J seat advice on A380 refurb

[ChrisMars]

Hi all!

I'll be on QF1/2 later this year. That will be my second non-skybed2 longhaul on Qantas J.
I was wondering if the "exit row" seats are worth it. I understand there will be a bit more foot room when sleeping, which I would appreciate as I am tall. I am also concerned of additional noise nuisance due to the proximity with the galley. At this stage I can still select 16A / 16K on QF1, and later 16K on the way back. Any thoughts?


I wish we could search 3 letters keyword on this forum, I imagine someone already asked about 16A / 16K, but couldn't find the thread.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I’d always go the mini cabin at the front
Row 11/13/15 window as they have the seat at the window and the console on the aisle. The bassinets seats are row 17 middle seats and I would avoid that row or anywhere near it for that reason. Unless I had some tiny crotch fruit of my own that needed a bassinet.
I’d go 13K out of that seat map.

 

[RooFlyer]

I’d always go the mini cabin at the front

Do you think those seats may get a bit more noise from the new (and now, both sides) 'lounges' up the front?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I took the extra wide footwell on a qantas 787… so 11K. I’m also tall.

TBH it’s one of the best seats for business class… the extra wide footwell makes it almost feel like a single bed. It’s long and wide.

After landing i tried the row behind and the restrictions were *very* noticeable.

Galley noise wasn’t actually too bad. For the main post departure meal you’re awake anyway. During the flight I noticed nothing. But for the pre-arrival meal the crew were literally crashing plates and other crockery very loudly. (This is not new on Qantas… they’ve been doing it for years.)

Lucky it was towards the end of a 14 hour flight so most people were awake, but for a short overnight it might have been problematic.

All things considered, the bulkhead extra width was 99% worth it compared to noise, or PEY walking through the cabin to access the WCs. The crashing in the galley would have been heard across multiple rows anyway.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Do you think those seats may get a bit more noise from the new (and now, both sides) 'lounges' up the front?

My next trip is in a few weeks. I’ll report back as I’m on row 11

 

[Daver6]

Do you think those seats may get a bit more noise from the new (and now, both sides) 'lounges' up the front?

On the old config A380s I was in the lounge at the front with some fellow pax. We weren't being overly loud and did have a request from Mike Cannon-Brookes who was in row 11 to keep it down as his kids in row 11 were sleeping. He was super polite about it for the record.

I'm 5'10 and no issues with the regular footwell. So I'd be going row 13 in the mini cabin as a first choice.

 

[MJM123]

My partner and I flew QF 11 (Sydney to Los Angeles) and QF12 (Los Angeles to Sydney).

On the way over I was in 11K (using the T80 rule I was able to move) - this seat has much more leg room than the other seats. In terms of noise, I did not find it an issue as many people weren't using the lounge on my flight. The only thing I noticed was that in front of row 11 there is a cupboard which I believe had crew uniforms which the crew were opening and closing throughout the flight. If you are light sensitive, the curtain between the bar area and the cabin sometimes has shining light through depending on where the curtain falls, I did not think it was an issue. You get served first and being in the smaller cabin everything feels much calmer and quieter, although it was quiet stuffy in there with the curtains closed and being a smaller cabin but again no issue.

On the way back we were in 20E and 20F and we noticed a big difference. The business class section was full, staff were flustered and the service was very sub par (another story). The smaller cabin if you can get it, is much better as things are done more quickly there and before you know it the lights are off for sleeping. In the bigger cabin, it takes much longer to get things moving along and for the lights to go out. In terms of the seat, yes there is less leg room and a smaller foot hole but being an average size it wasn't a concern for me as there was ample room.

In the smaller cabin, I believe there is no bassinet in row 11 so there is no risk of having a child there. We had a child on the way home in row 17 which was okay.