MH Y-class extra leg room seats on the A330-300 and A350-900

[Austman]

While I'm not sure about the MH A350-900, but I did travel on a MH A330-300 the other day and paid extra for an "extra leg room" seat that's available in rows 9 and 10.

It's 36 inches legroom but with the same Y-class seat and width as the rest of Y-class in the usual 2-4-2 A330 Y-class configuration.

And sold at an extra cost.

On the A330 it was a very good seat, IMO, if travelling in Y-class. Not only is the leg room much better but it's a 2-row "mini-cabin", directly behind business class that IMO has a more private feeling than the actual business class cabin!

Also, directly behind this "mini-cabin" on the A330-300 is the galley and 2 x Y-class toilets. So it's handy to those.

Service is still, of course, Y-class.

And at arrival, depending on which door(s) they use, you might even be off before the actual business class!

The A350 looks to be similar leg room (36 inches) but with a 3 rows mini-cabin in a 3-3-3 configuration. And not as handy to the galley and the Y-class toilets.

Here are the seat map links:

Explore Our Fleet & Aircraft Details | Malaysia Airlines

Discover what you'll be boarding with Malaysia Airlines by exploring our fleet of aircraft. Browse through options like the Airbus A350-900, Boeing B737-800, and more.

www.malaysiaairlines.com

Explore Our Fleet & Aircraft Details | Malaysia Airlines

Discover what you'll be boarding with Malaysia Airlines by exploring our fleet of aircraft. Browse through options like the Airbus A350-900, Boeing B737-800, and more.

www.malaysiaairlines.com

 

[sap1l]

I've flown on the extra legroom seats in both planes.

IMO the A330 has a better setup because of the mini-cabin and I prefer 2-4-2 over 3-3-3. Row 10 has the same recline as row 9, so if you value under-seat storage row 10 is a perfectly fine seat! It is missing a window though, so that's one downside.

On the other hand, the A350 is a more comfortable plane overall. The extra legroom Y seats aren't as split from the rest of the Y cabin as in the A330, but there are two rows of seats that have under-seat storage (and IIRC both rows 14 and 15 have windows).

I feel like on both planes the extra legroom is worth it, especially if you're on the taller end. I dislike exit rows because there is no under-seat storage, so this setup is ideal for me.

 

[Rayesfeg]

Thanks @Austman and @sap1l for your reviews on the extra leg room seats.

Am flying SYD to KUL on the A330 that has this mini-economy class cabin behind business in rows 9 & 10.

I see a lot of people whinging about A330's in general, but I think they are far better for customers given the paired seating layout as opposed to a more dense 3-3-3 layout of other wide body aircraft.

I initially cringed at these seats as Malaysia Airlines prices them at $120 each way! Not to mention that row 10 is missing a window. However, the flight is an overnight one and with the positive reviews about the cabin, decided to bite the bullet and book in row 10.
Will report back in 2025 after the flight on the experience.

 

[Rayesfeg]

As a follow up to my earlier comment, I flew between Sydney and Kuala Lumpur on the A330 in the 2-row economy "mini cabin", row 10. Flying back to Sydney I sat in the regular cabin in row 20.

The cost to select a seat in the mini cabin was $110 per person which was relatively steep, but for an overnight flight in Economy, anything for some extra comfort. My thinking was that given the cost, this cabin would have the highest chance of having empty seats and might even allow me to spread across the middle row if nobody was sitting there. Unlucky for me, Malaysia airlines disabled the ability to change seats after I had booked them so I couldn't check in on the seat map to see how many were still available as departure day came closer. Regardless, it was a completely full flight, so all seats were occupied.

Departing from Sydney was delayed due to a delay with catering (only my second flight from Sydney to be delayed due to this reason), this was not Malaysia Airlines fault.
Overall, the cabin was fine. The seats were exactly the same as the rest of the plane. I did not notice a significant amount of additional leg room compared to the main cabin. Awaiting on all economy seats were a small pillow and a blanket.
This cabin does have an additional degree of privacy due to the curtain between business class, and there is a curtain directly behind row 10 - so the 2 rows are cocooned in this mini-cabin which was nice.
On these planes, row 10 is missing a window which we were aware of going in, though you can lean forward as the window directly next to row 9 is visible when row 9 is not reclined.
Other than the occasional flight attendant moving through, there was no foot traffic through this cabin as Business class passengers use the bathroom at the front of the plane and the Economy class bathrooms are all outside of this mini-cabin area.
The screens are akin to those on-board Qantas B737s: small, old and unresponsive - you really have to force touch for the screen to recognise your selection. To mitigate this there is a remote, though that didn't help with the slowness of the IFE system. The tv in seat 9A was not working, cabin crew did try to fix this - including the inflight manager, luckily the guy in this seat wasn't too fussed.
Cabin crew weren't overly friendly on our flight but that didn't really impact anything other than our opinion of the way staff are treated by the airline.
Being right at the front there weren't any issues with running out of meal selection - with a light meal provided at the beginning of the flight and a more substantial breakfast service started with 2 hours till arrival.
I will note that there is a rather large galley behind row 10 and there was some noticeable noise from the galley area before each meal service. It was enough to prevent me dozing back off to sleep.
Probably my favourite part about sitting in this cabin is that you are first to disembark with the exit doors behind row 10, staff hold back the rest of the economy cabin until we were off. I believe that business class customers also disembarked from this door so technically we got off the plane before business.

Overall, the Economy mini-cabin was just fine. It certainly isn't revolutionary, most aspects of the experience are the same as the rest of the Economy cabin bar more privacy, quick disembarkation and allegedly more leg room. For an overnight flight it is nice to be sitting in a smaller cabin with less chance of noise and movement from other passengers but for a daytime flight, I would save my money and spend the $110 somewhere else on holiday.