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I have an Amercian Airlines Biz flight shortly, and was trying to work out if the new business class is a lie flat or angled lie flat as the web site, sort of shows it to be angled, despite saying that it is lie flat. I am on the 767.
Any help anyone (guess Rich will be first on the ball with this one).
http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i18n/onboard/businessClass.jsp
767 from Milan.
Was using an exisitng thread (which for some reason had no entries).
It looks to be a lie flat (angled) not a lie flat (level) - so confusing and "misselading"!
fully flat = 180 degrees horizontal bed
lie flat = angled "wedgy" seat
Martin, 763 and 772 business class are angled. That do recline to 180 degrees but they are angled. The armrest goes down to provide more width. The 767 seats are slightly smaller than 777 but hardly noticeable.
International flights have portable IFE with Bose headsets and offer a widescreen picture better than the 777.
I fly this aircraft regularly hnl-ord-lhr. The flight 91 service to ORD is interesting as the service is closer to first than business.
I would recommend rows 3 or 4 (this is row 2 and 3 as no row 1. First row, row 2 has reduced legroom.
I opt for window but it is hard getting into aisle when pax are asleep, like CW so if you like to move about or say howdy to the flight attendants, aisle works better.
The seat controls tale some mastering but I find them comfortable at 6'5" and I vary the sleep position to just off flat as I find it best.
I know BA CW fans do not like the slanted seats preferring the much shorter flat level approach and all AA seats face forward and I know some ex RAF people prefer to fly backwards on CW ( makes me air sick and I made copious use of the paper bags on a flight from PVG some years ago. ( not flown CW since - glad NF has not gone for facing backwards too).
Hope you have great flight and if it is dfw you get through quickly. I am back to Hawaii for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Hope you can cut through my loyalty to AA and find some of this useful.
"Additional legroom; 6’4” lie flat seat"
Its a shame that the airlines marketing teams have the creative skills of Estate Agents.
Even Rich describes the AA seats as 180 degrees, but angled.
Most new business class seats are assumed to be fully flat. If the likes of Swiss and Finnair (there must be others) can install fully flat and fully electronically adjustable business class seats (Virgin still need to mature in this area as well), I would have thought a major US carrier, such as AA could compete with an equal busienss class offering.
Martyn: AA decided to go for the angled lie flat seats against the true lie-flat as they can get a few more seats in the cabin for the reason that they need to meet the high demand for upgrades from their top tier flyers!
My choice seats are the new CX Biz class as it has a wider space for the leg movements and a perfect balance of privacy and for social needs.
Had many discussions on this one. I have friends who are not as tall as I and for them the Fully flat seats work well. FOr me they are too short to allow for sleep and as I prefer a window seat I am forced top fly backwards if I choose BA CW which makes me sick. So in limited occasions I would fly BA CW on shorter flights daytime only. Anything overnight has to be first or another carrier.
The AA seats accomodate me and I sleep well at 6'5", though I must say it took some time to gte used to them and find best position. Obviously First is better but on the domestic flights 777 service on AA is few and far between.
Virign used to have seats on the upper deck of their 747's which were long enough and flat so I used them for a while. Unfortunately then went to 346 and in the process chopped 2 inches of the seat length making it too unusable for overnight.
If anyone can tell me of a carrier with a fully flat business seat that 68" of longer I would be very grateful.
Interesting to hear that at 6'5'', Rich goes for the angled.
As tempted as I am to try AA, on the day flight out, I will switch to BA as I prefer fully flat for the overnight return.
Would be nice if the airlines would agree on a standardised format for the style of seat so when their customers pay in excess of £2000 for a return seat, they know what they are actually buying (of course subject to the equipment change disclaimer).
RichHI1, there are plenty of seats with beds longer than 68".
Etihad business seats are fully flat and have a seat pitch of 88" in a 1-2-1 layout. The latest tried and tested review quotes it at 74" inches long. Also, Etihad promises amongst the best service with new F+B managers/chefs and a much more intimate cabin (not facing backwards).
If you choose wisely on Emirates' A380 you get a 79" bed and if you want service that you can guarantee try the lovely Oman Air 77.5" bed, 22" wide, with an overall experience that Business Traveller describes as "First class in all but name" (plus overall no.3 best business class on Skytrax).
Hope this helps!
Hi Martyn not sure if this is still helpfull to you but we had an client fly in yesterday morning on an overnight flight in business with AA this was a reasonable flight, didnt eat, but went straight to sleep and slept for 5 hours comfortabley. xx
You'll also find that there are certain Club World seats which are longer than advertised.
Hengli, thanks. Typo, should have said 78" not 68". Middle Eastern airlines look to have good layout. Could work for flights to Japan. For flights to Americas adds too much to time.
Vk any details? I was told certain seats have bassinet position with more room but can get babies switched in. So if you rely on legroom in that seat you can get offloaded.
On the 747 - seats 64a and 64k have plenty of extra legroom, especially 64a. Also rows 62 (a & J) and 63 (b & k) face the exit row so have the added benefit of extra leg room and you don't have to climb over anyone to get to the aisle.
On the 777 I've not personally found any rows which have substantially greater legroom.
I'm also 6'3" so find the BA seat slightly too small apart from the 747 and the seats listed above.
If I fly on a 777, I try, where possible to fly First
Qantas has 80" beds and Virgin Atlantic 79.5" so it should be easy for you to get some rest on those. They both claim the "longest bed" title, so you can decide accordingly.
At 79.5" Virgin may have long beds, but they are as flat and as hard as a piece of board and if you are lucky, they don't dip at the head.
I have to agree with RichHI1 that on overnight flights BA's club world seat is not very comfortable if you are over a certain height. At 6'7 I find angled lie flat seats do actually give more leg room and although it takes some getting used to I can sleep easier.
So on routes to Asia I try to go Qantas angle lie flat rather than a BA NCW unless you can get 64 A and K on a 747, but you have to book so early to get these seats and that's not always possible. I have yet to find a BA 777 or BA 767 seat in NCW that gives more leg room so try to avoid these at all costs on a night flight.
Qantas lie flat (A380) is the exception as these do give enough room when laying down.
I have to disagree with RichH11, from a height of 6'8'' I find my regular trips on the NCW 777 fine for sleeping - it all comes down to how you sleep. To paraphrase Ikea, let us know your height, weight and preferred posture - we are all different.
On a 3 class 777 try the extra length of seats against a bulkhead - 4A+K, 11A+K normally, and on a 4 class 15A+K. Alternatively if you must face forwards try the front bulkhead seats.
Hengli and Martyn Virgin used to work well for length but when they went from 744 to 346 they shortened the beds by a bout 2 inches and it is now no good for me. Only time I was booked in business on Qantas they upgraded me so yet to try. GKing92 my issue is osteoarthritis in knees due to sports injury which means I have to sleep with knees not bent, I can see if you can do fetal or knees bent as some do, then ncW could work. As previously posted flyingbackwards is issue for me ( don't like facing away from windows a la Virgin either.
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