BA9 A or K Seat ?

[RealFish]

Off to Oz at the back end of Jan. Assuming I can get a window* (they haven't been pre-bookable for ages) I can indulge in one of the greatest priveleges man can enjoy (I did say one of them) - rubber necking from 30 odd thousand ft. A daylight flight in the vicinty of the Himalayas seems to be a possibity on the way out to our stop in BKK. GreatCircle seems to show a track noth of Nepal (suggesting a K seat would be good.) I seem, though, to recall seeing a track south of Nepal (suggesting an A seat)
Any navigators out there know for sure ?
*Of course chances are I will probalby find my self frustated by someone who grabs a window seat, pulls down the blind and reads for the whole of the journey while the world passes them by. Why do they do that ?

[PAXboy]

Have not done that journey but my choice of A or K seat is driven by the question: Which is going to be the sunny side? I like to have the sun streaming in. If people ask me to close the blind, I only close it down to protect them from the world. As you say RealFish, why do they want to ignore that fabulous view of the world?

[Pax Vobiscum]

Of course chances are I will probalby find my self frustated by someone who grabs a window seat, pulls down the blind and reads for the whole of the journey while the world passes them by. Why do they do that ?

I hate it when that happens! To answer your question, it's usually because they don't want to be disturbed by someone clambering past them to get to the toilets.

I would imagine the route is likely to be determined by weather conditions (and other considerations) on the day, so choosing left or right side is a bit of a guess.

[TopBunk]

Go for an 'A' seat. The route to BKK will always be over the northern Indian plains, putting Nepal on the left.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by TopBunk

Go for an 'A' seat.

I agree, but for a different reason.

When you arrive in SYD, there is a chance that your approach will be from the north. If so, there is the most spectacular view of the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and then the city centre from the left hand side of the aircraft. If you've never seen that before, it's worth grabbing an A seat for that chance.

Otherwise, I always go for K seats on 747s. The right hand aisle usually unloads faster than the left hand aisle. It's to do with the merging traffic from upstairs, which decants into the left hand aisle.

Originally Posted by Pax Vobiscum

To answer your question, it's usually because they don't want to be disturbed by someone clambering past them to get to the toilets.

Personally, this is exactly so. When I sleep (which is my number one priority on long haul flights, anyway), I do not want to be woken up by anyone wanting to get out of their seat. If I can't get a window seat, I will often ask for a middle block middle seat to achieve the same result.

[TSR2]

Agree with TopBunk, go for 'A' seat. Mount Everest is well worth a look.

[HandyAndy]

Have to agree with the concensus of the A seat. Globaliser is right - arrived in SYD from HKG last Thursday. Over the Blue Mountains, the City and the Harbour, the view from the A seat was great.

[RealFish]

Many thanks everyone. So an A seat it is - if I can manage to get one that is.

[RealFish]

Thanks TopBunk

Got my A seat and you were dead right, over the Northern Indian plains it was.
The only problem being, although is was late morning local time the ship was running on GMT -blinds down, lights down, everyone asleep. I did though manage to get a brief glimpse of the Himalayas before and alarm went off in the galley and a CC memeber came running to close the blind and tell me off !
Best ten seconds (well perhaps the second, best ten seconds) of my life !!!!!

[Skylion]

Nobody can make you put your window blind down,- although on some airlines c crew try to do just that so that they may complete as much of the flight as possible without interruptions from customers. Next time tell them,- politely of course,- to get lost. If you want to compromise then slide down in your seat and just have the blind half open. The scenery from Afghanistan/Pakistan and past the Himalayas is well worth waking yourself up for,- and a bit of light helps you to adjust better to the time zone change at destination as well.

[PAXboy]

On occasions when CC have been officious to the point of being obnoxious about blinds - even when you crouch down and peek through the lower 10% - I have used a blanket ...

I put it over my head and cover the window aperture much as an old time photographer would place a black cape over his head and the back of the camera to view the image on the ground glass screen. Sorry I forgot to mention this before your trip.

For journeys with early morning vistas, I also keep my sunglasses to hand to help with the transition from cabin view to the real world.

[pacer142]

Nobody can make you put your window blind down,- although on some airlines c crew try to do just that so that they may complete as much of the flight as possible without interruptions from customers. Next time tell them,- politely of course,- to get lost.

Having been hassled to close my blind in business class on the daytime (long day!) Malaysian flight from KUL to LHR last month, it occurred to me that perhaps they should have an option for "light cabin" or "dark cabin" on those kind of flights (split by upstairs and downstairs, perhaps?). I chose the day flight so I could stay awake the whole time and in daylight, then go to bed around 7pm. This allows me to reset my jet lag in one go - if I try to sleep during such a flight it's a lot harder.

They could even change the service around for such people - I would have preferred the main meal to be a few hours into the flight and the light meal to be an hour or two earlier, spreading them out a bit better and thus reducing my use of the call bell for extra food and drink...

[TightSlot]

Maybe we can look forward to the 787 window shade blind system?

[PAXboy]

Thanks for the link TS. I did enjoy the Boeing Blurb. Such as this bit from the Lighting, page. Innovative Lighting: The 787 Dreamliner helps keep you in the zone. The possibilities of that are endless, especially if this thread were in JB!!

In this site that is full of their future dreams, I notice that they stick to the tried and trusted method of showing features (such as the windows) in the Biz cabin ...

But to the point - the windows look clever and pleasantly large ... which will let in even more light and cause the CC to disapprove even faster! With the old fashioned blinds, you can lift up a small section to peek (or split them in the middle if they are the double blind kind) but with this, the electronic opening effect will be of the whole panel. If you want to look out to clearly see the outside world - then you would want to have it completely 'open' and that will bring in MORE light than at present.

Which means that I shall still be sitting with a blanket over my head!!

I think that pacer142's idea of Light and Dark cabins is very good and sensible. Boeing say (in the referenced site) that changing the lighting is to help adjust to the new time zone and reduce jet lag. Well, that is all fine and dandy but some of us do not sleep in conventional patterns and would prefer to deal with jet lag in our own way, thank you very much.

[Dryce]

Having been hassled to close my blind in business class on the daytime (long
day!) Malaysian flight from KUL to LHR last month

Seems to vary according to the CC on duty on KUL-LHR and KUL-AMS daytime flights with MAS. I did KUL-LHR a few months ago and had the blind open all the way.