Has flying J ruined you?

[BCons]

Flying Intl Y (when you mostly travel J) is indeed a confirmation that flying has become horrible.. Dont know when it started - my guess would be since 9/11 when I was travelling frequently to the US which became (and remains) a security hellscape.

Early May our SQ flt Mel/Sin went 'technical'. Those J pax who wanted were xferred to a QF flight Mel/SIN, but down the back in Y. We elected to go because we had further flts and things to do. So there we were in row 54 (didnt know they made the planes so big..), in the middle of the middle 4-section. Other 2 pax in our row not best pleased because they were a couple who said they had paid more to bag the two aisle seats, and no, they didnt want to now sit together.. Babies crying, queues for loos (and bad manners in them), noise, disturbances of various sorts incl backpackers jumping around between seats, and an ill-tempered wait to de-plane. All reasons we'll continue to pay more for J (plus a lounge and usually a priority security line) .

Hv to say SQ were very good - well handled at checkin when the plane went bung, and refund of fare difference + award of original points took less than a week - as you might expect from a service-oriented company dealing with premium customers.

 

[RooFlyer]

As an exclusive J or F international flyer for as long as I can remember, a constant dilemma I have is whether or not to pay for J in Europe on separate tickets from the long-haul. I tell myself - the seat is usually the same as Y (blocked seat next to you) - and its only 1 or 2 or 3 hours. Surely it can't be that bad?

Well, yes it can I tell myself. There's a lot more to J than the seat, even over shorter distances.

 

[TheRealTMA]

As an exclusive J or F international flyer for as long as I can remember, a constant dilemma I have is whether or not to pay for J in Europe on separate tickets from the long-haul. I tell myself - the seat is usually the same as Y (blocked seat next to you) - and its only 1 or 2 or 3 hours. Surely it can't be that bad?

Well, yes it can I tell myself. There's a lot more to J than the seat, even over shorter distances.

One useful thing for QF points is European J flights, particularly one way. BA, FinAir etc. Points cost is very reasonable.

 

[MARTINE]

As an exclusive J or F international flyer for as long as I can remember, a constant dilemma I have is whether or not to pay for J in Europe on separate tickets from the long-haul. I tell myself - the seat is usually the same as Y (blocked seat next to you) - and its only 1 or 2 or 3 hours. Surely it can't be that bad?

Well, yes it can I tell myself. There's a lot more to J than the seat, even over shorter distances.

Too right!
Its a boon for handluggage only travellers like us to have the extra space to put luggage. And getting on first

 

[33kft]

I mix it up. Y is fine for family flights, we can get 4 of us to a row and it really isn't that painful even flying long haul because I get to steal a bit of the kids unused legroom space, but I'd not be voluntarily doing solo Y long haul. Introducing others into the (close quarters) mix is when the regret kicks in for me.

If I knew I'd get an empty seat next to me I'd probably not even bother with J although I have never managed to sleep in a Y seat ever so perhaps that would be my other variable - arrival time.

 

[Blinky]

Tomorrow MEL-OOL in J. Pleasant, but not enough to spoil me…

 

[John in Melbourne]

Well, I'm now retired, "ruined" by J and loving it, so there!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

As an exclusive J or F international flyer for as long as I can remember, a constant dilemma I have is whether or not to pay for J in Europe on separate tickets from the long-haul. I tell myself - the seat is usually the same as Y (blocked seat next to you) - and its only 1 or 2 or 3 hours. Surely it can't be that bad?

Well, yes it can I tell myself. There's a lot more to J than the seat, even over shorter distances.

Except on… SAS!! Their truly awful ‘europremium’ cabin. No blocked seats on 3+3

 

[Doctore1003]

An amusing take. Ruined for life!

The unexpected downside of finally experiencing business class

How am I supposed to go from proper cutlery and a flatbed to arguing over an armrest?

www.theage.com.au

 

[Flashback]

I fly private quite a bit as well, but I can tell you long haul commercial J is far better.

 

[Travel Freak]

Yes, definitely. Especially since reaching my seventies.

 

[VPS]

Yes, definitely. Especially since reaching my seventies.

Welcome to AFF

 

[BAM1748]

In a word, Yes. I've got to tell you, even becomes hard going to J from first.

 

[BCons]

In a word, Yes. I've got to tell you, even becomes hard going to J from first.

Just back from a trip to Europe both ways in J. That was after a series of previous trips in F, so was interested in your comment above.

Apart from some garnishes around food & wine (and PJ's - this was SQ) I found the bigger diff was not F to J, but moving from front of J cabin to the back seats of J when we had to change flts and lost seat selection.. Crew were less polished, service more hurried, and the cabin seemed a lot busier and less tidy - overall it was much much less than F.

