Best and worst experiences in Y class

[spudseamus]

"Best trips always depend on the crew. I don't expect much from the crew or have them running after me." OHHHHH how true!!

 

[lovestotravel]

Best - Not being in Y
Worse - Being in Y

 

[smit0847]

So many people's worst flights are BA and QF.

So many people's best flights are SQ.

Can't say I am surprised at all.

 

[mannej]

IMHO that is a bit selective.

BA I understand, however have you checked out the reasons to why? How many of them are due to poor service, and not uncontrollable things such as screaming kids or full flights.

On the flip side, QF does seem to go from one extreme to the other for what ever reasons.

 

[amaroo]

I've enjoyed BA however, never been in whY with them.

 

[Awesom Andy]

I should say that I've had excellent service from BA the majority of the time... better than the usual QF service that I experience.

 

[get me outta here]

Resurrecting this thread ... 1977 Aeroflot with a baby in Y SIN - Moscow on my own. The 'bassinet was a box that had 2 small hooks that went on the edge of the parcel rack and swayed above my head - nerve racking for me. Then in Moscow hotel, again no bassinet, so baby slept in the bottom drawer of the chest.

 

[bushtuckerman]

My worst experience was flying SYD-BKK for free on Air Asia X during the GFC meltdown. Despite no cost, the flight was truly awful. Hard and uncomfortable seats; pitch was barely sufficient for a toddler, service was non-existent, every part of the interior rattled and vibrated, and as a bonus I got the seat with out a window.

 

[LadyC]

I think the worst Y flight I have ever had was on Mexicana back in 2009. Flying from LAX to MEX, one of the flight attendants was retiring after 20 years. Once the plane had taken off and stabilised, all the other flight attendants basically danced up and down the aisle for the rest of the flight, offering everyone tequila (and drinking plenty themselves), singing loudly, blowing party whistles etc. Whilst that might actually sound fun, it felt pretty unsafe.

 

[trooper]

Best? Flew to the US via SIN back when SYD-SIN was the only A380 flight. FA's were amazed...said it was the first 380 flight they had worked that wasn't full (or nearly so) Upstairs Y cabin (of course lol) and ended up sleeping across a whole middle bank of seats. Service was excellent as well.

Worst? QF LAX-SYD. Was dropped off way early at LAX.....first to check in for that flight. This was in the days before paid exit rows...and I asked nicely. Exit row aisle. Score. THEN.... FA told me they had a guy who "couldn't fit in his seat" and I was moved ..to a Bulkhead..(yes I know some think they are great...I don't) Hugely obese gent was put in the exit row. To make it really fun that same FA spent much time basically leaning on the bulkhead discussing football with the guy in the seat next to me....

Had I known then what I know now I would have reacted far less meekly to all this.....but that was one LOONG flight.

Started flying with NZ next time out.

 

[jomar]

QF A380 LHR-DXB-SYD a couple of years ago, sitting in 48B -- exit row right by the door, infinite leg room, fantastic. After a shower and a wander around the terminal at Dubai, I reboarded to meet my new seat mates. On one side, a French woman whose English was actually worse than my French, and a good reminder of how pathetically rusty my schoolboy French was. On the other side MAATE HOWSH YA DOIN'? I'VSH BEEN ON AN EIGHTEEN HOUR BENDER IN DUBAI! LET ME GET YOU ANOTHER BEER!!1! I'm Irish. You Irish? So she'sh French. I shpeak French. VOULAIS VOUS COUCHER AVEC MOI HAR HAR HAR.

A lot of calming him down from the FA seated opposite and me. Soon after takeoff, the FA disappeared forwards and returned with noise-cancelling headphones for us two non-drunkards and offered to take us to the lounge upstairs later if it all got to be too much.

I'm not sure if this was a best or worst experience. Fortunately the mad Irishman fell asleep after a few hours, I got to find out that noise-cancelling headphones really do work, we had fabulously attentive service and an interesting insight into some of the things cabin crew get to deal with (not just our drunkard), and on arrival I got a heartfelt thank you for helping placate the guy for the first few hours. Probably should have taken her up on the offer to visit J upstairs though.

