China Airlines - A350 Premium Economy seat question
 

I just made use of a special fare China Airlines is offering from YVR in Premium Economy for Spring 2019 and reserved the first row (31A & B) in PE.
I've tried to find video reviews as well as pictures and it looks like there is no footrest in that first row compared with other airlines like Cathay, SQ and Lufthansa where the first row has an extended leg-rest. I still like the location because of the legroom and I know even in other seats no-one can recline into you due to the hard shell seat.

Has anyone flown in row 31 on the A350 and is this a reasonably good seat or would you recommend to move to one of the other rows?
Currently there is a lot of availability, so moving is not a problem.

Thank you very much in advance.

31A and 31B is right behind the W lav and next to the J galley, so you'll get foot traffic and galley noise.

I Have sat in 31K and 31h on a few occasions. The advantage is if you want more space above the knees. If you are taller than 175cms and wish to sleep it may not be suitable as the bulkhead will stop you from spreading out. Taller passengers would be better in row 32 for example. Shorter people in row 31.

The other advantage of row 31 and to a lesser extent row 32 is that you can still have a good view out the window as your just infront of the wing.

Thank you tris. I am slightly smaller than 175cm. I did notice that all other seatrows have a footrest coming down from the seat in front but row 31 doesn't seem to have a foot rest and while other airlines compensate for this by having the footrest come out from the seat, like a recliner, China Airlines doesn't seem to have this feature.
It seems like your feet would be dangling from the knees down, have you found this to be uncomfortable?

Even if your 172cms tall likely your feet will Just touch the bulkhead. I am 183cms So I Had this issue. The leg rest does not come up horizontal to the ground it is more like at an angle So your thighs are supported but not quite dangling. I didn't use the foot rest for sleeping I Just kept it up and put my feet under. The foot rest is again designed for 150-170cms.

I had a friend who flew in 31K. They used their full-sized cabin bag on the floor after the meal... gave them a fully horizontal leg rest. They slept soundly. Just like biz class but obviously without the full flat seat back (but legs being horizontal is a major factor to being able to get comfortable). For this reason they wholly recommend the bulkhead seats.

I'm 163 and I find the footrests to be pretty useless honestly.

What is the recline like? Much better than in Y or about the same?

This is a dedicated PEY seat rather than an economy class seat with extra legroom (like the USA carriers). There's more recline, but it is a fixed-shell seat (so the front of the seat slides forward). That's not everyone's cup of tea though.

On their 77Ws, it's a slight improvement. On their A359s, it's a significant improvement.

I believe AA is the only U.S. based carrier with PE class. The rest of them (UA, DL) have regular economy seats with a couple inches more legroom.

DL offers Premium Select(PE) on retrofitted 777s and A350s.
UA has the seats installed(retrofitted 777s) but sells them as Y+ right now. PE should roll out by the end of the year.

The big 3 US carriers are getting the exact same seat soon. Only difference seems to be which have foot rest / leg-rest and which kind. Some of the North American carriers are putting the same seat as their domestic F product. Air Canada 737 MAX for example. I cant stand the bicycle peddle type.

Was in 32 last week SYD-TPE. Large seats with plenty of room when not reclined. I'm 6'2" and found difficult to stretch out when reclined. Seat footrest made things only worse, so didn't use it. The footrest coming out from the seat in front was very useful. I didn't see this footrest in bulkhead 31. Overall, a much better product than any Australian domestic business class.