But the other flts up the J pointy end? All of them near enough to F in terms of service and personal attention to make us look more closely at the fare difference next trip...

 

[NZflygirl]

Probably an unpopular opinion but - No.

I still have certain airlines economy seats I am aiming for eg Qantas A380 economy, JAL 789 economy from SYD - HND? SQ A380 and A350 economy, CX A350 economy. I'm excited to try them out! I deliberately flew Qatar Auckland to Doha just so I could say I flew the worlds longest flight in economy! Achievement! When/if Air NZ does this bunk bed thing I will try that out too! Part of the economy fascination is knocking off every type of seat on certain airlines fleet, part of it is unique layouts eg JAL 2-4-2. I have a particular business class layout on Qatar to knock off. Aircraft swap so I didn't get it. The rest I've done. I think there was a quirk on CX I also wanted to fly. Plus some of these are day flights and I think very doable in economy. I also keep aiming to improve my own economy experience, making it comfortable, can I buy an extra seat etc, do the arm rests go up? Also, generally because there are more people around you the seatmate experiences can be... intriguing! Even on domestic NZ flights I enjoy seeing tourists guessing answers for the inflight quiz. I like hearing peoples comments or watching them sit in the non window seats and their reactions

Also, there's a part of me that, when I'm talking to friends that have flown economy and their experiences, I actually want to be able to relate to them and give my 2 cents of my experiences and how I've made flying better for myself in economy. I try to avoid revealing status and perks or whether I've flown other classes. Although I usually say its on points even if it hasn't been. I prefer to play it down. I have family that struggle so I find it inappropriate for me to be sharing J/F experiences.

There's also the concept of value and some other carriers are just not worth it to me to fly J. They're a points only type redemption. Or it's short haul and I don't feel that anything above Y is justified or necessary. I don't mind paying for it if its a close in booking and the fare difference from Flex Y to J is minimal.

I definitely don't hate Y and I do still look forward to some aspects of it. I absolutely loved my Etihad flight in Y - entire row to myself , Qatar also entire row to myself! I've also downgraded myself from J to PE on NZ because on a day flight NZ PE is just perfect to me for day flying long haul. And someone else can enjoy it. I flew SQ on a day flight in business once and it really hit me how much I didn't need business nor did I really appreciate it for that flight from Auckland. So, economy still has a place for me

 

[elanshin]

Probably an unpopular opinion but - No.

I still have certain airlines economy seats I am aiming for eg Qantas A380 economy, JAL 789 economy from SYD - HND? SQ A380 and A350 economy, CX A350 economy. I'm excited to try them out! I deliberately flew Qatar Auckland to Doha just so I could say I flew the worlds longest flight in economy! Achievement! When/if Air NZ does this bunk bed thing I will try that out too! Part of the economy fascination is knocking off every type of seat on certain airlines fleet, part of it is unique layouts eg JAL 2-4-2. I have a particular business class layout on Qatar to knock off. Aircraft swap so I didn't get it. The rest I've done. I think there was a quirk on CX I also wanted to fly. Plus some of these are day flights and I think very doable in economy. I also keep aiming to improve my own economy experience, making it comfortable, can I buy an extra seat etc, do the arm rests go up? Also, generally because there are more people around you the seatmate experiences can be... intriguing! Even on domestic NZ flights I enjoy seeing tourists guessing answers for the inflight quiz. I like hearing peoples comments or watching them sit in the non window seats and their reactions

Also, there's a part of me that, when I'm talking to friends that have flown economy and their experiences, I actually want to be able to relate to them and give my 2 cents of my experiences and how I've made flying better for myself in economy. I try to avoid revealing status and perks or whether I've flown other classes. Although I usually say its on points even if it hasn't been. I prefer to play it down. I have family that struggle so I find it inappropriate for me to be sharing J/F experiences.

There's also the concept of value and some other carriers are just not worth it to me to fly J. They're a points only type redemption. Or it's short haul and I don't feel that anything above Y is justified or necessary. I don't mind paying for it if its a close in booking and the fare difference from Flex Y to J is minimal.

I definitely don't hate Y and I do still look forward to some aspects of it. I absolutely loved my Etihad flight in Y - entire row to myself , Qatar also entire row to myself! I've also downgraded myself from J to PE on NZ because on a day flight NZ PE is just perfect to me for day flying long haul. And someone else can enjoy it. I flew SQ on a day flight in business once and it really hit me how much I didn't need business nor did I really appreciate it for that flight from Auckland. So, economy still has a place for me

JAL bulkhead (if you have OWR or higher, its free) will make all other economy seats seem significantly worse.

