New VA International J class seat

[Denali]

Hope to be in the US in April so this could be very interesting.

 

[lovestotravel]

Will be VERY sad to see the bar go, but a new 777 seat is always good, and I assume they will remove the 2-3-2 layout to 1-2-1. Rumors that JB never liked the bar on the 777's as well!

I have a few flights booked/planned for 2015 on VA J and would be good to have the old and new configs! First one in Feb and then May and August.

Personally I have to say it seems a bit of a waste since in 2012 they gave the 777's a soft refurbishment, but if they can get an extra 11 J seats on each flight it will pay for itself quite fast

To compare the same aircraft, with J all located before door 2L
NZ 44J 44Y+ and 244Y = 332
VA 33J 40Y+ and 288Y = 361

I wouldn't be surprised to see 3-4-3 in Y either!

I wonder if they can actually get this done before QF even begins refurbishing the A330's!

Fleet of 5 vs fleet of 30, you would want to hope so....

 

[Fruitcake]

I wouldn't be surprised to see 3-4-3 in Y either!

Although I agree it would be completely unsurprising, the Pacific is one of the few holdouts of 9-abreast 777s (DL, UA, AC). Also, spaciousness is a big selling point of QF's A380 services so I hope that competitive pressures keep VA at 9 abreast - even if NZ is leading the way to 10-abreast.

 

[FlyingPhotog]

*Noob post here so please don't take what I say with too much authenticity*

I would say a reverse herringbone config would be the best move to VA, similar to CX's. Not that I've ever flown their current config but I really don't think the 2-3-2 would be very nice, especially being in the middle of the 3 in the middle. Again not like I've flown in CX's either but from what I've seen of theirs it looks like it'd work much better than what they currently have, especially if VA added their own style to it.

Hopefully I haven't made myself look like an idiot..

 

[maninblack]

The Weber/Zodiac Cirrus as used by CX amongst others would make sense as it can be used on both the 777 and the A330 in a 1-2-1 configuration.

 

[FlyingPhotog]

The Weber/Zodiac Cirrus as used by CX amongst others would make sense as it can be used on both the 777 and the A330 in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Didn't even know that, works even better for VA in the case if they can outfit the 777 and 330!

 

[anat0l]

VA CSM on my return flight today confirmed the new J Herringbone seats are coming. Also worth noting that the J bar will go.

There was no confirmation whether it would be traditional herringbone (like VS or NZ) or reverse herringbone (like CX, US, AA...)?

I'm admittedly not a fan of herringbone. I'll put up with it because of course it will be better than the other two classes on the plane, and naturally you all have aisle access without impediment, though it will be interesting to see the comfort in the seat (assuming it will be far easier for fit / thin people compared with rotund ones).

Either way it'll be a step up from the current seat.

Interesting to note that, just like "the prophecy", there is no announcement yet from VA to the public - no press release, no leaked pictures. And people are far happier for it, or very accepting of it here. QF announced their new seat and not a single positive came out of it, especially from here where the effort was universally criticised. Sometimes it pays not to tell and just do...marketing is overrated.

 

[markis10]

Interesting to note that, just like "the prophecy", there is no announcement yet from VA to the public - no press release, no leaked pictures. And people are far happier for it, or very accepting of it here. QF announced their new seat and not a single positive came out of it, especially from here where the effort was universally criticised. Sometimes it pays not to tell and just do...marketing is overrated.

Unlike VA, Qantas were building up the new product for some time before announcement, with words like world first and unique. The announcement saw the truth, it was an off the shelf product being made fairer and simpler my Marc Newson. No surprise that the reveal left many underwhelmed, given the time frames.

 

[anat0l]

Unlike VA, Qantas were building up the new product for some time before announcement, with words like world first and unique. The announcement saw the truth, it was an off the shelf product being made fairer and simpler my Marc Newson. No surprise that the reveal left many underwhelmed, given the time frames.

Like I said, not a single positive came out of it. It would have been better just to shut up and let speculation reign, even negative speculation.

 

[maninblack]

Didn't even know that, works even better for VA in the case if they can outfit the 777 and 330!

Yes well that's the thought but it's probably "wishful thinking" as the saying goes.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Sometimes it pays not to tell and just do...

Excuse my ignorance, but why "do" at all?

I thought the VA777 J product was received well by most anyway, or have I missed all threads bagging the product?

With VA currently without two brass razoos to rub together, why would they be spending the money? Could surely only be one of two things, they think they can fit more pax in, or they think they can up the prices because of............either way, does it really bode well for the J traveller or is this rumoured seat the Utopia of airline travel comfort?

