Business class seats ... uncomfortable?

[wazza888]

Have been reading a lot of mixed reviews (from terrible to good) of the A380 J class seats. Will travelling soon and my back (lumber) seems to be playing up atm. Can anyone shed some light on the extra wide seats?

 

[Maverick116]

wazza, I recently went to Singapore return and on the way there I got a lot of lower back pain on the seat which for me 68kg was indeed very hard. On my return leg I folded a blanket and sat on it and I had no problems at all, Oh why do airlines put such firm seats in planes nowadays. Hope this helps, Kind Regards

 

[SeatBackForward]

For me it wasn't so much the seat cushion, as much as it was the way you have to lay angled across the seat when it was fully reclined in the bed position. I prefer the skybeds - even the angled skybeds.

 

[opusman]

I found the seats quite good when sitting upright, but uncomfortable lying down. And at 6'3 I also found the space far too short - impossible to stretch out fully and the "cubby" where your feet go is very small.

 

[lovestotravel]

It's all about personal preference, but yes the SQ J A380 seats are harder than say a Qantas Skybed seat.

Probably due to the leather, but also a harder seat will also wear better and won't become as spongy so I assume that's why they go for a harder material under the seats

As mentioned above, use a blanket or something if you want an extra layer of padding

 

[Homer]

I'm going to go against the flow of this thread and say that I think the SQ J seat cushion is fine. It reminds me of our Italian-made sofa: a little firm but still very comfortable. The seat is too wide though. No doubt about it.

 

[wazza888]

I've been advised not to sit in one position tooooo loooong, get up and do some light stretching around the flexor muscles every hour or so. Doing SYD-SIN-HKG-SIN-SYD in 2 weeks. Thanks guys.

 

[civinod]

Just to add my ten cents. I ended up with a really bad lower back which I can only put down to the A380 type J seats on a leg from LAX - SIN and then the leg to SYD.

It is now 2 months later and the back is still not back to normal.

I find the seat is great as far as space but there is no support when you are sighting upright

Everything else is great on Singapore but the seats really do need some work

 

[albatross710]

I only sit in the seat for the landing and takeoff. The rest of the time I have the bed down like on a couch. I eat my meals this way by moving to the side with the back support.

 

[Paddy55]

Sounds like Y seats would be better :shock:

 

[civinod]

Point taken (Paddy55). Yes it does sound very self indulgent.

However I really think when they designed the seat they wanted to have the biggest (which it is by a country mile) Hopefully the next version will look at the overall comfort.

I still rate Singapore J as the best overall.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Regardless of the seat, the service is amazing!

 

[Austman]

I found the seats quite good when sitting upright, but uncomfortable lying down. And at 6'3 I also found the space far too short - impossible to stretch out fully and the "cubby" where your feet go is very small.

The window seats might be better, if they are as per the A340? There the "cubby" extends a bit more into the space beside the seat in front and the fuselage.

 

[dajop]

You get three cushions - a leather for arm support, another soft cushion plus a third (you can retrieve from behind the seat) for sleeping with and a blanket. I usually find it easier to adjust these three cushions + blanket and get comfortable than trying to fiddle around with electronics. For lumber support the third cushion placed behind your back is probably best. Of course it all depends on the nature of the injury ( eg when I have episodes of lower back pain I find firm seat + upright better than laying back on soft seat).

The seats are wide, but that means loads of wing space, and an advantage of that is you are not hemmed in during the meal service, and (unless very large), you should be able to get out of the seat with the tray up and go for a walk (to the toilet, probably because you've had too many drinks before and during the meal ).

 

[albatross710]

Here's a relevant patent for further reading about the SQ J seat. Patent EP1718529B1 - Aircraft seating and seating arrangements - Google Patents

 

[Julesmac]

Have been reading a lot of mixed reviews (from terrible to good) of the A380 J class seats. Will travelling soon and my back (lumber) seems to be playing up atm. Can anyone shed some light on the extra wide seats?

Travelled last June MEL-SIN-CDG-SIN-MEL in A380 J SQ . The leg MEL-SIN was like sitting on a rock, and as others have mentioned the seats are huge - I ended up stuffing extra pillows around just to sit up comfortably. Next leg was in a much newer plane and the seat was much softer (maybe more padding as well as softer leather) Sleeping was fab, I generally find it difficult to get more than 2-3 hours but on the long legs both ways slept like a baby. Nearly forgot to mention just how superb the service was

 

[lmere12]

I was excited for my mum and I to fly SQ J A380 SIN - SYD, love the service but I wouldn't choose to fly A380 in J again because of the seat. Mum has a low back prob that was ok at the time but gave her grief on her flight. Seats are too hard, sleeping for us was fine.

 

[hgwells01]

Hubby and I both found them comfortable, but like Alby we put them in to bed mode and lounged around on them. Can't forget to mention the service, outstanding, looking forward to the next trip in Aug if that last wait list comes thru.

 

[prozac]

Maybe a touch firm but not uncomfortably so. In brown leather, angled against the stbd fuselage I just felt.....special. I like it.

 

[Danger UXB]

Not all the seats on the 380 are that wide some are narrower, and you don't have to have the narrow foot cubby thing either, some seats have a bench end so you don't have to sleep angled ,depending on your height of course