Lie flat beds that are not!
 

Is there some way to check which lie-flat beds are truly 180 degrees flat? I just flew business class in Air Canada's 777-300ER from Toronto to Beijing, and the bed goes down to almost flat, but probably a 10-15 degree incline at the head. I recall being on an international United flight (again to Asia), and facing the same maddening issue in business class. I know ANA is completely flat. I would never fly Air China's 747's as those don't even advertise lie-flat. But how does one know?

https://www.seatguru.com/

Enter your airline and you can see the seat map. 180 degree lie flat are mentioned in the column on the right.

Probably should measure that again or your seat was broken. The AC biz beds on the 77W are considered fully flat ith direct aisle access for all pax.

Perhaps fully flat but also uncomfortable for me. I prefer UA's coffin style for sleeping

Seat guru claims the air canada is an open suite. On Air Canada's site, it says the business class seats are lie flat. I guarantee you, the head is not parallel with the foot. My seat was not broken as all other seats had the same slight angle. I'm telling you, some airlines advertise lie flat but are not exactly flat. I recall United's long-haul flight had the same slight incline at the head. Perhaps it's a North American configuration? I wish there was a site that verified their claims.

You can see in the last picture of this review that the head is angled slightly. I know it's hard to complain when you have a bed and are not stuck in economy, but for a light airplane sleeper like me, I'm pretty sure this contributed to getting only 3 hours of sleep rather than 6.

http://www.airlinereporter.com/2015/...-tokyo-denver/

1. Don't trust SeatGuru.

2. Airplanes fly at an incline of about 2-3 degrees. If you were fully flat your head would be below your feet, so many people actually put the head back up a few degrees. Add to that the flimsy airplane pillows which are much less substantial than the ones most people have at home, and you'd not want a fully flat bed. In fact, I always choose rear-facing seats when I can.

Very good point. Most people don't even consider the angle, just because they don't want to face the back of the plane!