Economy Seating - Would you pay more for legroom?
 

Three threads dealing with seating in economy - seat design, recline and legroom: but would you pay more for more legroom as standard?

Premium economy varies from about 38 inch pitch with VS and BA to 45 with BD for a hefty price increase, up to double the economy fare depending on route/demand.

However, if the airlines removed 1 row in every 9 ( on a 747 with 32 inch pitch, 10 abreast) and increased the seat pitch to 35 or 36 inches it would hike the price by between 10 and 12.5%.

Would you pay that extra for more legroom and recline?

Or would you say " Nope, I'll save the extra £100 and moan all the way"

Even in the boom times of the last ten years - the answer is emphatically to save the money and moan.

1. American Airlines made a big play of removing seats - adverts showed the seats being removed. Result? No stampede of extra pax, so the seats went back in.
2. Friends of mine who could easily have afforded to pay for BA WT+ chose not to. On one trip (LHR~JNB) they got upgraded to WT+ and said afterwards that it would not have been worth the money and they were glad that they did not pay.

Those that are willing to personally pay for extra leg room are already doing so but I doubt that there are more pax eager to do so. Certainly not regularly enough to make a difference. Expect nothing to change!!!

Well - I just came to Amsterdam from Johannesburg on KLM 747. The flight up is about 11.00 hours, overnight.
Had aisle seat in emergency exit at the rear - row 51(?) on starboard side.
Masses of legroom and a pretty good sleep - half civil to all the family on arrival and for that day.
Paid €50 extra for the seat and would do it again every time for a long haul night flight. Not for a day flight though.
Also - in this case, seat is right opposite KLM cabin crew bunk entrance door. In sleepy moments of being awake at night, allowed one to dimly view blue clad pretty girls climbing ladder - very restful and better than sheep!

Well I haven´t paid double. Economy 700 pound, Premium Economy 1000. I think for more than ten hours flights it´s worthy indeed. For flights less than eight hours.....no way, in case you find a nice seat on economy.

When flying long haul, I've generally paid between £400 and £700 for a seat in economy, so I'd quite happily pay £100 more for some extra legroom. As with the OP, I've found that the step up to premium economy is just too much, especially when buying two tickets.

I recently flew BA to Buenos Airies, WT+ on the way out and Business on the way back. Well worth every penny!

Yes - BA is day flight westbound and night flight back?
So that is what I would do as well.The connection - it was in Sao Paulo? Any problems with the transit there or baggage transfer?
Thank you.....

But if you had the choice, £700 or $700 or €700 for economy at 32 inches, or £800, $800 or €800 for economy at 36 inches, what would be your choice?

I wold quite happily fork another couple of hundred notes for 2 tickets at 36 inches.

I will pay a lot extra for a good seat when flying on business.

That's why it's called business class and that is what is required to get there in decent shape.

When on hols, premium economy is fine or J with miles, so 36" would be okay, the although I'd prefer 37/38 with a wider seat and have bought WT+ in the past for this.

Economy is for sardines.

Always 4th class
 

I suppose I will always be stuck in 4th.
Its really not so bad we just make sure to pamper ourselves pre boarding and post arrival...........
I accept the fact that I am just too mean (bah humbug) and always balk at the cost of premium and then belly laugh at business and 1st fares.
Consider myself lucky that I never started out upfront and had to move back therefore I will never know what I'm missing. Chicken or beef is just fine for me and I always manage to get my share of those little bottles of wine

both night flights, I got about 2-3 hours sleep in WT+ and 5+ in Business, which was a fairly solid sleep, not fidgeting and waking every few minutes.

Paid for myself, as it was on holiday. I then spent 17 nights in the top bunk of a small cabin in rough seas in the Antarctic ocean - I'd rather pay extra for the flights than a cabin upgrade.

Slight thread drift...
I tend to think that many passengers who could afford to fly in premium cabins choose not to do so when they themselves and not their employers have to pay because, unlike other aspects of their consumption (e.g., cars), it is less easy for these insecure people to show off to others how much money they have (ergo, how important they are) by doing so.
But to come back to the question, whilst I'm happy to fly short-haul in economy, I would not fly in the same cabin long-haul under any circumstances, even if seat pitch were increased. That's my view, although others will doubtless disagree!

62K

I think your comment demonstrates the steeper differential in product and service on long haul, compared to short haul.

After a horrendous cattle class flight some 8 years ago I vowed never to fly Y class again on long hauls. And I haven't. The day my wife and I can no longer afford it we'll just simply stop flying longhaul. It all depends on the airline and the route, but I have found that in many cases (for me) Y Premium is not available or is not that far off in price to an early C class booking. KLM have good C class fares if you book nice and early (which generally one can do for leisure travel).

In answer to the question: YES, I'm one of the minority who would pay more for improved comfort in Y.

Interesting, as I preferred to do it the other way round - two lots of 14 hours of discomfort in economy on Air France, but a suite for the Antarctica cruise. I'd have loved to have upgraded the flights but even going to premium economy was over double the price (I paid £540 for the flights, and premium was something like £1200).

New to this so hope posting in correct place!

Flying Thos Cook next May, Belfast to Orlando, Premium Economy. Does anyone know what the seats are like and which would be the best 2 seats to try for? many thanks

Seat Guru is usually a useful site but I see they don't have Thomas Cook...

Airline Seating Charts, Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru

You've got over 5 months mate - just a thought but ask the airline.....?

Your Seat. Your Choice.

Find out what the plane will be - the seating plan - if you can request exit rows etc.

My daughter is only 3 and she finds economy very spacious and leg room isn't a problem.

Bet there are many who would be willing to pay less for less legroom.

Its a lot cheaper with some airlines to just buy an economy ticket and upgrade to extra legroom when you check in...

Shimrod,
the ship I was on only had one suite, and it wasn't exactly a luxury liner, more a Russian "scientific research" ship not needed after the cold war, and built for the conditions with an ice strengthened hull etc. You could pay for an upgrade, but as you don't spend that much time in the cabin, it's a waste of money (to me, but lots of others disagree).