Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Yep, that's how I do it. Window for short haul (because I won't want a wee), aisle for long-haul (because I will).
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Aviation Discussion
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Yep, that's how I do it. Window for short haul (because I won't want a wee), aisle for long-haul (because I will).
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Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
Why not simply pay the specific seat selection fee at the time of booking, assuming you're on an airline which offers that?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
BA want £26 minimum off me to choose my seat on my flight from Haneda to Heathrow! I don't believe I had the option during booking to choose, I was rushing during booking so who knows, I did that booking months ago!
Oh I often want to relieve fluids even on a short flight! I do prefer a window seat, especially near the engine, for the registration-spotting opportunities and of course to get as much noise as possible!
atillathehunn
Established Member
nlogax
Established Member
Window seats for me regardless of flight duration. I've made UK <> US west coast hauls a fair few times without moving from my seat..must have a cast iron bladder!
BananaRepublic
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- 777
The official ICAO aircraft type designators (i.e. abbreviations) for the Neo's are A19N, A20N & A21N. These are used in Flight Planning, communications, ATC etc.
The non-Neo designations are as you'd expect..... A319, A320 & A321.
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Jamesrob637
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Can't say for the British Scareways A321 but Ryanscare isn't the worst on legroom. Or even at all. I'd take Ryanair over a few other airlines right now...
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The issue with Eireflop as far as space goes is the hard plastic seatbacks which aren't as comfortable for your knee to be in contact with as softer ones. But they are indeed not the worst. That has to be Wizzair, with KLM and Eurowings sharing a close second.
+1. Always a window, regardless of flight length. Re the toilet trips - first time I went round the world (in stages LHR-KUL-SYD-CNS-AKL-NAN-LAX-LHR) I didn’t ‘go’ on a plane once!
Shaw S Hunter
Established Member
Have been away from the forum for a while and have noticed the lack of response to this. A quick check of the airport's website confirms my suspicion that expansion there is mostly to provide an overspill for Schipol with holiday flights the most likely to relocate. It's worth pointing out that both airports are under common ownership.
I have seen elsewhere, and for some time, that KLM has ambitions for further expansion but is unable to do so due to the lack of usable slots at AMS. Those noise related restrictions really mean something regardless of all those runways!
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
You would have the option to select a specific seat immediately after doing the actual booking, i.e. you have to complete the actual flight booking first.
That's a 12 hour flight isn't it? I'd consider the £26 good value to be able to have the exact seat you'd want for a flight of that length.
Surely by that point the vast majority of the other passengers will have already paid up and bagged all the best seats?
Ah mate me and the girlfriend at the time had the two outer seats on an LAN A340 from Auckland to Santiago back in 2011. It was bliss .
I never had any problem bagging seats at T-24 as a solo traveller, FWIW. (That said, I've had status for years at this point and been able to get seat selection earlier as a result.)
scotrail158713
Established Member
I think more people wait for free seat selection than you’d initially think
atillathehunn
Established Member
It won't take anything away from Eindhoven. Only airlines who presently operate a schedule into Schiphol may relocate flights to Lelystad. It is not necessarily intended to be a growth airport, more a capacity reliever. Eindhoven has its own market - southern Netherlands and even touching Rotterdam for low cost flights. No flag carriers from there. Ryanair operated/operates quite a number of flights from Eindhoven while their presence at Schiphol is basically nothing. Ryanair won't be able to meaningfully switch to Lelystad. The few flights they have from there (I actually only remember Dublin because I used the flight) are not going to move to Lelystad as they are competing on city centre to city centre traffic that doesn't want to traipse to Lelystad.
atillathehunn
Established Member
Routinely flights from Nairobi are wide open at T-24 because most people check in at the airport and not online. I've never failed to bag a good seat either through status, upgrade or it being wide open at T-24.
Agreed, worst legroom I've ever had was on the back rows of Vueling and Iberia A320s. I'm bang average height but it was truly abysmal, I remember there being more legroom on my old school's Ford Transit minibus back in the day!
parkender102
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- 21 Dec 2010
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- 428
I'm currently enjoying some Oktoberfest beer as I type this, so if I drift off-topic or whatever you've been warned!
As for the A380, based on memory (which may not be reliable today), there is nothing fundamentially wrong with the craft type. Some of my opinion basically boils down to 'well it's not Boeing' however, while both craft types have their faults, my experiences on the 787s (still need a 787-8 for the record) have been more enjoyable than my one, albeit LONG, trip on an A380.
Don't get me wrong, my A380 being so quiet on an overnight flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi was welcome. If I'd had a seat upstairs, as daft as it sounds, I may have had a more biased opinion towards the A380. I've since had 2 A321 Neos, and I have admitted both on this thread and on my blog (techsworldfrenzy.wordpress.com) that I have grown a liking to the Neos. So much so my trip to Krakow got booked partially because it was booked for Neos.
Incidentially, I've been wondering, what is the accepted abbreviation for the type? A321N makes sense, but does it?
Should I get to try an A380 that isn't Etihad *shudders* I may change my mind. I have two flights booked for 747-400s with BA for January 2020, never flown that craft yet, which shocks me, so we'll see what opinion gets formed.
So in short, TLR - I have bias against the 380.
Try flying Emirates Business Class / First Class on an A380 - You will never want to fly any other way ever again. The Bar Lounge at the back where you are served complimentary drinks and nibbles throughout the flight whilst standing at the bar (seating also available) is absolute bliss. Harks back to the day when flying was actually an enjoyable experience.
