Tewkewl

Has anyone taken EconomyXtra on the A321LR (not the standard Neo). The Useless website is no help. I have heard everything from 32 to 34 from the call center. This is alarming since the seat pitch of the standard A321 Neo in Xtra is 33. so how can an international long haul have a smaller pitch than a medium/short haul? Anyway, I'm looking for someone with real experience. If the standard economy is 31 inches, Xtra is not really worth it at 32 inches. any help would be appreciated. moreover, any pics would be even more helpful!

corporate-wage-slave

Using pitch in inches used to make sense when all airlines had very similar seating, but now the design of seats, and the thickness of the seats, vary quite tremendously particularly in Europe. When you walk into the Economy cabin in the A321LR you can immediately see the difference between the Plus and normal seating, there is clearly extra space. If I was a larger single traveller then I'd be tempted to pay the extra for them (though they are a free perk for TAP's own Gold status passengers). If the flight overall isn't too full, you are also more likely not to have someone sat next to you since TAP fills up the aircraft from the back (in broad terms) for the majority who don't do advance seat reservations. That said, it's definitely economy seating, it's not a Premium Economy service by any means.

There are some photos in this thread though they aren't entirely helpful.
GUIDE: TAP Air Portugal Airbus A321LR (A321neo LR) long haul, flat bed J

Tewkewl

Thanks. I saw that post but didn't see any pics of economyxtra in tap such that i'd be able to see the pitch.

the Tap people have said the first 3 rows of economy xtra are 32 inches and the 4th and 5th row are 33 inches. this makes no sense. the first row is a bulkhead row and should have WAY more space than that and there isn't a lot of difference between the 31 inch economy and the 32 inch Xtra. what's the value proposition then? it's not really an economy plus at that point.

Thanks again for the response. hopefully more people reply!

Tewkewl

is this an accurate representation of tap's economyxtra on the a321? this picture shows only 5 economy xtra rows. the seat map they show when booking shows 11.

seems to me this is a hell of a lot of leg room and does not look like a mere 32 inches.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes that is accurate and gives you a view of what it looks like. I make one last attempt to get you off the concept of pitch and inches!

Tewkewl

anyone have any more info on this or their own pics?

tff

The photo doesn't picture all the EconomyExtra seats, which go from row 6 to row 12 (which totals 7 rows).

Tewkewl

Thank you. ... This is the pic from their seat selection section of their webpage.

It really didn't help that much when choosing seats because the seatmaps don't match the pics.

There is very little info regarding economyxtra on the a321lr and no reviews on YouTube that actually shows the seats so flyertalk seems to be the only source of real info.

corporate-wage-slave

What sort of factors or features are you looking for?

Tewkewl

Basically,. I'm looking for travel experience especially with evidence.

Seat pitch and recline are the most important aspects. Pictures would be great. Info online is very sparse.

corporate-wage-slave

Well I have travelled in that seat and it is noticeably more spacious than the seats down the back. Your knees won't be touching the seat in front unless you are well over 2 metres tall. TAP will try to fill the seating from the back, so if the flight is less than full then the front area won't usually be jammed pack either. Which also has a benefit on the overhead locker space, there are few people per locker from the seat spacing, fewer still in terms of the spread within the cabin. There is no difference to the service, food, drink, but the seat has more features such as a ledge for tablets and larger telephones for personal entertainment. The recline is as generous as you get outside a proper premium seat. It is quite thin, as are the Recarro seats behind, which can give a sense of space against traditional seat designs, which can be 3 times the size (and hence my comments about how pitch is not a good way to see things these days).

Tewkewl

Thanks! The tablet stand is for the neo and not the neo lr though right? I'm specifically considered about the lr which has a seat back ife.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, I have taken the LR version to and from BOS. There's a ledge below the IFE and you can use that for your device, either sideways for both screens (e.g. map on the IFE, your entertainment on your device) or to cover over the IFE screen if you have a larger tablet.

Tewkewl

Oh wow. Thanks. Great info. That's not apparent from YouTube vids or pics.

I wish there were more pics and info but this thread seems to be the only place where real world reviews of the seat itself exist.

corporate-wage-slave

And most of the information on this aircraft type - whether in this forum or elsewhere - is on the Business class seating, for which there are quite a lot of reviews and information. There aren't many A321 longhaul aircraft at this point, and only a few in TAP's fleet, ten to be precise, and they have 19 of the A330-900neos, which TAP regards as its flagship aircraft type. TAP has 76 aircraft in all, and TAP Express has a further 20 Embraers and ATRs. Plus TAP has some outsourced companies that it essentially controls. Still, it's quite a small airline.