Upper deck J seat 747-400

[straitman]

Hvr,

Congratulations on the upgrade.

My preference is row 16 Upper Deck. I agree (how unusual) with Dave Noble that the upper deck has more floor movement when trying to sleep but I only really sleep with help anyway.

 

[NM]

There are obviously less passengers on the upper deck ...

In my experience, this is not so obvious. There may be more J seats downstairs, but the upper deck fills up first. When J is not full, it is my experience that the upper deck is still often at or close to 100% while the lower deck has lots of empty seats. This often results in less passengers on the lower deck. This is especially true of the Kangaroo config with 22/24 upper deck J seats and 28 lower deck J seats.

 

[JohnK]

In my experience, this is not so obvious. There may be more J seats downstairs, but the upper deck fills up first. When J is not full, it is my experience that the upper deck is still often at or close to 100% while the lower deck has lots of empty seats.

So it almost confirms that the upper deck is more popular and must have something going for it if it consistently fills up well before the lower deck. Need I say more....

 

[NM]

So it almost confirms that the upper deck is more popular and must have something going for it if it consistently fills up well before the lower deck. Need I say more....

Yep, the upper deck is more popular, which is one of the reasons I prefer the lower deck (less likelihood of being full). So I am happy to see lots of people preferring the upper deck . I have never been one for conforming to popular opinion. I make my own judgements based on my own experiences.

 

[straitman]

I have never been one for conforming to popular opinion.

Obviously :!:

 

[serfty]

So it almost confirms that the upper deck is more popular and must have something going for it if it consistently fills up well before the lower deck. Need I say more....

Yes, like lemmings IMHO ... as posted, the E seats tend to fill up last and if in a D or a F seat there's a very good chance of a vacant skybed beside you.

 

[JohnK]

This is one of the reasons why asking someone else for seating preference is almost meaningless. We all have our likes and dislikes and there is no such thing as a bad business class seat even an "E" seat. Just because someone has had umpteen flights in business class, even if you have had the chance to try every seat, does not make their opinion better than someone with only a few flights in business class. Some are a tall, short, thin, wide etc.

In my limited experience in business class on a 747, I think 7 flights overall, I have been on the upper deck 5 times and on the lower deck twice. I could care less about a spare seat next to me in business class and I have had that happen numerous times on CX and AY flights. Some of the reasons people give for disliking upstairs in my opinion are nitpicking, like limited overhead space, the light in the toilet, floorboards creeking, getting off the aircraft behind the rest of business class etc.

There is only one way to find out comfort and that is by experimenting. There is no point a 5'0" person weighing 53 kilos telling me a particular seat is comfortable and just because someone has sat in 46C all their life does not make that the best seat either. YMMV!

 

[serfty]

... We all have our likes and dislikes and there is no such thing as a bad business class seat even an "E" seat. ...

That is correct - the OP was asking for opinions on seats that are the "more non bad" (or perhaps the "better good").

... What would your personal views and experiences for these seats (or any alternatives)?

In the context of this thread, advice was asked for - and given.

... There is only one way to find out comfort and that is by experimenting. ...

Yep, I have experimented and reach the conclusion I posted.

... must have something going for it if it consistently fills up well before the lower deck. ...

Other than the exit seat I fail to see any reason to be upstairs ... but that's my issue, and I supplied my opinion in response to the OP's request.

.. other than that, see my post #16 in response to the OP!

 

[NM]

I could care less about a spare seat next to me in business class ...

For me, the key point is not having a spare seat beside me or not. Its that I can have an aisle seat (my personal preference) without having a neighbour who has to climb over or past me, and hence possibly disturb me, to get out. So I will always take a lower deck D or F seat ahead of an upper deck B or J seat, with the only exception being row 16 upper deck exit row. For me, that it the most important factor in preferring the lower deck.

Its great that different people have different preferences. If that was not the case life would be very boring.

 

[simongr]

This is one of the reasons why asking someone else for seating preference is almost meaningless. We all have our likes and dislikes and there is no such thing as a bad business class seat even an "E" seat.

With well over 100 J flights in the past 2 years I will tell you that there are bad J seats. They are all universally better than whY seats but then a whY seat is better than sitting on the back of a donkey going from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

In terms of nitpicking - isnt that the point of the OP's question? They are asking for distinctions between seating options - people have highlighted those distinctions. The J seats for mrssimongr and I HKG-JGK on CX were bad as we were at the back of J and had hours of screaming kids at the front of whY. At least at the front of J there are fewer chances for the same problem - but there is still a risk.

