Madness: Last QF9 A380, First QF10 B787

[JohnM]

Well, that's a different take on 'Never mind the quality, feel the width.'! (apologies to John Bluthal) - 'Never mind the width, feel the length' (can't win 'em all ).

Thanks for taking the hit for the team @JessicaTam. The narrow seat in whY sounds gruesome - but whY is gruesome anyway. I would only ever do QF9 or 10 in J - and I'm lined up to do the 10 in 1A in early September as the second last sector of a DONE4. I shall report - as a minor counterpoint to your report .

 

[moa999]

The seat is unfortunately now the standard - even SQ with its new 787-10 is 9 across.
(Apart from AirAsiaX and Cebu who fit 9 across in the even narrower 330)

9 across in 787, 10 across in the 777 and I suspect not long till we see 11 across in the A380.

Though for the time being the A350 and A380 would be my Y aircraft of choice.

I agree that I've found shoulder room the biggest issue

 

[Denali]

Oh, on boarding there was a gift bag with a certificate and a Dreamliner cap.

Seats are too narrow.
But you got a certificate!
Seats are too narrow.
Here's a cap as well!

...
Thanks Jess for your sacrifice to bring us this important information.

This. I feel like there should be a GoFundMe but with points to help the poor woman get over the trauma of 'taking it for the team'.

 

[serfty]

I don't think I had time to get jet lag. As I got in at 9pm last night I was able to go straight to the hotel and to sleep. I have certainly lasted a whole day today without issue.

I found this when I did a QF9-QF10* near turnaround in November. My 'body clock' stayed on MEL time.

*next day

 

[Anna]

I got a QF Customer Advisory Panel survey this week asking if I would fly on the direct PER LHR flight. I declined

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I got a QF Customer Advisory Panel survey this week asking if I would fly on the direct PER LHR flight. I declined

Yeah. I get the feeling bookings might not be so strong?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think it was being said to try to convince the public that the legroom is great, so why does it matter if the seat is a bit narrower.

Oh, there were quite a few comments from other pax as we stood to leave about how narrow the seats were.

I don't think crew really have that much of an idea of passenger comfort when it comes to economy.

Your calculations before give rise for some thought. If wider seats meant an over all reduction of about 12 seats, that would represent an $80-100 increase in fare if they wanted to recoup the losses through increasing prices. I wonder if the market would take that?

 

[boomy]

Well done JT, you took one for the team, survived and did an honest report about it.

Sometimes when talking to people who say it’s not that bad traveling Y to Europe I’m thinking, yea sounds doable but then remember doing it myself (via Asia) some years ago and it was bad, very bad! Can only imagine how 17hr would feel like in that narrow seat...
Thankfully, with the collective knowledge we have here on AFF it’s very doable to fly long haul in the pointy end at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Pushka]

I think we can all manage the usual 12 hour stint knowing we can get off and refresh. 17 hours? I couldn’t. I would go stir crazy.

 

[love_the_life]

Yeah. I get the feeling bookings might not be so strong?

I got the same survey as Anna and also answered in the negative about likelihood of flying the route .... in any class.

 

[docjames]

I got a QF Customer Advisory Panel survey this week asking if I would fly on the direct PER LHR flight. I declined

I said yes, but only in J (free text section).

I'm on QF10 in under a month's time.....

 

[QF WP]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and the honesty. I'm similar stature to @JessicaTam, so the thought of 17 hours in whY (after a coast-to-coast) doesn't make me well up with desire. Like GPH and others have espoused, if it ain't J then I'm not flying it.

Not sure if I will ever fly the route ex-PER but half a chance if they start ex-MEL (no desire to do SYD). But as I'm unlikely to ever do it solo, then the likelihood drops again - SIN, BKK and HKG are enjoyable for a day to break up the flight.

It must be my turn to shout the bottle of Red when you're next in BNE.

 

[andyhui01]

The specs on that seat did show it was going to be narrow. But not that narrow. I can understand QF's logic behind this. Of all the specs on a seat, pitch is always the one that is used and most "marketable". If they had a smaller pitch and wider seats, they couldn't shout about it as much as people don't pay attention to width. (Until you jump from a 9 across 777 or standard A380 Y into a 787).

As for SQ running it on the -10, that is a semi-regional aircraft and the A330 it replaces had a similar seat anyway. They are not using it for the 3rd longest flight in the world.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

i can see where they got he idea... regional jets have tiny narrow seats. Someone had the bright idea to put those seats into large jets. Those narrow seats on the ERJs weren’t great even for short flights, but if you were on the solo window seat your shoulder width wasn’t so much of an issue.

But that doesn’t translate to long haul where you’re squished in.

The other point that someone made is also important... while each seat might only be 1.5 inches narrower... you have to multiple that by two, three or four (depending on the seat blocks). It’s not 1.5 you’re losing, it’s 6 inches for four people. Which is significant.

 

[serfty]

At a cited width of 17.2", the width is supposedly ~¾ cm less than that for the A388. However I suspect the aisles may be narrower as well.

This leads to the issue with when a 'bulky' PAX is across the aisle of further effective narrowing of the available space when someone walks past.

 

[Flashback]

I don't think crew really have that much of an idea of passenger comfort when it comes to economy.

Your calculations before give rise for some thought. If wider seats meant an over all reduction of about 12 seats, that would represent an $80-100 increase in fare if they wanted to recoup the losses through increasing prices. I wonder if the market would take that?

The prices are already higher compared to other Oneworld carriers (with better products) for ex-LHR anyway, so would price them even further out of the market.

 

[JessicaTam]

It must be my turn to shout the bottle of Red when you're next in BNE.

You're on!

This leads to the issue with when a 'bulky' PAX is across the aisle of further effective narrowing of the available space when someone walks past.

And this was just the situation I found myself in.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The prices are already higher compared to other Oneworld carriers (with better products) for ex-LHR anyway, so would price them even further out of the market.

So I guess the question then is... if price sensitive pax will avoid the service anyway (cheaper on other legacy carriers), will those left - who are already willing to pay QF's higher prices - be willing to fork out an extra $100?

And would it attract some passengers off other legacy carriers who want a bit of extra comfort without having to shell out for PEY (for example an SQ PEY pax might take QF's 'super economy').

 

[jomar]

A question from a friend: Where is the headphone socket located on the QF 787 Y seat? He says he always breaks his plug connector on the A380 inside-left-leg one.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

So I guess the question then is... if price sensitive pax will avoid the service anyway (cheaper on other legacy carriers), will those left - who are already willing to pay QF's higher prices - be willing to fork out an extra $100?

Hence the massive marketing drive by QF for the Dreamliner and this route...