JAL's Skywider II economy seats vs Premium economy seats.
Jun 28, 2018, 10:12 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: New England
Posts: 33
JAL's Skywider II economy seats vs Premium economy seats.
I'm wondering how these seats compare in comfort for an international flight and has anyone flown (and sat) in each? I understand the service and the amenities in PE are obviously better as well as the PE seat's extra 1" in width and a leg rest. My asking this is because the PE seat is a shell design that slides down and forward as opposed to the recline like the economy seat and JAL economy class is consistently voted the best economy class. Another PE shell seat (Air France) is consistently reviewed as being quite uncomfortable on long haul flights. I ask this because I fly to Asia quite often (mostly to HKG and BKK) but have been visiting Tokyo lately and JAL has direct flights from BOS-NRT. Appreciate all replies.
Jun 28, 2018, 11:15 pm
#2
Ambassador: Japan Airlines
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: LAX
Programs: JAL Mileage Bank, JMB Diamond, oneworld Emerald, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 16,394
It's not going to be comfortable either way. But not having to fight for the armrest for 10+ hours would make a big difference to me. But then again, if you are paying for a PY ticket, might as well pay for the Business Class one which may not be that much more expensive if you do some creative routings.
Jun 29, 2018, 12:27 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
Programs: BA blue
Posts: 148
I have yet to try JAL Y, will do this september, but, while it's not business class comfortable, PE is very good. I had exit row seats each way from/to london and had no problem sleeping on the way down (i rarely get any sleep on planes), and no problem being very comfortable while keeping awake the whole trip back.
Jun 29, 2018, 3:07 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 139
PE is better than Y, but...
Legrest is awful. It constricts you blood vessels in a way that you get sore legs very fast.
You cannot comfortably use your table and slide your seat at the same time.
I agree that not having to fight for the armrest is a big plus.
Legrest is awful. It constricts you blood vessels in a way that you get sore legs very fast.
You cannot comfortably use your table and slide your seat at the same time.
I agree that not having to fight for the armrest is a big plus.
Jun 29, 2018, 8:57 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: New England
Posts: 33
Thanks everyone for the quick and informative replies. As I mentioned above, I fly quite a bit to Southeast Asia (leaving in 4 weeks to BKK) and usually fly CX (Cathay) in PE. They have a comfortable, fairly cushioned traditional seat with good recline and they fly direct BOS-HKG, then a quick hop to Bangkok. I don’t usually have trouble sleeping but that maybe because it leaves at 1:45am and I make sure I don’t sleep before takeoff. What I wish they had that JAL has is that little divider for privacy. I also noticed in the pricing that CX PE is about $600-700 cheaper (maybe because I fly PE restrictive since my dates are exact due to my work schedule). Since I’ll be in Tokyo next March, I thought I’d try out JAL with the direct BOS NRT route. Excellent idea about creative routing and flying business. Any other comments greatly appreciated and again, thanks for the quick replies to this newbie to JAL.
Jan 2, 2019, 9:40 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Singapore, Hong Kong
Programs: CX MPC, EY Guest
Posts: 31
Thanks everyone for the quick and informative replies. As I mentioned above, I fly quite a bit to Southeast Asia (leaving in 4 weeks to BKK) and usually fly CX (Cathay) in PE. They have a comfortable, fairly cushioned traditional seat with good recline and they fly direct BOS-HKG, then a quick hop to Bangkok. I don’t usually have trouble sleeping but that maybe because it leaves at 1:45am and I make sure I don’t sleep before takeoff. What I wish they had that JAL has is that little divider for privacy. I also noticed in the pricing that CX PE is about $600-700 cheaper (maybe because I fly PE restrictive since my dates are exact due to my work schedule). Since I’ll be in Tokyo next March, I thought I’d try out JAL with the direct BOS NRT route. Excellent idea about creative routing and flying business. Any other comments greatly appreciated and again, thanks for the quick replies to this newbie to JAL.
Jan 3, 2019, 2:12 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Programs: JAL Global Club & oneworld Sapphire, ANA SFC & Star Alliance Gold
Posts: 3,746
I strongly disagree with this. I've flown in JAL's new PE and Y seats, and although the Y seats are good in comparison to other airlines, PE is vastly superior. I did not find the shell design to be a problem at all. I can see how a shell seat might be a problem in Y where the pitch is tight, but at the 42 inches of pitch in JAL PE (more than most airlines' PE), I think the shell works fine. In fact it protects your seat somewhat from being disturbed when the passenger behind bumps you, so I prefer the JAL shell design to a traditional reclining PE seat.