Which seat on VA29 SYD-AUH in Y

[PlutekPlutek]

hi

I'm looking to book a work trip to AUH on 1 August.I'm a VA plat and will most likely to for the VA29 arriving at midnight rather than the EY flight arriving around 6am. Travel will be in Y. At the moment there are no J upgrades available for the flight but I'm hoping they will open at least one seat between now and then. If not, what is the equivalent of the 737 row 3 on the 777 in Y - if any at all? The alternative is EY A380 in Y without a hope of upgrading.

 

[EUROPA]

Check seatguru for one of the exit rows.. Even if there is availability, you can only upgrade your Y ticket to J if it is a flexi, 45k points each way.

 

[jneufeld]

In Y I quite like 20C or 20H as these seats have quite a bit of leg room as they stick out into the aisle due to PE being 2-4-2 and Y being 3-3-3. The downside is you will occasionally get bumped and the armrests are fixed due to the tray table and screen located within them. They are also the only extra leg room seats in Y not near a toilet or galley.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

Check seatguru for one of the exit rows.. Even if there is availability, you can only upgrade your Y ticket to J if it is a flexi, 45k points each way.

Will be on flexi and 45k is no worries. Won't be able to use VA on the way back as they don't seem to fly on Saturdays.

 

[Demon_fan]

Any premium economy upgrades available? Think it's only 17k points, certainly one of the best value use of points.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

Any premium economy upgrades available? Think it's only 17k points, certainly one of the best value use of points.

No dice. No reward seats at all for that flight in any class. I saw there was premium and business for a flight on the Thursday before the Saturday in looking to fly but I would rather minimize the trip duration. I will monitor a few times a day to see if any upgrades become available. What is the premium economy like?

 

[Demon_fan]

No dice. No reward seats at all for that flight in any class. I saw there was premium and business for a flight on the Thursday before the Saturday in looking to fly but I would rather minimize the trip duration. I will monitor a few times a day to see if any upgrades become available. What is the premium economy like?

I liked it. Having said that, it was my first experience of not flying Y in a long haul flight. It did help having a shadow as well.

Was certainly a shock when my next flight was EY in Y going to Frankfurt.

 

[Ausbt]

Don't forget to register for the double points promotion that I believe VA & EY have going in August, although the mid-Aug kick-in may mean you only get the return leg. You should move the flight to the Thursday and get the upgrade - I've been choosing Thursday on that route to ensure upgrades, noting there hasn't been much available on the weekend departures.

As far as choosing Y between VA & EY, I really think the A380 product in Y is good, although I've only needed to do 7 hours of it AUH-LHR. Possibly 14 hours might change my mind. The AVOD is exceptionally good quality on that plane.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

Don't forget to register for the double points promotion that I believe VA & EY have going in August, although the mid-Aug kick-in may mean you only get the return leg. You should move the flight to the Thursday and get the upgrade - I've been choosing Thursday on that route to ensure upgrades, noting there hasn't been much available on the weekend departures.

As far as choosing Y between VA & EY, I really think the A380 product in Y is good, although I've only needed to do 7 hours of it AUH-LHR. Possibly 14 hours might change my mind. The AVOD is exceptionally good quality on that plane.

I think the promotion starts 3 August, which means my return flights will get the double points. I'm flying the A380, but with a VA flight number. I think this still gets double points, so I will effectively get + 100% for this promotion + 100% as a platinum bonus (hopefully)
As to flying on thursday - won't happen - I'm trying to minimize time away from home, so don't want to p*ss off the boss at home any further than now I did see this morning that all of the flights between now and then have upgrades available, and they didn't yesterday (even on the saturday - just not my saturday) - hoping that might change as it gets closer to the date.

 

[Ausbt]

As to flying on thursday - won't happen - I'm trying to minimize time away from home, so don't want to p*ss off the boss at home any further than now I did see this morning that all of the flights between now and then have upgrades available, and they didn't yesterday (even on the saturday - just not my saturday) - hoping that might change as it gets closer to the date.

Fingers crossed for you there. The boss at home? I gave up on domestic harmony a good while back. Mine simply demands "I'll take half your FF points, thanks. Oh, and some cash for the lawnmower man and someone to put the bins out as well". Ouch. Good haul of points coming your way though - if they ever get these new J seats in, you'll be up for a very nice upgrade next time.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

Fingers crossed for you there. The boss at home? I gave up on domestic harmony a good while back. Mine simply demands "I'll take half your FF points, thanks. Oh, and some cash for the lawnmower man and someone to put the bins out as well". Ouch. Good haul of points coming your way though - if they ever get these new J seats in, you'll be up for a very nice upgrade next time.

Yes, the boss is at home, with our two young princesses, one of which is six weeks old (hence me trying to stay away for as little as I can) and if it means putting up with Y, I'll take it
Hoping VA will open at least one seat. I keep checking once every few hours
I may try to upgrade using $$$ on the EY flight back. Did that recently for the mother-in-law (who has come from Europe to help with the little one), and she absolutely loved it. Consequently this trip would not even happen if she wasn't here. The wife wouldn't let me leave the house for over a week and leave her with the two princesses

 

[Deleted member 29185]

In Y I quite like 20C or 20H as these seats have quite a bit of leg room as they stick out into the aisle

Unlike jneufeld, I wouldn't recommend 20C or 20H for the exact reason given. I had 20C and it was an absolute PITA. You couldn't stretch out without risking tripping someone. Remember there is a curtain in front of you and the flight attendants storm through those curtains like the proverbial Bondi tram and I'd say 90% of the time, they managed to collide with my right shoulder. It was not what I'd call the "ideal" seat. I wouldn't recommend 20D,F,G as I noticed on my flight, PE guests wanting to chat to friends in the opposite aisle would nip into the Y cabin and cross from aisle to aisle in front of guests occupying 20D,F and G. I was glad it wasn't me and I wouldn't have put up with it. However, 20A or 20K would be my pick.

 

[PlutekPlutek]

Don't forget to register for the double points promotion that I believe VA & EY have going in August, although the mid-Aug kick-in may mean you only get the return leg. You should move the flight to the Thursday and get the upgrade - I've been choosing Thursday on that route to ensure upgrades, noting there hasn't been much available on the weekend departures.

Looks like work made the decision for me - I have to change my ticket to depart Sydney on Thursday. Hopefully no one will snap up the available reward seat in the next 24 hours