Qantas Intl Legroom - Ranked Last

[timster]

I wonder if this helps explain why Australians are ditching QF intl for other airlines.

It was probably the major reason why I ditched QFi. BA being just as bad space-wise didn't help, and all in all has led me to ditch OW. I don't have a choice to travel other than in Y. I used to get free exit rows just for asking (I'm tall). But QF and BA have charged extra for them for a while now, which has strangely created a demand amongst pax who are not tall (and often not emergency-fit). It became hard to get them even when paying.

Other airlines still give me exit rows for free. But as your list shows, even the mostly Asian airlines I now fly with have more spacious regular seats, despite having the smallest pax !

There was a long list of other things that turned me off QF, but lack of longhaul comfort was right up there. My knees are much happier.

 

[Austman]

I have traveled on almost all of the airlines and I don't believe it.

Some of the Asian airlines have thick seats that might well be 34" pitch but you feel just as squeezed.

I don't even want to talk about Asiana - OMG. And CX in Y is rubbish too.

QFi is actually pretty good. The seats are really slimline. It makes a big difference.

Seat pitch comparison is fine. As long as the seats themselves are the same. But in Y, they are all over the place. What's needed is another metric. One that doesn't include seat thickness when measuring pitch.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What's needed is another metric. One that doesn't include seat thickness when measuring pitch.

How about 'actual legroom'?? (or rather knee room)

It really shouldn't be that hard... distance between forward edge of the seat pan and the back of the seat in front. Although I suppose that would open the way for airlines to have shorter seat pans.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Correct me if im wrong but your list states CX at 32. But isnt that for their hardshell Y product.
Meaning thats 32 upright. at the "recline" its somewhat less. I havent been on CX in a while those but last i heard they were around still.

I think the shell seats are still on the 747s and maybe 343s? There was some talk the shell seats would be transferred to the regional fleet - but not sure if that's been shelved? They were deeply unpopular.

The 'upright' vs 'recline' isn't really an issue. Whether or not you agree with seat reclining, the total amount of available space per passenger stays the same. If the passenger behind a recliner chooses not to recline that's their choice to limit their personal space.

 

[TomVexille]

I have traveled on almost all of the airlines and I don't believe it.

Some of the Asian airlines have thick seats that might well be 34" pitch but you feel just as squeezed.

I don't even want to talk about Asiana - OMG. And CX in Y is rubbish too.

QFi is actually pretty good. The seats are really slimline. It makes a big difference.

Seat pitch comparison is fine. As long as the seats themselves are the same. But in Y, they are all over the place. What's needed is another metric. One that doesn't include seat thickness when measuring pitch.

Here's my Asiana experience



As you can see, heaps of knee space, lot's of legroom. I'm not tall, but I am 5'10" so it's not like I'm short.

 

[eminere]

Here's my Asiana experience

That's pretty incredible. Which aircraft was this?

 

[Austman]

Here's my Asiana experience As you can see, heaps of knee space, lot's of legroom. I'm not tall, but I am 5'10" so it's not like I'm short.

That's is nothing like my Asiana experiences, which were on their 747 aircraft. One flight was a combi I seem to recall. It was really tight. Your photo looks to be a more modern aircraft or a refurb.

 

[TomVexille]

That's pretty incredible. Which aircraft was this?

777-200ER Registration HL-8254

That's is nothing like my Asiana experiences, which were on their 747 aircraft. One flight was a combi I seem to recall. It was really tight. Your photo looks to be a more modern aircraft or a refurb.

You would be correct. It's one of their newer 777's

 

[Mr_Orange]

Here's my Asiana experience

View attachment 60083

As you can see, heaps of knee space, lot's of legroom. I'm not tall, but I am 5'10" so it's not like I'm short.

Looks impressive, but there are other things to consider such as length of a person's legs. I am 6', only 2" taller than you, but have long legs so would wager that the above photograph would look very different if it were me in the seat. You need to factor in seat comfort as well. You are possibly sitting bolt upright with your bum pushed right back into the seat back. Some seats may prevent this posture over longer periods of time leading to the knees getting closer/jammed into the seat in front.

Just as seat pitch does not tell the whole story, nor does apparent space in a photograph. There are just too many variables to define what is best or reach consensus.

 

[TomVexille]

Looks impressive, but there are other things to consider such as length of a person's legs. I am 6', only 2" taller than you, but have long legs so would wager that the above photograph would look very different if it were me in the seat. You need to factor in seat comfort as well. You are possibly sitting bolt upright with your bum pushed right back into the seat back. Some seats may prevent this posture over longer periods of time leading to the knees getting closer/jammed into the seat in front.

Just as seat pitch does not tell the whole story, nor does apparent space in a photograph. There are just too many variables to define what is best or reach consensus.

Oh, absolutely. But quite simply this was the airline that I have had the most knee space on of any standard (non-exit or extra legroom) longhaul Y seat in the last 10 years.

Even with the person in front reclined, I still had space to slide my butt around the seat to constantly change position over the 13 hours.