 

[Tazza_0712]

I haven't travelled overseas a great deal, and only once in Y. It was pleasant enough.

SYD to HNL, QF A333 pre refit. It was to be the 767 and was swapped out for the Airbus as part of the retirement of the old Boeing fleet. I pre booked and paid for an exit row seat on the 767, and this was transferred over to the replacement plane with a partial refund of the cost due to the bulk of the emergency exit door restricting leg room somewhat. Turned out that the bulky door created a rather well-located foot rest.

Downsides were the proximity to the lav, with the door being opened and closed all night and the occasional line up of people waiting to use them right in front of me, but I was happy for the trade-off. The extra space was worth it in my eyes. A relatively short, direct flight.

 

[flyingfan]

Worst - haven't had an especially bad experience or highly unusual dramas that I can recall. Some painful long-haul sectors that were hard on the body even though I was a fan of the airline itself (MH, SQ, QF) - happily now I have a bit more nous to try to score better cabins.

Best - a few contenders for various reasons but one of my first international sectors as a WP comes to mind. It was my first time on a QF A380 and (thanks to AFF) I'd selected 80A. The SIN-SYD flight went by quickly, it was brilliant and had a cute visit from a flight attendant to give me the express pass. Ironically it had been cheaper for me to book the flight as a BA codeshare, so I was actually flying with OWE status.

 

[JMEL]

Best:
- Asiana A380 upper deck, ICN-JFK, half-empty flight, two seats to myself. Asiana still gives out slippers in Y. Great legroom too. Korean bibimbap served on board, Korean skin toner provided in the restrooms!
- SQ A380 upper deck, MEL-SIN, two seats to myself on an otherwise rather full flight (granted to me due to *G, I assume).
- Two different flights on a QF A380, MEL-SIN, both on clear sunny days. I think QF's A380 Y seat is one of the best Y seats out there. On the first flight that I'm thinking of, the captain made an announcement as we were about to pass Uluru and advised everyone when/where to look. On the second flight, I saw a spectacular pink Lake Eyre. I love it when routine flights turn into "flight-seeing"!

Worst: no contest...flying a marathon MEL-HKG-SFO in CX's horrendous hard shell seats which slid down rather than reclining!!

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

What a fantastic question.

Worst: BA168 PVG-LHR - We boarded and once onboard were advised that there would be no AVOD. Cabin crew were shocked that no gate announcements were made advising this as it has been a known problem for hours. Queue 12 hours on a day flight with absolutely nothing to do. Easily the worst birthday i have had. We were all issued complaint and compensation cards, which BA never responded to and when i lodged another formal complaint via their website, they ignored the issue completely. BA long haul. Never again.

Best: QF10 DXB-MEL - I used to love this flight. It used to be my last leg home after a few weeks in the Middle East, i would get a seat in the little economy section on the top deck and then when we landed at about 9pm i would collapse straight into bed and have no jetlag. I flew this leg five or so times but the most memorable leg occurred this time last year.

I had been chatting with a flight attendant on a dating app and as we both had busy schedules the first time we could meet was in Dubai. So, dinner was all set up and then 24 hours beforehand she got cold feet and deleted me from the app. I took it as a blessing as I gathered that if she was going to treat me like this then we weren't going to be a great fit anyway and promptly forgot about it. A few days later, i boarded QF10 to come home, took my seat and guess who was the flight attendant in my section...

 

[JessicaTam]

Many years ago I flew SFO-SYD and sat in an exit row. I lamented to the FA that I had not to try the Napa Valley wineries. After the seat belt sign went off she disappeared for a bit and returned with some red from J. She kept this up until she went on a break - but gave instructions to her replacement to keep my glass topped up. After a while I was brought a fresh glass with the apology that they had run out of J red, so "here is some from F".

So they TKWIW, even before I did!

