Bad trip with Qatar No Reasonable fix for flight home

[Mid Life Crisis]

I had planned to fly the 787 this year with Virgin to HKG in economy class.
Having read the online reviews, I would never want to set foot on one unless I was in the premium cabin.
Have now booked with Emirates on the A380.

[Andy_S]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

Up to the point when they become so uncomfortable that passengers won't fly in them.

Obviously that would be economically disastrous. The fact that there are so many 787's flying and on order would suggest that sufficient passengers are willing to suck it up.

(Not trying to defend the 787 here - to be honest I'm increasingly willing to pay a premium to avoid economy in any flight longer than about 5 hours - but I do think people rather overstate passenger comfort as a factor in choosing flights. BTW, Seatguru has seat width on the VS 787 as 17.5" and the EK 380 as 18". It's hardly a step change........)

[Rush2112]

Originally Posted by Metro man

A350 is good in economy as is the A380, B787 in 9 across is another nightmare.

I was on one of SQ's new 350s from HKG back to SIN the other week, and being on the company dollar, I was up the back. I thought the seat was pretty cramped, and the aisles quite narrow. I cannot imagine how awful Y long haul would be.

The funny thing is there is an SQ fanboi website I visit and they are all drooling over the 350 and feverishly anticipating each new delivery: I can only assume they haven't flown on one yet.

[Andy_S]

Originally Posted by Rush2112

The funny thing is there is an SQ fanboi website I visit and they are all drooling over the 350 and feverishly anticipating each new delivery: I can only assume they haven't flown on one yet.

I came to the conclusion some while ago that people acquire a perception - good or bad - of certain aircraft, sometimes without even having set foot on that particular type. And once established, absolutely nothing will change that perception.

[PAXboy]

In my view, this aspect has been encouraged by the manufacturers. Now that there are two dominant names that everyone has heard of, they start the PR from the moment the design is signed off for development. The most recent example was the superb PR effort of Boeing to fins a name (Dreamliner). It has worked very well for them and we can expect Airbus to follow suit.

I have had only two sectors on the 787-900 (VS) in Premium Economy and was seriously underwhelmed. Perhaps that view will change later with more sectors/other carriers/classes.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by PAXboy

The most recent example was the superb PR effort of Boeing to find a name (Dreamliner). It has worked very well for them and we can expect Airbus to follow suit.

Though don't expect Airbus to start naming their products any time soon.

Aside from the in-house Beluga, the only example of that to date has been the half-baked scheme to brand the A400M as the "Grizzly", complete with those silly pawprints they painted on the tarmac at the Farnborough show a few years ago.

Needless to say, A400M customers told Airbus where to stick their name (the RAF were very rude about it). In view of the dire sales prospects for the aircraft, perhaps "Grisly" would have been more appropriate.

[zzuf]

As the thread starter - I flew back to Oz from Berlin, Qatar Business Class, it was the old BC, and OK. Not really the 10 star utopia suggested on TV ads but an order of magnitude in front of 10 abreast economy.
Seeing the barrage of CNN etc continuous loop TV presentations, in various hotels, about Qatar's new business class, now with a bunch of aft facing seats made me think - haven't we been here before without a great deal of success?

[edi_local]

The aft facing seats are part of the Q Suite product and are most likely to be assigned to groups utilising that. When the walls come down the 4 seats together make one "suite" and is aimed at families, small groups, business meetings etc.

Most solo travellers I imagine would have these assigned to them as a last resort.

[Rush2112]

How splendid that will be for the rest of the cabin: an excited family group all able to jabber at each other all flight long...

[Heathrow Harry]

sounds like the galley TBH

[edi_local]

Well they will have done their research and found that this is a good thing to offer. I can't imagine the noise level would be any more intrusive than a family who are split up and keep wandering around to talk to each other or any other group who keep turning around to talk to one another in a normal set of 4 seats. That said, if it all goes tits up and they no longer want to offer the suite option then they can still sell 4 separate seats without the need to renovate the cabin again.

Also, QR provide noise cancelling headphones in J class so any low level chatter shouldn't really be an issue.

[Cymmon]

Try seat 27D on the 777, no seats in front.

[SeenItAll]

I must say I was prepared to hate the 9-across Y cabin on the 787, but after several TATL flights in it, I must say it doesn't feel significantly more cramped than a 9-across 777 -- or pretty much any other Y-cabin. While an 8-across 787 might feel actually spacious, I haven't yet had the pleasure to experience one.

[Andy_S]

Originally Posted by SeenItAll

I must say I was prepared to hate the 9-across Y cabin on the 787, but after several TATL flights in it, I must say it doesn't feel significantly more cramped than a 9-across 777 -- or pretty much any other Y-cabin. While an 8-across 787 might feel actually spacious, I haven't yet had the pleasure to experience one.

This is the thing…….

There seem to be a lot of negative views of the 787 on this forum, but I’m quite convinced that many of these are from people who have decided – even before they board the aircraft – that they’re not going to like it. And having made that decision simply find reasons to reinforce it.

It’s nice to see an objective view.

p.s. I'm sure someone can explain the reasons why better than I can, but I don't think the 787 is available in an 8 across economy configuration.

[slf001]

Japan Airlines have their 787s in a 2-4-2 configuration in economy [8 across].
I've not flown with them though, so can't advise if it's more comfortable.