Sorry, folks, no update after my NRT-ICN flight on December 27th. Though we originally had confirmed seats on the Upper Deck, when we got to Narita, the check-in agent told us there was no upper deck. Me: "What kind of aircraft is it?" Agent: "A 707." Me: "Excuse me? Again, please? What kind of aircraft is it?" Agent: "A 747." Me: "Right. So can we please have the upper deck, we were confirmed." Agent: "No Business Class on upper deck." Argh! Aircraft substitution. Old seats. Same as 773 to BKK.

I suspect it was the light loads in Business and First that prompted KE to substitute. Our onward ICN-BKK flight had 16 of 28 occupied in Business, but I think only 1 of 12 occupied in F. The back was packed to the gills.

So, alas, three more months 'til I get to try the new seats.

Has anyone done the DFW flight lately? Do they offer PTVs and 3-3-3 seating in Y? I found online that it's primarily the only US flight that doesn't have the upgraded product in all classes. I'm interested taking either the DFW or SFO flight on a CO-codeshare and connecting onto KE to MNL. Which flight would you take?

Flew JFK-ICN on 744 in the new business seat. I prefer the downstairs - just overall more spacious. They block the middle business seat in the center section - do not sell those seats.

Business was completely full (up and down stairs) - except the blocked center seat.

The new seat is innovative - best AVOD system around - my view - with large screen. Nice privacy with a fixed partition for seats in front.

The new seat slides down and under the front of the seat in front. The partition does not move.

Only issue - the seat is very firm, and in the sloped lay flat position you slide down and your weight is on your heels. I found myself waking up all the time to reposition my feet.

Minimal food service (no desert, etc) on the overnight supper flights from the USA. Better food from ICN-BKK at 5:30pm then from JFK-ICN departing at 12:50am.

Also - the upstairs might be warmer than the downstairs.

are you sure? I flew on JFK-ICN flight a lot, and I believe that they do sell those seats to passengers..I also prefer downstairs because you can get out of the aircraft a bit earlier than C passengers sitting in upper deck..

You'll want to take SFO flight, since still old config goes to DFW. Well, connecting from MNL to SFO might not that good - around 12 hours layover - but still I recommend SFO flight.

Re UD vs. LD:

The primary differences I've noticed are: 1) Cabinets next to window seats on Upper Deck mean tons more storage space and a place to put drinks, trays, books, newspapers, etc. 2) Higher chance of an empty seat next to you on the lower deck if flight not full, as Upper Deck seems to fill up faster than lower deck. So... weighing your chances of an empty seat vs. guaranteed cabinet space.

One other thing, and this may be unique to me. If I'm seated on the UD, I feel perfectly comfortable walking around the whole plane (other than F cabin) when I want to stretch my legs. The area at the top of the stairs is a good space for stetching/fighting DVT. But if I'm on the Lower Deck, even in First Class, I kinda feel like it's not kosher to go to the Upper Deck on a walk, 'cause UD is sorta just for UD pax. So, Business UD means more walking-around area to me than Business LD.

I don't think it's that KE doesn't sell those middle seats, I think it's that they're just highly likely to be the last ones assigned since they're essentially the least desirable. So if four Business seats go unsold on a 744, in all likelihood it'll be those middle seats. That's why getting an aisle seat in the middle section of the LD gives you a decent shot at having the seat next to you empty.

I usually picks aisle seats, as I like to get up and stretch my legs, get stuff from an overhead bin, etc - especially during long flights. The prospect of a cabinet next to the window makes a window seat sound more attractive, however I'm concerned about ease of getting up and out.

On the UD, Is it still a challenge to get up from the window seat and climb over the person in the aisle, or can I do so w/out getting on the other person's nerves (if I decide to get up a half-dozen times or so during the 12 hour flight?

I can't say for certain whether it's easy to get out of the window seats on the UD of a KE 747. But I believe that the new KE shell seats are very similar to SpaceBeds on SQ Megatops. Speaking strictly about getting out of the window seat on a Megatop, which may be sufficiently similar to a KE 744 to give you an idea, I'd say it requires a bit of careful stepping and holding onto handlebars (the agility-challenged might even consider it acrobatic), but it is definitely possible to get out of the window seat by stepping over your aisle-seat mate without waking him up.

If you think you can do it more or less nimbly enough, that leaves you with a straightforward question: do you (1) have confidence in your own ability to step lightly over your seatmate such that you'll feel comfortable getting up whenever you want to, or (2) trust that your as-yet-unknown window seatmate will be nimble enough to step over you in the aisle whenever he wants to get up? For me, that's an easy question to answer.

You?

The reason I say this is that I checked the flight bookings a few days to a week before departure and BC was sold out. You could buy a ticket in Y or F. So since the middle seats were empty and BC was sold out a week before - then I assumed they were blocked. FC was empty except for 1 or 2, so maybe they were trying to sell some FC seats at the end by closing BC sales.

Could have been no-shows. Many C-class tix being flexible, they might have been sold out before the flight, only to have a handful of pax no-show or make a last-minute change, resulting in a few empty seats in the air.

Any comments on the 772 and 332's? I have 8B on the 772 reserved, as well as 8D on ICN-CGK.

The new layout has a closet type space to the left of the seat where u can put one to two carryons, depending on size, so u dont have to reach up to get something. was very very very handy...

you can notice here :

http://stcloudstate.facebook.com/pho...79&id=56014534

and

Bump. Any advice on the best seats in C on the 333? Are the center bulkhead seats better than the non-bulkhead seats? I currently have 8E reserved on two flights.

No one has any advice?