Crawley Ben
Member
British Airways will run summer season flights from Gatwick to Antalya (Turkey) in 2020. 6x weekly using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Cheers
Ben
Cheers
Ben
I'm booked on the MAD-LHR leg of it next month - looking forward to it.
Travelled on it yesterday and it was subbed for an A330
And as if to add insult to injury, it was an A340 this evening.
WatcherZero
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EASA and Canadian FAA are leaning towards refusing to recognise the FAA recertification of the MAX.
Issue thats cropped up is the software updates Boeing have made are too taxing for the flight computer which is not powerful enough to operate the software and in situations where it is having to do a lot of calculations, like when MCAS is operating, it slows to a crawl not recognising pilot inputs.
The 737 has two identical flight computers and in normal service one is the primary operating the aircraft while the second is a checksum verifying the calculations, they automatically alternate role each flight. Boeings proposed fix for them not being powerful enough is to split the workload, half the sensors will feed into one and half the other and the autopilot will work on consensus, only acting when the computers agree on a course of action. However this means they are no longer checking each others work and each only have access to half the sensors increasing the chance of error, in a situation of one failing the other also wont be able to handle the workload and the plane will revert to manual control meaning the autopilot is no longer a redundant system.
Issue thats cropped up is the software updates Boeing have made are too taxing for the flight computer which is not powerful enough to operate the software and in situations where it is having to do a lot of calculations, like when MCAS is operating, it slows to a crawl not recognising pilot inputs.
The 737 has two identical flight computers and in normal service one is the primary operating the aircraft while the second is a checksum verifying the calculations, they automatically alternate role each flight. Boeings proposed fix for them not being powerful enough is to split the workload, half the sensors will feed into one and half the other and the autopilot will work on consensus, only acting when the computers agree on a course of action. However this means they are no longer checking each others work and each only have access to half the sensors increasing the chance of error, in a situation of one failing the other also wont be able to handle the workload and the plane will revert to manual control meaning the autopilot is no longer a redundant system.
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Good lord, what a bodge on top of the existing bodge that killed people. If that's what they're going to come up with, they should never be recertified, nor should any other new designs, as the company clearly cannot be trusted without significant changes of management.
I did wonder if that would happen.
Purely by coincidence, the US are imposing tariffs on new Airbus craft delivered to US carriers from next week.
Shaw S Hunter
Established Member
TBF it really is a coincidence. It's a consequence of a case heard by the WTO regarding various European governments' subsidies to Airbus; a similar case against Boeing is currently being heard and will inevitably lead to the EU imposing tariffs on Boeing products next year. None of this is good news for the airlines on either side of the Atlantic as it will simply increase their costs with there being no viable alternative suppliers. Brexit isn't the only political madness going on!
Jamesrob637
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I've done Business Class a few times and yes, what you are saying is 100 per cent true. However I like things cheap and cheerful at times hence £10-15 Ryanair flights suit me perfectly!
More importantly, nor can the FAA! The major western industrial nation's certifying authorities have been happy to endorse each other's approvals of equipment. The 737 MAX debacle has demonstrated that not only has a major manufacturer cut corners with safety in the interest of profit, but far more alarmingly, an erstwhile globally respected watchdog has knelt at the altar of commercial pressure and failed in its primary duty. The loss of Boeing's credibility is unfortunate for those in the company who are committed to excellence and honesty within the organisation but in the final analysis it is just a commercial failure through misjudgement.
The FAA is a government agency and has been shown to be unfit for purpose. Even if heads roll there, other certifying responsible authorities will insist on local verification. It is the loss of trust that will undermine the US aircraft industry, - even for domestic sales.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Too expensive for me! It does look like a nice and relaxed way to travel, for sure, but way too far out of my price range. Economy will have to do!
Incidentally, I don't know what it is with Emirates but there's just *something* that stops me considering flying with them. I cannot figure out why I don't want to fly with them, but they're not on my list to try. Even the likes of Spirit in the USA, Jetstar in Australia and Scoot over in Asia are more appealing than Emirates. Again, don't know why and I know it won't prove to be a popular opinion.
As for paying £26 and up for choosing my seat on my Haneda to Heathrow flight, no I don't consider that good value. It is indeed over 12 hours, but I'll wait until check-in opens and see what I can get. I had good fortune doing so in May 2018 when I did Toronto, so there's always a chance I'll be fine this time too.
1 month tomorrow until I'm in the air again, excitement is mounting rapidly! Best start practising some commonly used Japanese words...
It would be interesting to know if anything similar has happened with the Airbus NEO family, with the self certification of modifications to them.
Although does Airbus's experience of making the entire A320 family and A330 and A340 single type ratings make them possibly more aware of the risks in that sort of endeavour?
YorkshireBear
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Issues have been found with the neos as well i believe. On some airlines this has led to the back rows of seats being blocked off.
That’s about getting the aircraft centre of gravity right. There’s a very specific set of circumstances with certain loading and fuel that a go-around might cause issues with the computers controlling the elevators and aerilons. This set of circumstances only affects one type of A320neo configuration, and only Lufthansa have it. Hence they are blocking off the back row. Incidentally this set of circumstances has never happened in the real world, it was discovered through theoretical simulation some time after certification.
But better safe than sorry.
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