Seat Diagrams side-by-side

[crazydave98]

QF & DJ Scale seat maps compared

OK, hopefully I have done this right and you can see the pdf attachment of 4 slides.

• First slide is a Virgin Blue B737-800 seat diagram (engineering drawing supplied by Boeing).
• Second is the same for a Qantas B737-800 from their web site.
• Third is the side-by-side comparison of the previous two diagrams so you can compare seat pitch row by row.
• Fourth is an analysis of the number of seats at each pitch, including Jetstar. You probably know that Virgin Blue had a close look at the A320 (which Jetstar went with) and so we have detailed drawings from that which have been used in the analysis. Nothing your knees wouldn't already be telling you.

cheers

CrazyDave98

 

[Yada Yada]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the info! A very clear comparison indeed and information that will be surprising to many.

 

[N860CR]

Very interesting that Jetstar seem to have a large number of seats with a 29" pitch. I thought they claimed 30" (which i would still call very restrictive). On my 3 (horrible) flights with Jetstar I did suspect the knee room was much tighter than usual, so it's nice to see I suspected right!

The DJ 737's have always been much more comfortable than QF's economy seating, so I guess this proves what most of us already knew.

 

[crazydave98]

Yes they claim 30inches, but they also claimed that there was nothing wrong with unallocated seating. One is just more blatant (and since disproved) than the other. I suspect their idea of 30inches included the emergency exit rows in the average plus some rounding up.

 

[Dave Noble]

Very interesting document giving an interesting read.

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

Yes they claim 30inches, but they also claimed that there was nothing wrong with unallocated seating. One is just more blatant (and since disproved) than the other. I suspect their idea of 30inches included the emergency exit rows in the average plus some rounding up.

based on 18 seats at 38", the JQ average does come out at 30.25"

Dave

 

[Yada Yada]

based on 18 seats at 38", the JQ average does come out at 30.25"

I guess averages don't always give a good picture - these 18 seats are skewing the fact that the vast majority of Geoffstar seats are less than 30" pitch.

 

[trishmay]

Found seat diagrams comparison very interesting.

Recently had an uncomfortable trip on Jetstar. Husband had too little legroom and only managed because passenger in front was kind enough not to recline his seat back.

Previous trip on Virgin much better.

T

 

[straitman]

Found seat diagrams comparison very interesting.

Recently had an uncomfortable trip on Jetstar. Husband had too little legroom and only managed because passenger in front was kind enough not to recline his seat back.

Previous trip on Virgin much better.

T

trishmay,

Welcome to AFF.

I can'y really comment at this time as my only JQ flights (recently) were SYD-CHC-SYD sitting in an exit row each way.

I have not flown DJ for some years since I had some unsatisfactory experiences and responses. I guess I'll find out on March 19th when I fly MEL-CHC with them. I'm not sure how I'm getting home yet :!:

.... and I avoid 737's when ever possible, or at the very least sit in exit rows :!:

 

[Petch]

Beyond the Bulk-Heads & Exits not all seats are equal

Found seat diagrams comparison very interesting... Husband had too little legroom and only managed because passenger in front was kind enough not to recline his seat back.

Virgin Blue is definitely spinning its best side forward in that document. (Although, if getting a seat allocation aft of emergency exits, I’d rather fly DJ than JQ.)

Firstly, visually it compares the port side of a DJ 737 with the starboard side of a Qantas 737. The problem is, while Qantas has rows in alignment across it’s 737’s, Virgin Blue doesn’t. Like Jetstar, the Forward Left side of Virgin Blue’s aircraft don’t have a bulk head, and the rows on this side of the aircraft are skewed forward and have more pitch. (Pitch is also an unreliable measure when comparing "slim line" seats with "old fashioned" seats.)

Secondly, the comparison by figures, between Virgin Blue and Jetstar is disingenuous, as the Virgin Blue measurements take account of this skewing (i.e. the 18 seats @ 33”) in their pitch calculation, but do NOT display or take into account this additional pitch in the seats on the forward port side of a Jetstar A320.

In my opinion, you also need to appraise seat width, and comfort in making a final seat judgement. I figure, the A320 beats both Y configurations of 737 noticeably, in what I call “elbow room” (aside from more seat width between the arm rests, I like the extra gap between the window seat arm rest and the side of the plane; on a 737 the arm rest is jammed up against the side of the cabin, significantly impacting “elbow room” when all three seats are taken, as only the aisle passenger has any “side-ways give”), and while the cloth seats @ Qantas are great, Jetstar’s leather and seat support/padding beats Virgin Blue’s equivalents. YMMV

So, the moral of the story, when flying Jetstar, sit as far forward as you can on the left side. Unlike Virgin Blue, Jetstar is also generous enough to let you know when booking, if these seats are available before you even make your purchase!

Oh, and as for recline on a JQ A320, did you try it? ROFL, I am surprised they even bothered putting a button in, but on a short flight I don’t really factor it’s importance.

