vietnam this autumn, and we'll be flying with Emirates (Economy saver tickets). This will be the first time we've flown with them, and in fact it will be my fiance's first ever long haul flight.
I'd like to select our seats for the flights in advance, because check-in will open at the exact time that we're having our wedding ceremony so we won't be able to select them then. I also like the idea of the twin seats so that we get a bit of privacy. However, my fiance is balking at the cost - GLA-DXB is £40 per seat for a twin seat (Boeing 777-300ER), and DXB-BKK is £60 per seat for a twin seat (Airbus A380-800). (BKK-REP doesn't have seat selection available because it's Bangkok airways.) That would mean an extra £200 for the seats, and we're already slightly over budget on the honeymoon, so I can understand his concerns.
The twin seats on the Airbus A380 would mean that we get to sit upstairs, so I'm tempted to insist that we book those - but for the Boeing 777, are they worth the extra cost? Or would we be fine with the regular seats? We'll definitely want to sleep on the A380 flight as that's overnight, but the Boeing 777 flight leaves in the afternoon, getting us into DXB at midnight, so we might not need to get any sleep on that flight.
Thanks in advance for your advice, and if you need more information to be able to help, just ask.
#3
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Scotland
Programs: Star Alliance
Posts: 476
I can't speak for the A380 twin seats but on the 777 they are further from the window, so if you did need sleep and/or like to lean your pillow against the wall it can be difficult.
That's £200 each way which is not an insignificant amount, you could always chance your luck that they will still be there when OLCI opens and there would be no need to pay.
That's £200 each way which is not an insignificant amount, you could always chance your luck that they will still be there when OLCI opens and there would be no need to pay.
#5
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Just went through this for the first time as I get free seats as Gold. Flying with my mother on Monday on separate tickets and she's in a special and no status so at exactly T-48 checked her in and all seats had been assigned prior to OLCI, the only 2 seats together happened to be twins so happy to have snagged them, but point being that even at T-48 seat selection will be limited. Upper deck A380 definitely nice
#6
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: UK/Mauritius
Programs: EK Skywards silver Miles and Smiles Hilton Honours Hyatt Priority Club Kestrel A
Posts: 683
We've travelled on the upper deck economy twice and booked to return from Mauritius in March MRU-DXB at a cost of £25.00 pp now they've introduced charges for silver skywards which we thought reasonable. We booked those 2 months ago.
However I just booked economy flights for April and the charge has now rocketed to £60.00 pp.........why EK?
For three legs for 2 people that's £360 if my maths are right.
Upper deck is certainly much better than the lower deck IME. We used to prebook the 2 seaters on the 777 when we used to fly the 777 and they were free for status pax but IMO they aren't worth paying for.
However I just booked economy flights for April and the charge has now rocketed to £60.00 pp.........why EK?
For three legs for 2 people that's £360 if my maths are right.
Upper deck is certainly much better than the lower deck IME. We used to prebook the 2 seaters on the 777 when we used to fly the 777 and they were free for status pax but IMO they aren't worth paying for.
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 35
Thanks for your replies everyone. I think I'll go for it with the twin seats on the A380, but just reserve the regular seats on the B777 - they're only £20 each so not as bad. I don't want to just chance it at online check-in, because we probably won't be able to check in online until 24 hours before the flights, so everyone else will have had a 24 hour head-start on us. The actual seats may not matter so much, but I do want us to be able to sit together.
#8
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
We've travelled on the upper deck economy twice and booked to return from Mauritius in March MRU-DXB at a cost of £25.00 pp now they've introduced charges for silver skywards which we thought reasonable. We booked those 2 months ago.
However I just booked economy flights for April and the charge has now rocketed to £60.00 pp.........why EK?
For three legs for 2 people that's £360 if my maths are right.
Upper deck is certainly much better than the lower deck IME. We used to prebook the 2 seaters on the 777 when we used to fly the 777 and they were free for status pax but IMO they aren't worth paying for.
However I just booked economy flights for April and the charge has now rocketed to £60.00 pp.........why EK?
For three legs for 2 people that's £360 if my maths are right.
Upper deck is certainly much better than the lower deck IME. We used to prebook the 2 seaters on the 777 when we used to fly the 777 and they were free for status pax but IMO they aren't worth paying for.
#9
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: UK/Mauritius
Programs: EK Skywards silver Miles and Smiles Hilton Honours Hyatt Priority Club Kestrel A
Posts: 683
#12
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,618
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 35
Thanks again guys. Yes, as much as I'd love to, flying in J just isn't an option for us sadly - I suspect the "we're on our honeymoon, please give us an upgrade" line only works in the movies. Our budget for the entire honeymoon is £5k, and according to Google Flights our flights are currently going for about £2500 each in J...
Still, I'm putting as many wedding and honeymoon costs as possible onto my BAPP credit card, and it should be enough for us to get a 2-4-1 voucher - so we should get to try BA J soon. Probably not quite as good as Emirates J, but it's a start.
Still, I'm putting as many wedding and honeymoon costs as possible onto my BAPP credit card, and it should be enough for us to get a 2-4-1 voucher - so we should get to try BA J soon. Probably not quite as good as Emirates J, but it's a start.
#14
Ambassador: Emirates
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: UK/AU
Programs: QF P1 + LTS, EK Gold, BAEC Gold, QR Gold, IHG Ambassador
Posts: 1,150
Thanks again guys. Yes, as much as I'd love to, flying in J just isn't an option for us sadly - I suspect the "we're on our honeymoon, please give us an upgrade" line only works in the movies. Our budget for the entire honeymoon is £5k, and according to Google Flights our flights are currently going for about £2500 each in J...
Still, I'm putting as many wedding and honeymoon costs as possible onto my BAPP credit card, and it should be enough for us to get a 2-4-1 voucher - so we should get to try BA J soon. Probably not quite as good as Emirates J, but it's a start.
Still, I'm putting as many wedding and honeymoon costs as possible onto my BAPP credit card, and it should be enough for us to get a 2-4-1 voucher - so we should get to try BA J soon. Probably not quite as good as Emirates J, but it's a start.
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 35
Have you considered sticking your wedding costs on an Amex Gold credit card? They offer possibly the most handsome mileage bonuses in the UK at the moment and can easily be transferred to EK. If you and your Mrs got one and met the minimum spends, you would end up with 20k miles each. That would be a good dent towards a J upgrade between GLA and DXB (39,000/30,000 usually).
I'm sure we'll be fine in economy, I've always been in economy when I've flown long-haul in the past and I've survived ok.