 

[Digger11]

I am 6'6 and just got done with an economy flight from LAX to SYD on Qantas. It wasn't too bad but I kept my legs straight while asleep as they went nicely under the seat in front. If I wanted to sleep with them bent then it would have been a problem. Getting in and out of my seat, whilst the seat in front was reclined, was a challenge but other than that the experience was tolerable. On my flight over to the States (SYD to DFW) I was moved during the flight to a spare bulk head seat. Quite nice of them to notice me and do that.

im guessing your under 40 ????
i am the same height and 53 with sore knees and arthiritis in one hip, QF economy just does not work, it is actually like slow painful torture.
Blacks, Asians, Lesbians etc. all complain about discrimination, it is nothing compared to what a straight white 6ft 6 Aussie has to put up with.

 

[timster]

I have traveled on almost all of the airlines and I don't believe it.

I have traveled on many airlines across that list too. And it fits with my experiences.

BA-747's are probably the worst of the lot, with QF about as bad. My knees are hard up against the seat in front in all their planes. In fact I have to splay my legs outwards. It's still torture.

On TG, SQ, CX, EK etc I don't have to do to that. There are some planes in each of those fleets where the pitch varies across the aircraft, and while their minimum pitch is still usually better than QF's consistently bad pitch, it helps to know where on the aircraft has the best pitch, which can be 34".

 

[dajop]

Here's my Asiana experience


As you can see, heaps of knee space, lot's of legroom. I'm not tall, but I am 5'10" so it's not like I'm short.

Not dissimilar to my experience upstairs on OZ A380, although slightly less legroom (although I am 6' so makes a bit of a difference). Legroom was quite generous. Although on OZ (and SQ) I would happily do without the legrest which can get a bit annoying.

 

[earlyriser]

im guessing your under 40 ????
i am the same height and 53 with sore knees and arthiritis in one hip, QF economy just does not work, it is actually like slow painful torture.
Blacks, Asians, Lesbians etc. all complain about discrimination, it is nothing compared to what a straight white 6ft 6 Aussie has to put up with.

You got me, I'm 32. I usually find 30 minutes to stand around at the back in the middle of the flight. In my 20's I used to get moved to an exit row at check-in with ease. I probably only missed out 3-4 times in ~20 tries. I have taken 7 long haul flights since they started charging for them and I haven't got one. Did get moved to a bulk head once so batting 1/7 in economy. I oddly enjoyed making eye contact with a number of the very short people with extra leg room in the upstairs economy section in the A380 last week. I think there is 16 seats there with extra leg room and 18 without. Couldn't have been anymore than 1 or 2 of them over 6 feet tall.

 

[Austman]

I oddly enjoyed making eye contact with a number of the very short people with extra leg room in the upstairs economy section in the A380 last week. I think there is 16 seats there with extra leg room and 18 without. Couldn't have been anymore than 1 or 2 of them over 6 feet tall.

I did MEL-LAX and LAX-MEL on the QF A380 upper deck a few weeks ago. I'm 6' 3". It was actually quite OK.

There are 30 Y seats but only 5 of them are extra leg room and 3 of those might be a bit annoying as it's also a passageway. There are another 8 bulkhead seats but I'd not class them as extra legroom. And there are 17 regular seats. I chose a regular seat over the bulkhead - the next row (33) with no seat behind. I could stretch out fully - but it's still quite limited recline. Knee room was quite OK but not great. Not having anyone behind is a big plus - no screen tapping or leg kicking or seat bumping. LAX-MEL I managed to sleep for about 7 or 8 hours.

Not having a cup holder is annoying. It's otherwise hard to keep a drink from spilling when you don't really want to have the tray down.

 

[timster]

In my 20's I used to get moved to an exit row at check-in with ease. I probably only missed out 3-4 times in ~20 tries. I have taken 7 long haul flights since they started charging for them and I haven't got one..

My experience too. 15+ years of free exit rows for being tall. I'm guessing 19 in every 20 flights. But almost no free exit rows once QF started charging, even when they were still available at checkin. After a while exit rows weren't often available even when I was willing to pay when booking online quite early.

And selling (most) bulkhead seats as "extra leg room" is an insult - tantamount to false pretenses.

So the QFi longhaul Y experience went from bearable to torture. Little surprise that I rarely fly with QFi anymore.

On other airlines I either get free exit rows, easy paid ones, or better pitch in regular Y seats.

 

[JohnK]

These are not my experiences at all. I feel more comfortable in a Qantas economy seat than I do with some of the airlines mentioned. In my experience seat pitch is not really related to legroom but I am also considerably shorter than the OP.

Qantas doesn't have premium economy on asian flights, despite all competitors having it.

It does on some flights.

 

[mannej]

It does on some flights.

And not all competitors have PE (TG for one, nor do GA), so not quite factually correct.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

And not all competitors have PE (TG for one, nor do GA), so not quite factually correct.

True...
GA is so cheap in biz it's practically premium economy by cost.
TG, well... all those Colombian frequent flyers in Australia are paying premium economy prices and flying first class!

 

[Austman]

And selling (most) bulkhead seats as "extra leg room" is an insult - tantamount to false pretenses.

That, at least, seems to have now stopped.