5 ms·

Somehow I only managed to end up on one of these gorgeous birds once. In seat 64K, NRT-DTW (or was it NRT-MSP?). The main cabin is... nothing to write home abou

Somehow I only managed to end up on one of these gorgeous birds once. In seat 64K, NRT-DTW (or was it NRT-MSP?). The main cabin is... nothing to write home about. I was in no hurry to book another 744 leg. Upper deck, perhaps a different story. Great seat number though.

SoftTalker 3mo ago
Yeah economy class on a 747 sucks as much as it does on any other airliner.
- apelapan 3mo ago
  On the A380 you get to enjoy the higher ceiling also in economy. It does make quite a difference for how cramped you feel, even though the leg room might be the same. And both B747 and A380 fly much calmer than the smaller, lighter widebodies, which is equally nice for passengers on all classes.
  - rootusrootus 3mo ago
    The A380 is probably the smoothest flying plane I've been in, but in my experience it has one slightly annoying behavior quirk that degrades from my ability to enjoy it. Granted, I've only flown in one a few times, so I may have just been unlucky. But at cruise, the autopilot surges and coasts on a slow repeating schedule. Ease off and float for a bit, get just a little bit low and throttle up slightly to catch it, rinse and repeat. Not terribly noticeable when awake, but when I try to sleep I'm acutely aware of that sensation. So far my personal favorite is the 787. About the only thing 'bad' I can say about it is that all the mechanical bits are kinda loud, like the flaps and stuff, and are very noisy inside the cabin. But it cruises so nice, and the lower pressurization altitude and increase in humidity is noticeable on a long flight.
    - stephen_g 3mo ago
      I've done a lot of travelling between Australia and Europe via Dubai on the A380, and I've definitely noticed the same thing, you can really feel it. You can also see it on the interactive map thing on the ones that have the 'virtual cockpit' view - the vertical speed goes positive for a bit, then back to zero, then negative for a bit, then back to zero, and repeat, all 10 hours or so of cruise on the long leg! The 787 is nice but I find the seat width quite cramped in economy, and unfortunately premium economy isn't great value either to pay or for points upgrade on any of the airlines I fly...
  - SoftTalker 3mo ago
    Granted, like any widebody it's a bit less claustrophobic. But the personal space, the legroom, the size of the lavatories, etc. is no better at least to my recollection; I've only flown on a 747 a handful of times and it's been at least 10 years.
- wiredfool 3mo ago
  One time I got an entire center row of 5 seats going from Seattle->Heathrow overnight.
  - robin_reala 3mo ago
    I had that SF to Heathrow once, though I recollect four seats? Only time I’ve ever had a lie-flat bed on an aircraft.
    - rbanffy 3mo ago
      3-4-3 and 3-5-3 are relatively common on 747 and 777 IIRC.
  - dylan604 3mo ago
    I had a long haul flight from DFW-SYD that had plenty of empty seats to the point they offered an upgrade to guarantee you'd be the only person in the row. Best spent $100 ever related to airfare.
    - microgpt 3mo ago
      This is or was a feature on Air New Zealand. You could buy three adjacent seats and call it a SkyCouch where two people can lie down and cuddle. Not sure how much the seats actually transformed into a couch. They were also very clear that clothes must remain on.
  - kps 3mo ago
    One time I was on a 747 YYZ→LHR with a total of 14 passengers.
- PaulHoule 3mo ago
  No, it is much nicer than the 737/A320 class. Just thinking of the curve of a 737 makes my neck knot up. Bigger planes like the 747/757/767/777 are much more comfortable as well as modern planes like the A220/E195. 737 class planes are so ubiquitous that many passengers have no idea another experience is possible.
  - rbanffy 3mo ago
    My dislike for widebody airliners is that the odds of getting a window seat are much smaller. What’s even the point of flying if you can’t look at the world from up high?
    - tacostakohashi 3mo ago
      The 767 2-3-2 layout is my favorite, with only 1 middle seat per row, yet still two aisles so you can use one while the other is blocked, or walk little loops if it's not.
      - alistairSH 3mo ago
        Wife and I just flew on an A330 in a 2-4-2 economy layout. With both of the outboard seats on one side, it was not bad.
    - alistairSH 3mo ago
      Reserve your seat then. Doesn’t cost that much on most airlines.
      - rbanffy 3mo ago
        I always do, but, just this Saturday, due to some air-traffic meltdown (perfectly understandable considering the heat wave), we had our aircraft swapped for a slightly smaller one, and I had to renegotiate seats to be together with my kid.
  - wat10000 3mo ago
    I’ve flown on a wide variety of planes, and never found any difference in comfort from the plane itself. It’s all about the seats.
technothrasher 3mo ago
> Upper deck, perhaps a different story. I only ever flew on the upper deck in coach configuration, and the last time I did that was about twenty five years ago on SAA. It wasn't anything special, but it was a little quieter.
philjohn 3mo ago
I've flown upper deck on a 747 in Business (BA Club World). It felt like a private jet up there, very cool. And that's even with the awful club world seats where you had to step over your neighbour to get to the aisle.