 

[NZflygirl]

JAL bulkhead (if you have OWR or higher, its free) will make all other economy seats seem significantly worse.

Thanks for the tip. I have to admit I don't tend to like bulkheads because I like having a bag with accessible gear under the seat in front vs in the overhead bin and I dislike armrest tvs. If I'm fortunate to have the seat next to me free I can't raise the armrest and spread out. So I've definitely got opinions on Y

But thank you. I'll check it out.

 

[stopthecap]

After flying J exclusively for the last 5 years i finally had to take an economy flight SYD-BKK. I opted to pay for exit row seat on the finnair plane right behind Premium Economy. To say it was a shock was an understatement.

* The extra leg room was dismal. This is not the exit row extra leg seats with unlimited room, there is a bulkhead and i could not even stretch my legs out completely. I do feel like complaining.
* The arm rest is tiny, The seat is tiny length ways where my cough was slipping off the seat.
* The guy who sat next to me was 120kg of muscle so alas i forfeited the arm rest to him
* Noise, crying, coughing, sneezing. Humans are disgusting creatures when packed into small spaces.

I now have anxiety, and thankfully flying J home on Cathay soon.

 

[Flashback]

After flying J exclusively for the last 5 years i finally had to take an economy flight SYD-BKK. I opted to pay for exit row seat on the finnair plane right behind Premium Economy. To say it was a shock was an understatement.

* The extra leg room was dismal. This is not the exit row extra leg seats with unlimited room, there is a bulkhead and i could not even stretch my legs out completely. I do feel like complaining.
* The arm rest is tiny, The seat is tiny length ways where my cough was slipping off the seat.
* The guy who sat next to me was 120kg of muscle so alas i forfeited the arm rest to him
* Noise, crying, coughing, sneezing. Humans are disgusting creatures when packed into small spaces.

I now have anxiety, and thankfully flying J home on Cathay soon.

I would have had anxiety before the flight, not because of it!

 

[TheRealTMA]

Probably an unpopular opinion but - No.

I still have certain airlines economy seats I am aiming for eg Qantas A380 economy, JAL 789 economy from SYD - HND? SQ A380 and A350 economy, CX A350 economy. I'm excited to try them out! I deliberately flew Qatar Auckland to Doha just so I could say I flew the worlds longest flight in economy! Achievement! When/if Air NZ does this bunk bed thing I will try that out too! Part of the economy fascination is knocking off every type of seat on certain airlines fleet, part of it is unique layouts eg JAL 2-4-2. I have a particular business class layout on Qatar to knock off. Aircraft swap so I didn't get it. The rest I've done. I think there was a quirk on CX I also wanted to fly. Plus some of these are day flights and I think very doable in economy. I also keep aiming to improve my own economy experience, making it comfortable, can I buy an extra seat etc, do the arm rests go up? Also, generally because there are more people around you the seatmate experiences can be... intriguing! Even on domestic NZ flights I enjoy seeing tourists guessing answers for the inflight quiz. I like hearing peoples comments or watching them sit in the non window seats and their reactions

Also, there's a part of me that, when I'm talking to friends that have flown economy and their experiences, I actually want to be able to relate to them and give my 2 cents of my experiences and how I've made flying better for myself in economy. I try to avoid revealing status and perks or whether I've flown other classes. Although I usually say its on points even if it hasn't been. I prefer to play it down. I have family that struggle so I find it inappropriate for me to be sharing J/F experiences.

There's also the concept of value and some other carriers are just not worth it to me to fly J. They're a points only type redemption. Or it's short haul and I don't feel that anything above Y is justified or necessary. I don't mind paying for it if its a close in booking and the fare difference from Flex Y to J is minimal.

I definitely don't hate Y and I do still look forward to some aspects of it. I absolutely loved my Etihad flight in Y - entire row to myself , Qatar also entire row to myself! I've also downgraded myself from J to PE on NZ because on a day flight NZ PE is just perfect to me for day flying long haul. And someone else can enjoy it. I flew SQ on a day flight in business once and it really hit me how much I didn't need business nor did I really appreciate it for that flight from Auckland. So, economy still has a place for me

Also, there's a part of me that, when I'm talking to friends that have flown economy and their experiences, I actually want to be able to relate to them and give my 2 cents of my experiences and how I've made flying better for myself in economy. I try to avoid revealing status and perks or whether I've flown other classes. Although I usually say its on points even if it hasn't been. I prefer to play it down. I have family that struggle so I find it inappropriate for me to be sharing J/F experiences.

So it’s like your friends shop at Aldi and you at Harris Farms.