 

[straitman]

Re: Beyond the Bulk-Heads & Exits not all seats are equal

Virgin So, the moral of the story, when flying Jetstar, sit as far forward as you can on the left side.

... alternately when flying Jetstar, don't sit forward of the exits on the right side.

 

[Reggie]

based on 18 seats at 38", the JQ average does come out at 30.25"

Dave

There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics.

 

[crazydave98]

Re: Beyond the Bulk-Heads & Exits not all seats are equal

Virgin Blue is definitely spinning its best side forward in that document. (Although, if getting a seat allocation aft of emergency exits, I’d rather fly DJ than JQ.)

Firstly, visually it compares the port side of a DJ 737 with the starboard side of a Qantas 737. The problem is, while Qantas has rows in alignment across it’s 737’s, Virgin Blue doesn’t. Like Jetstar, the Forward Left side of Virgin Blue’s aircraft don’t have a bulk head, and the rows on this side of the aircraft are skewed forward and have more pitch. (Pitch is also an unreliable measure when comparing "slim line" seats with "old fashioned" seats.).

It's true that our port side is putting our best foot forward. There are 13 rows forward of the wing in our aircraft (including bulkhead row), while Qantas has 9 rows of economy seat. On the right hand side we have 1 bulkead row, 3 rows @ 33", 2 rows @ 32" and 7 rows @ 31". On the left hand side we have 1 bulkead row, 3 rows @ 33", 9 rows @ 32". So the difference is 7 rows have one less inch on the right hand side. But as you can see from the attached layout showing both sides of our aircraft, it doesn't make much difference - putting our starboard side against Qantas' port side it's still pretty obvious who has better pitch. Even when we put in our premium economy seats with 34" pitch for rows 2 & 3 (row 1 of course is the exit/bulkhead row) we will still have better pitch than Qantas in the regular economy rows.

Also true that pitch doesn't take into account the difference between slim line and old fashioned seats - the fact that we (and JQ) have the slim line and Qantas the old fashioned means more knee room in our aircraft at the same given pitch.

Secondly, the comparison by figures, between Virgin Blue and Jetstar is disingenuous, as the Virgin Blue measurements take account of this skewing (i.e. the 18 seats @ 33”) in their pitch calculation, but do NOT display or take into account this additional pitch in the seats on the forward port side of a Jetstar A320.

Not true Petch - the figures are for all seats in the aircraft not just one side, so there is no "skewing" - it's an apples with apples comparison.

cheers

CrazyDave98

 

[milocole]

Well, sorry to disapoint you, but i much prefer the JQ leather seats over And Qf, TT, dunno about DJ (never been on Dj in all of my hindreds of flights), I found the Jq seats really good when you recline them. I must say the TT seats were also Brand New, and i must say that they were not as bad as i would have thought, does anyone know the pitch of TT?:?:

 

[serfty]

... Also true that pitch doesn't take into account the difference between slim line and old fashioned seats - the fact that we (and JQ) have the slim line and Qantas the old fashioned means more knee room in our aircraft at the same given pitch. ...

Is there more than one type of slimline seat?

AFAIK, Qantas have been using "slimline" seats in WHY for most of, if not all the past decade.

 

[crazydave98]

Is there more than one type of slimline seat?

AFAIK, Qantas have been using "slimline" seats in WHY for most of, if not all the past decade.

It's been that long since I travelled on a QF B737 - I was just taking Petch's implication that they do still have fat seats (maybe I mis-interpreted this but figured it's why s/he raised it in this context?). What are the convertible business class seats on the B734?

cheers

CrazyDave98

 

[milocole]

:?: Just a quick Question, are Starclass seats from the original A330, and just covered, so where they ex business seats, First class seats

 

[serfty]

They are business class "Millenium" Seats.

Look here for an image of the Qantas Business class Millenium Seat: Photos: Boeing 767-336/ER Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

And here for the Jetstar StarClass Millenium Seat: Photos: Airbus A330-202 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

 

[milocole]

They are business class "Millenium" Seats.

Look here for some images: QFlyer - Qantas Fleet Information

Thanks Serfy, Really good work

but i must say those seats look much better in the Jq leather

 

[serfty]

It's been that long since I travelled on a QF B737 - I was just taking Petch's implication that they do still have fat seats (maybe I mis-interpreted this but figured it's why s/he raised it in this context?). What are the convertible business class seats on the B734?

cheers

CrazyDave98

Here's a link to a photo of the Qantas 734 convertible seats: JetPhotos.Net Photo » VH-TJS (CN: 24444) Qantas Boeing 737-476 by Jonathan Rankin

That image shows seats from row 3 back (the corners of 3C and 3D are in the foreground)

They are 'thicker' then the slimline seats behind them, but I guess the 36" pitch compensates slightly.

Hint: As in the above linked image, often only rows 1-3 are used for J leaving rows 4 & 5 for WHY PAX - Good to snaffle one of those seats if you can.