Getting off quickly is important if you walk quickly through the airport and want to get out quickly having no luggage. If you have luggage then it often makes no difference - apart from the US where immi is a bitca.

Context is the most important thing when reading advice from other people. I wouldnt ask for pitch advice from a midget or IFE advice from Tommy whilst he is playing his mean pinball.

 

[JohnK]

Again this is only personal opinion and can be taken with a grain of salt but after spending last night SYD-SIN flight in 16J upstairs I can definitely say without a word of a doubt that this is the place to be on a 747.

It is by far the most popular and I still do not see the attraction with the downstairs business class cabin. Last night it was a zoo downstairs and upstairs was so quiet. Maybe it is different on the 4 class aircraft but I would take upper deck anytime. Thank you Qantas for the upgrade....

 

[Evan]

JohnK,
Was that an Op-Up ? or a points requested one ? dont tell me you got lucky ? Actually i have been lucky enough to get Op-Up'ed on CX717 HKG-SIN this morning.
E

 

[MelUser]

I think John's was a non-points op up.

Presumably this means that all passengers requesting points upgrades got them and there were some op-ups left over for top status pax?

 

[Evan]

I think John's was a non-points op up.

Presumably this means that all passengers requesting points upgrades got them and there were some op-ups left over for top status pax?

That would be my assumption, The same as my flight, full down the back and it seemed 3 or 4 OWE go op-up'ed. I would have assumed after anybody who requested an upgrade.
You would think this is the way all airlines would do it, but you never know ! not like QF to follow any kind of logic is it

E

 

[serfty]

JohnK,
Was that an Op-Up ? or a points requested one ? dont tell me you got lucky ? Actually i have been lucky enough to get Op-Up'ed on CX717 HKG-SIN this morning.
E

It certainly was an OP-UP - To a coveted exit row aisle seat no less!

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...request-period-question-15454.html#post210175

Note my disclaimers regarding the upperdeck exit seats/Row 16 in posts #16 and #28 of this very thread.

 

[simongr]

It certainly was an OP-UP - To a coveted exit row aisle seat no less!

Just to add some idle speculation - was this a 3/4 class config? I.e. was there F? If so I assume the resident of 16A got moved to F and JohnK got their seat...

 

[serfty]

No, QF5 SYD-SIN(-FRA), generally a 2 class configuration.

 

[JohnK]

JohnK,
Was that an Op-Up ? or a points requested one ? dont tell me you got lucky ? Actually i have been lucky enough to get Op-Up'ed on CX717 HKG-SIN this morning.

Evan, to this date I have never requested an upgrade on a flight except in the early days when I had one upgrade certificate and I used it on a SYD-BNE flight in 2005 as part of an international itinerary.

It was an op-up again, I think 3 times in a row now. WHY was full and there was 8 seats free in business class, 4 upstairs and 4 downstairs. I am going to name this one the silent op-up as I was not told during the check-in process. Feels great to pay for WHY and sit in a business class seat.

Just to add some idle speculation - was this a 3/4 class config? I.e. was there F? If so I assume the resident of 16A got moved to F and JohnK got their seat...

Only a 2 class config Simon. Last trip I received a double op-up from WHY to business on a 4 class config aircraft. I think it is QFs way of telling me they are sorry for providing me with a <20% on time performance on domestic flights for the past 6 months.

At the moment there is one thing for certain and that is I will endeavour to remain a QF Platinum, not just Oneworld Emerald, for the forseeable future. Thank you Qantas....

 

[pauly7]

Evan, to this date I have never requested an upgrade on a flight except in the early days when I had one upgrade certificate and I used it on a SYD-BNE flight in 2005 as part of an international itinerary.

It was an op-up again, I think 3 times in a row now. WHY was full and there was 8 seats free in business class, 4 upstairs and 4 downstairs. I am going to name this one the silent op-up as I was not told during the check-in process. Feels great to pay for WHY and sit in a business class seat.


Only a 2 class config Simon. Last trip I received a double op-up from WHY to business on a 4 class config aircraft. I think it is QFs way of telling me they are sorry for providing me with a <20% on time performance on domestic flights for the past 6 months.

At the moment there is one thing for certain and that is I will endeavour to remain a QF Platinum, not just Oneworld Emerald, for the forseeable future. Thank you Qantas....

Wow John, thats a fantastic run - QF are really looking after you thats great!

 

[Tooner]

I have had limited experience with modern J seats, but my feeling with Seatguru's "yellow" seats is that if you don't use ear plugs and eye shades at a minimum (I haven't used the noise cancelling headphones as well - yet!), the light/noise etc may annoy you.

Best sleep is of course in F - esp when op-uped