SoftTalker 3mo ago

Yeah economy class on a 747 sucks as much as it does on any other airliner.

apelapan 3mo ago
On the A380 you get to enjoy the higher ceiling also in economy. It does make quite a difference for how cramped you feel, even though the leg room might be the same. And both B747 and A380 fly much calmer than the smaller, lighter widebodies, which is equally nice for passengers on all classes.
- rootusrootus 3mo ago
  The A380 is probably the smoothest flying plane I've been in, but in my experience it has one slightly annoying behavior quirk that degrades from my ability to enjoy it. Granted, I've only flown in one a few times, so I may have just been unlucky. But at cruise, the autopilot surges and coasts on a slow repeating schedule. Ease off and float for a bit, get just a little bit low and throttle up slightly to catch it, rinse and repeat. Not terribly noticeable when awake, but when I try to sleep I'm acutely aware of that sensation. So far my personal favorite is the 787. About the only thing 'bad' I can say about it is that all the mechanical bits are kinda loud, like the flaps and stuff, and are very noisy inside the cabin. But it cruises so nice, and the lower pressurization altitude and increase in humidity is noticeable on a long flight.
  - stephen_g 3mo ago
    I've done a lot of travelling between Australia and Europe via Dubai on the A380, and I've definitely noticed the same thing, you can really feel it. You can also see it on the interactive map thing on the ones that have the 'virtual cockpit' view - the vertical speed goes positive for a bit, then back to zero, then negative for a bit, then back to zero, and repeat, all 10 hours or so of cruise on the long leg! The 787 is nice but I find the seat width quite cramped in economy, and unfortunately premium economy isn't great value either to pay or for points upgrade on any of the airlines I fly...
- SoftTalker 3mo ago
  Granted, like any widebody it's a bit less claustrophobic. But the personal space, the legroom, the size of the lavatories, etc. is no better at least to my recollection; I've only flown on a 747 a handful of times and it's been at least 10 years.
wiredfool 3mo ago
One time I got an entire center row of 5 seats going from Seattle->Heathrow overnight.
- robin_reala 3mo ago
  I had that SF to Heathrow once, though I recollect four seats? Only time I’ve ever had a lie-flat bed on an aircraft.
  - rbanffy 3mo ago
    3-4-3 and 3-5-3 are relatively common on 747 and 777 IIRC.
- dylan604 3mo ago
  I had a long haul flight from DFW-SYD that had plenty of empty seats to the point they offered an upgrade to guarantee you'd be the only person in the row. Best spent $100 ever related to airfare.
  - microgpt 3mo ago
    This is or was a feature on Air New Zealand. You could buy three adjacent seats and call it a SkyCouch where two people can lie down and cuddle. Not sure how much the seats actually transformed into a couch. They were also very clear that clothes must remain on.
- kps 3mo ago
  One time I was on a 747 YYZ→LHR with a total of 14 passengers.
PaulHoule 3mo ago
No, it is much nicer than the 737/A320 class. Just thinking of the curve of a 737 makes my neck knot up. Bigger planes like the 747/757/767/777 are much more comfortable as well as modern planes like the A220/E195. 737 class planes are so ubiquitous that many passengers have no idea another experience is possible.
- rbanffy 3mo ago
  My dislike for widebody airliners is that the odds of getting a window seat are much smaller. What’s even the point of flying if you can’t look at the world from up high?
  - tacostakohashi 3mo ago
    The 767 2-3-2 layout is my favorite, with only 1 middle seat per row, yet still two aisles so you can use one while the other is blocked, or walk little loops if it's not.
    - alistairSH 3mo ago
      Wife and I just flew on an A330 in a 2-4-2 economy layout. With both of the outboard seats on one side, it was not bad.
  - alistairSH 3mo ago
    Reserve your seat then. Doesn’t cost that much on most airlines.
    - rbanffy 3mo ago
      I always do, but, just this Saturday, due to some air-traffic meltdown (perfectly understandable considering the heat wave), we had our aircraft swapped for a slightly smaller one, and I had to renegotiate seats to be together with my kid.
- wat10000 3mo ago
  I’ve flown on a wide variety of planes, and never found any difference in comfort from the plane itself. It’s all about the seats.

technothrasher 3mo ago

> Upper deck, perhaps a different story. I only ever flew on the upper deck in coach configuration, and the last time I did that was about twenty five years ago on SAA. It wasn't anything special, but it was a little quieter.

philjohn 3mo ago

I've flown upper deck on a 747 in Business (BA Club World). It felt like a private jet up there, very cool. And that's even with the awful club world seats where you had to step over your neighbour to get to the aisle.