 

[FlyingPhotog]

Excuse my ignorance, but why "do" at all?

I thought the VA777 J product was received well by most anyway, or have I missed all threads bagging the product?

With VA currently without two brass razoos to rub together, why would they be spending the money? Could surely only be one of two things, they think they can fit more pax in, or they think they can up the prices because of............either way, does it really bode well for the J traveller or is this rumoured seat the Utopia of airline travel comfort?

I think it'd be more the fact they want to 'refresh' their product, especially with the other offerings from the likes of Qatar, CX where their business class products are such a high standard and that they want to compete in that segment of the market. If that makes sense..

 

[Jousams]

If I remember correctly, JB had said that he was grateful that AJ had given him plenty of time to upgrade his a330 J to beat QF's new offering. So maybe we will see the upgrade to the a330 too.

 

[FlyingPhotog]

If I remember correctly, JB had said that he was grateful that AJ had given him plenty of time to upgrade his a330 J to beat QF's new offering. So maybe we will see the upgrade to the a330 too.

I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen, having a great J class on both coast to coast and international flights would present VA with a nice stronghold on the sectors they have.

 

[lovestotravel]

I thought the VA777 J product was received well by most anyway, or have I missed all threads bagging the product?

With VA currently without two brass razoos to rub together, why would they be spending the money? Could surely only be one of two things, they think they can fit more pax in, or they think they can up the prices because of............either way, does it really bode well for the J traveller or is this rumoured seat the Utopia of airline travel comfort?

Nothing wrong with VA J on the 777s

NZ gets 44 in before door 2
VA gets 33 in after door 2 and it's 2-3-2

Another 10-12 passengers in J
Remove the bar another 4-8 Y+
Go 3-4-3 in Y for another 50 pasengers

If I remember correctly, JB had said that he was grateful that AJ had given him plenty of time to upgrade his a330 J to beat QF's new offering. So maybe we will see the upgrade to the a330 too.

LOL LOL

All talk with VA

They won't change the A330's, they already offer too much for domestic flying and they haven't updated XFA/XFB with anything despite ongoing problems

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Nothing wrong with VA J on the 777s

Another 10-12 passengers in J
Remove the bar another 4-8 Y+
Go 3-4-3 in Y for another 50 pasengers

So increased pax numbers is likely the motive......? Will that be at the expense of the pax? It certainly would in Y but what about Y+ and J?

 

[R36snowbound]

I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen, having a great J class on both coast to coast and international flights would present VA with a nice stronghold on the sectors they have.

The coast to coast J product is great........... if you manage to get yourself onto a new aircraft.

If you find yourself on an old A330 or 737, then Uzbekistan Airways beats the VA J product hands down.

 

[lovestotravel]

So increased pax numbers is likely the motive......? Will that be at the expense of the pax? It certainly would in Y but what about Y+ and J?

Well generally more passengers/profit is the idea of any airline refit, when QF shoved lots more Y seats into the A380's removed a few toilets etc etc

Personally I like the VA product, even though it's a little dated. SQ J beats it hands down but I find VA J better than QF J (A380)

However the 2-3-2 seating is very bad if you are stuck in the middle seat

I would say 1-2-1 AKA NZ J will be what VA will do, removing the bar which is the main negative.

If/when they go 3-4-3 in Y it will be bad for those in Y but Y is about price in most cases, which is why UA still does well on the Pacific route

 

[TomVexille]

Well generally more passengers/profit is the idea of any airline refit, when QF shoved lots more Y seats into the A380's removed a few toilets etc etc

Personally I like the VA product, even though it's a little dated. SQ J beats it hands down but I find VA J better than QF J (A380)

However the 2-3-2 seating is very bad if you are stuck in the middle seat

I would say 1-2-1 AKA NZ J will be what VA will do, removing the bar which is the main negative.

If/when they go 3-4-3 in Y it will be bad for those in Y but Y is about price in most cases, which is why UA still does well on the Pacific route

UA does well across the Pacific due to their corporate contracts.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Well generally more passengers/profit is the idea of any airline refit,

Only to a point. Some LCC in EU was pushing the standing room only model but we don't see all airlines investigating that. A rack 'em and stack 'em model would be very space conscious but we don't see airlines racing to embrace that either.......at the end of the day, it's a balance between profit (or perhaps more correctly, profitability) and attractiveness to the client. I was just musing over which this change would be.