$90 or 11,500 points for exit row

[Justinf]

Is it worth it?
I am flying MEL-HKG on QF29 in Y and was wondering if $90 or 11,500 points was worth it for an exit row seat, row 45 to be precise. it is only available for the outbound leg, not for QF30 coming home.
I am 184cm tall.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[blackcat20]

I'm shorter than you and I pay the money; worth it for the sanity of not being squashed like a sardine.

 

[Justinf]

I'm shorter than you and I pay the money; worth it for the sanity of not being squashed like a sardine.

And nobody reclining into you in row 45 either.

 

[drewbles]

IMHO I dislike exit rows as i'm a larger person. The seats are narrower due to the tray table being in the arm. It knocks off a good 1-2" off the seat width.

Leg room though, is great. Alas being a taller person (around 190cm), it's either no butt-room or no leg-room, I have to choose between the two.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

I'm shorter than you and I pay the money; worth it for the sanity of not being squashed like a sardine.

Pay the cash, definately don't use your points as very bad value

 

[Fantic125]

I would normally go for a bulkhead seat so I can put my bare feet up on the bulkhead and recline into the person behind me.

If I can't get a bulkhead seat though I would pay extra for the exit row seat.

 

[burmans]

I would normally go for a bulkhead seat so I can put my bare feet up on the bulkhead and recline into the person behind me.

If I can't get a bulkhead seat though I would pay extra for the exit row seat.

Thank you for that reference to recent post!

 

[AVC]

Pay the cash, definately don't use your points as very bad value

+1!
11500 points is worth way more that 90 bucks value if used smarter. I would get at least $400 value out of that many points.

 

[smit0847]

I personally dislike exit rows for overnight flights because they are usually right next to the toilets meaning people will be congregating around you, stretching etc, and you get the bad smell and jet-noise flush every few minutes. Let's face it, if you cant sleep sitting up it doesnt matter how much legroom you have or how wide your seat is - you're still going to arrive exhausted.

For daytime flights like this though it may make more sense.

 

[Justinf]

I should have specified in my OP that the aircraft is an A330-300.

 

[JohnK]

I would definitely do it if I could not pre-allocate row 23 bulkhead. I do not have issues with people loitering around exit row and not often (if at all) do they bump into me or my legs.

By the way when did it go up to $90? I really do not understand why things have to constantly increase in price just for the sake of increasing in price.

And 11,500 QFF points is worth way more than $90....

 

[qantas21]

It will be the best $90 spent! I would not be burning 11.5k points.

 

[mrpooky]

I'd say no; save the points and $ for something better. How much is a PE or Business Upgrade on that flight?

I flew QF127 (747-400) SYD -> HKG last month and was given a personal greeting (first time ever, as SG) and offered a move to the exit row seat by the friendliest CSM I've met on any flight. I moved and found the leg room fantastic, but the seats were considerably smaller in width and harder, and the in-arm entertainment unit was enough in the way that if I hadn't had the whole row to myself I would have felt rather crowded. I'm ~80kg and a bit over 6'3", so the leg room is generally more important than seat width to me.

I'm glad I moved, but if there'd been someone else in the middle seat in the exit row I think I would have preferred my original seat.

That said, I'm not sure how the 747-400 seats compare to the plane on your flight.

(BTW: on the return journey I received my first op-up to business, and that was VERY nice!)

 

[JohnK]

That said, I'm not sure how the 747-400 seats compare to the plane on your flight.

The seats on the A330 are fine as long as the person in front is not a chronic recliner and reclines for the duration of the flight just because they can.

My goal is to never have to sit behind a chronic recliner but continue to pay for economy flights only....