1A in the old United First Suite config (ca. 2002) gave me an awesome view of sunrise and later the Australian coast on approach to SYD. Same on approach to SFO on the return, minus the sunrise I think.

I thought you were serious. They are, in fact, cramped for first class. Can't stand either one of them.

4A window is my preference on a 747.

1A on a 747 is indeed not a bad place to be (I personally prefer 2A which doesn't have the locker next to it) and the slight forward view is nice. The new BA First arrangement means looking out at an angle is actually difficult but there are still a few out there that can give you that experience (on LH actually quite cheaply as the 747-400 fleet has business class there).

I've logged over 140 flights aboard 747s on twenty different airlines, most of them in First Class and often while sat in 1A for the same reasons that you're excited about doing so. Pay no heed to anyone yammering on about the seat not being spacious - at least in a universal sense. It obviously depends upon the airline and its individual cabin. I can tell you on good authority that the windows clearly have a more forward angle and the fact is that you can indeed get a bit more forward view than you'll get sitting back in 4A. The operative words here are "a bit". You will not get an unobstructed forward view.

Here are some pictures from a flight I did aboard British Airways while sat in 1A.

I am aware that the view is not straight forward. While I very much would love to see an airliner offer that, I know it is not possible right now. My question was, as compared to say the middle of the plane, do you still have to crane your neck around ot the side to even see anything, and is there any sense of seeing what is a little bit ahead of you without trying to look through the window three rows in front of you.

I know there are not many airlines left flying 747s - who do you think offers the best 1a seats in regards to the view (I usually fly PE these days, even Business is better than what I am used to).

Cathay Pacific Suite 1A view


Slightly forward view out over the Indian Ocean just east of Madagascar


My favorite View!

I'm curious. Other than take off and landing what are you expecting to see?

1A in F is never a bad place to be on a 747 on most airlines, but the slightly forward window view isn't really a big part of that reason.

Um - clouds? The passing terrain below? What else would one look out the window at when in the sky? That's why i like flying. I figured my username would say it all.

I have perused some of the seat maps. It looks like most airlines have decided to use inward facing seats in first on the 747s. That of course plays a big part in how you can look out the window. Have all of BAs 747s been converted to the new first class product with the black framed windows?

No. A handful have 'Old First', though you get a bonus of 50,000 Avios if you get stuck on one of them. From the autumn, the OF birds are relegated to (I think) YVR, SEA, LAS, CPT (someone will come along and correct me) where that cabin is sold as business. Status pax get the OF option but business service.

Why do they put windows on airplanes, anyway? It must be for safety reasons so people can see outside if ever an unsafe situation should develop.

Whaaaat? Are you suggesting that some people actually enjoy the unique perspective of seeing this beautiful blue/green orb we inhabit from 30 some odd thousand feet above it? In this day and age of electronic entertainment via laptops and seat-back screens, I see more and more people slam their window shades down immediately after takeoff. Alas - a pretty evening sky, a beautiful descent through towering cumulonimbus clouds, the warm midday blue yonder out over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean - for many of us these no longer hold the same level of appeal as the electronically generated visage that appears on the screen in front of us...

Here are a few reasons why I actually enjoy looking out my window... After all, it's not everyday I get to see views like this. As for that movie on the seat back IFE or my laptop, I can watch that anytime back home on a much nicer screen.



As seen on a flight from Kodiak to Anchorage at 11:15pm


Fire In The Sky


Death Valley National Park from on high


20,320' Denali as seen on a flight between Fairbanks and Anchorage



Volcanoes as seen on a flight between Puerto Montt and Santiago

So another words, if you are not elite on BA, there is no way to get into the old first class seats on those routes?

This.

Don't get me started on the window seat...The person on the window seat 28A on EK238 (B777-200LR) from Boston to Dubai was a "window nazi" who kept the window closed the whole 14hrs, while I was in 28C to get the best opportunity to look out the window. Our family held seats 27D, 28C-E.

Here is a sunrise shot I got out of window seat 27K on EK569 (B777-300) from Bangalore to Dubai.


Descent into DXB:


Lots of EK tails:


That's what I did instead of using this abomination of an IFE:

From this thread it would appear not (going by policy).

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-old-747s.html

Thanks. I know - I started that thread. : )

Still, I wish that at least one airline recognized that some people really do like to look out the windows.