A330 seats

[Toothy Grin]

Does the bulkhead offer more room or is it as bad as the airbus row 4 config?

Thanks for your help...going to Madrid!

I've heard the bad reviews on this a/c so I though I'd try the bulkhead. However, I like to stretch out so I don't know if having these seats will be a good idea. Do the armrests go up?

I used to fly AerLingus and that was pure TORTURE, mean fly attendants too.

Thanks for any and all opinions.

Toothy

 

[US Oringinal]

The sad truth is: The are NO comfortable economy class seats on our A-330's!! Thanks to restricted seat recline and ridiculous seat-pitch(THANKS TEMPE) these aircraft are hugely uncomfortable thoughout the coach cabin. While it's true that row 6 and row 23 middle are bulkhead rows, the armrests are immovable and the seats are very narrow. Plus, they like to save these rows for families with babies---so if you want tobe next to crying children for 8 hours--ask for a bulhead row!!

My suggestion: Either dig deep in your pockets and pay for an upgrade to Envoy or take a very strong sedative before takeoff.

The mind-trust in Tempe has destroyed what use to be a very customer friendly aircraft by jamming 45 more people into the economy section.

WELCOME ABOARD USAIRWAYS!!

 

[CLT-Douglas]

I couldn't agree more. One round trip on a US A330 in economy was enough for me. It's a joke, regional jets are more spacious. In order to be comfortable, you have to be the size of a jockey or smaller with T-Rex like arms while the tray table is down and you are eating.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

But Doug and Scott say that US customers are not willing to pay more for greater seat comfort.
One US Chairman pax said that he has been on European charter flight that are more comfortable and that US TATL coach should be called DVT class.

 

[SS255]

I would not fly in Y on a US A330 if you paid me. I don't care if it's "cheapest." If US had not jammed more seats into the A330's, I'd say it would probably be the most comfortable ride in Y across the pond, save for UA's E+ or the foreign carriers' Premium Economy.

 

[flytchick]

Check out seatguru.com. It has the airlines listed and the type of aircraft they fly. Bring up the airline, aircraft type and you will see the seat map for that particular aircraft. The seats are color coded and as you move your cursor over the seats it will tell you the good or negative about that seat. If you go to the top of that page it will also tell you the type of service, movies offered and other amentities. It's a great web site.

 

[Toothy Grin]

Well, I'm in Madrid and We chose the seats at the bulkhead row 21?? ailse and middle across from the crew rest seats. You're right, the armrests don't go up, but the room ahead of us was not that bad. My friend on the aisle seat didn't mind his seat because he was REALLY able to stretchout in the aisle by the lav. I'm not the tallest or shortest, but I found my leg room to be better than what the seat pitch was for a regular seat.

Width could be ALOT better. If I were a fat dude it would've been a tough ride. The tv screens in the seat back of regular seats were better than our pull out tv screens. There was one problem because there was additional room at the bulk head some folks thought it would be ok to just walk back and forth in front of us, so we had to put our bags out to put the kabosh on that activity.

Our flight crew was really nice...Nick and Amy and everyone, a real nice group of people. I felt bad for the gals working 1st as that is ALOT of people to serve with just 3 fas. Our crew from lax/phl was only ok. I thought the male fa was going to die when my friend asked him for a coffee, a water and a juice. The gal he was working with ended up serving us, Stephanie, and she was really nice. I can sure understand why people complain, though. We bought 2 one way tickets lax-mad and who wants to pay 2grand and get grief from an fa that wants to rush back to the galley to read a magazine?

Oh well, the senior int crew made up for it, and then some. No upgrades, but they hung out and talked to us and the people around us even before they knew I work here. Nice job and great to see and receive their hospitality.

Coming back on a 767 out of BCN next! I had better check out that website.

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-0...m-flights_N.htm

Clot risk jumps on long flights
By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY
The risk of venous thromboembolism, a rare but potentially deadly clot-forming condition, is three times greater for travelers than for people who are not cramped for many hours in airplanes or on other forms of transportation, says one of the first studies to measure the risk....



THe CHPR pax who called the A330 Y config "DVT" class comes to mind

 

[Toothy Grin]

well, had a change of plan and ended up flying back on 7/6/09 out of MAD instead of BCN on a 767.

What a miserable experience. The crew was as friendly as pond scum, but since we are speaking of the seats HOLY HELL ON WHEELS! We sat in the window aisle and someone help me. What is the meaning of this??? Cramped, cramped, cramped supercramped. ..and to make matters worse part of the underseat area is obstructed by the inflight entertainment system. Ouch.

8 hours of misery. If you are able to choose a seat make sure it is the aisle and middle exit row in the back, I believe it is row 21 across from the fa crew rest seats...anything else you get what you pay for.

 

[Travelpro72]

All we heard is that the loads are full so passengers are paying to sit in those seats. My question I guess is do they KNOW that is the kind of seat they are buying? The seat pitch I believe is just about the same on the US A330's as is NW's. The problem is that Tempe decreased the seat pitch BEFORE they put in the new seatbacks that are slimline. The seatbacks on the current A330 seat at US is very thick. So instead of doing it RIGHT....no, no they will continue to make passengers miserable. The BEST is many a flight attendant who will chase a poor passenger back to their seat. I work with some and have turned around and said, "YOU go sit in that seat for a good hour and let me know how YOU like it". They are horrible and I feel very bad for passengers that are over 5'2".

 

[SS255]

All we heard is that the loads are full so passengers are paying to sit in those seats. My question I guess is do they KNOW that is the kind of seat they are buying?

Bingo. 90% of passengers buy on price and price alone. They don't spend the time to compare the product and weigh it against the value of the ticket price. They will suffer with inadequate legroom if it will save them $5.

US should remove a row of seats in the front cabin of Y, and create an E+ cabin to upsell to those of us who will pay more for more comfort. Let those who chase the cheapest ticket deal with 31" of legroom. The net loss would be 6, 7 or 8 seats, depending upon the aircraft. On flights of that length, I'll bet they would pull in more revenue than they would leaving the current cabin configuration, as I highly doubt that every single transatlantic flight sells out. Plus, with some of these transatlantic sales fares, I can only imagine that US is losing money on some pax.

If they can get people to fork over extra cash for a seat closer to the front which offers no additional comfort, surely they could do the same for a seat which offers a few extra inches of legroom.

 

[Travelpro72]

The thing is though, if a passenger wanting the "lowest fare" searched the seating measurements on NW vs. say US who both fly the A330 they will find basically the same dimensions. What they don't tell that cost conscious passenger is that the seats are drastically different therefore offering them a product that is NOT the same as competitors. US and their coach configuration on the A330 is a "retrofit" with those bulky seats. I'm not saying passengers would pay more but they sure aren't told just how bad the seats really are.