 

[Moindardt]

AA72/AA73 SYD-LAX Main Cabin Extra. I don't fly economy internationally as my knees and back couldn't handle it, but my upgrades didn't come through so stuck in row 17 for both legs. As AA ExP, MCE selection is free. Surprisingly, I found it very comfortable. Even with the person in front reclined and me fully stretched out, I wasn't close to touching the seat in front. I quite easily got 8 hours sleep on both flights. I can't comment on the main meals as I slept through them on both flights and breakfast is always disgusting.

 

[Chalkie]

I've not flown Y internationally since 1999, but prior to that my best longhaul Y experiences were:

BA HKG-LHR in 1996 - on a 747, the forward Y "mini" cabin. One lady and I had middle 4 between the 2 of us, so very comfy. The stewardess (I refuse to use the modern expressions) working our section was HK-based and absolutely charming. Kept the wine topped up during meals, offered plenty of minis of JW black after dinner, regular offers of water / tea / coffee, chatted with everyone who was up for a chat about anything and everything. Totally customer service focused and appeared to enjoy delivering top notch customer service. The flight flew by and nearly everyone who'd been looked after by our stewardess warmly thanked her on disembarkation and quite a few remarked how terrific she was as we walked up the gangway.

LH FRA-SYD in 1987 - on a 747. Again, three seats between 2. Terrific and warm customer service and a comfortable flight. The cabin crew and I chatted in my schoolboy German (which after six years of stern and disciplined instruction from my German teacher was actually pretty good) and everyone felt very well looked after.

KLM MEL-AMS in 1998 - on a 747. Had exit row with crew jump seats in front. Great, chatty crew who were keen to look after everyone. Was on a choir tour, so the crew made us perform to the cabin and "paid" us with champagne after the performance. Very, very jolly flight.

Also had some nice flights on QF in the early 1990s on the 747 SYD-LAX in the 2 seats at the rear of the cabin

Worst Y - Ryanair Luton to somewhere in continental Europe in 2001. Everything was simply ghastly! I vowed I would never step foot on an LCC ever again. I managed to keep true to that vow until bloody QF ditched MEL-NTL and replaced it with Deathstar. I have to travel that sector sometimes. O vey.

A dishonourable mention goes to Philippine Airways SYD-FRA in 1987. From memory it was a DC10 SYD-MNL, then a 747 MNL-AUH-FRA. As we landed in FRA I watched part of the skin of the wing tear off.

 

[JohnK]

No real stand-outs for me but there have been some ordinary flights.

A few years back a QF BKK-SYD flight that diverted to CNS to drop off a passenger who had caused issues throughout the flight. Luckily AFP were on board as a coincidence and took control of situation..The passenger wanted to be served alcohol and an "apperitif" every time he pressed call bell until supply was cut off. Spoken to a few times. He then stole bottles from galley and being a general nuisance. Finally tied up until CNS.

A TWA ATH-JFK flight many years ago that diverted to LHR for 3 hours without reason. We weren't allowed out and it was a full flight.

A QF CGK-SYD flight that had severe turbulence for most of the flight. Did not feel comfortable at all.

And that SQ FA from hell who wanted to ration my consumption of Coke Light. I was really thirsty and she was giving me small cups that did nothing to quench thirst. Must have been coming out of her salary.

 

[Milboo]

Mine was my first ever international flight - aged 16 and heading off to Tahiti for 6 weeks on exchange program. Issue with incoming Air France plane (into AKL) - maybe a strike? So flight was delayed 24 hours. 120 teenagers put up in a hotel near the airport and we had lots of fun getting to know each other, heading off to a big shopping mall (this was mid 90s) and being in a hotel without parents!


Worst - a DL flight from JFK to LAX. Was moved from my exit row (purchased) without explanation and moved to the only free seat in the plane - with broken recline. Was miserable all flight due to a sinus infection. Service was generally woeful as it was just after their merger with Southwest (?) and there was real division between the flight crew. The DL crew member stayed down the back talking to a colleague leaving the SW crew to do the main cabin trolley run alone.

Saving grace was the awesome SW crew (Irish girl) who looked after me when she realised I was unwell - bringing me hot toddys and food from J. I felt for her as she was clearly overworked and troubled by her colleague. She waited for me in LAX and gave me a big hug and wished me well.