Air Canada 787 (Dreamliner) Business seats "not quite flat"?

I've read several reports (e.g., SeatGuru) that these Business class "flat bed seats with 180 degree recline" are "not quite flat".

That could mean three things.

1) There is a slight angle or tilt to the entire bed, that it's not really "horizontal flat", or

2) The bed isn't really a uniform flat surface, such as with a bump in a joint, or

3) Ditto, but the joint doesn't really open to a full 180 degrees.

I know a lot of people don't like the "angled" beds, but at least that would be a nice truly "flat" surface (even if one tended to slip down a bit, etc.)

For a side sleeper, the third possibility above can cause a real problem, but probably not so much as for a back sleeper. (Stomach sleepers would have even more trouble with this!)

The second possibility could also be a real problem, depending upon just where any such bump is.

Is there any first hand experience with this admittedly very first world issue?

For a very long flight, this might affect our choice of airline.

BTW, we've really loved the AC Dreamliner "premium economy" within Canada. The very modest surcharge for these seats is crazy, and probably can't last. (But those seats aren't actually labeled "premium economy" on this route; it's just a very slightly higher fee to "select" those particular seats.

NICE plane thus far :)

Thank you.

Checking Seatguru, here:

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_Canada/information.php

They are lie flat. Not "nearly" flat. As opposed to "angled flat", (Seatguru's term) which you describe in your point #1.

As far as I am aware, having used lie flat seats on various airlines, both in First and Business, there is no absolutely smooth lie flat "beds", there is always some "seams"- the places where the seat folds. Many First class seats come with pads or similar to smooth these out.

So, I would think your comments refer to the lack of smoothness.

Checking Seatguru, here:

 

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_Canada/information.php

 

They are lie flat. Not "nearly" flat. As opposed to "angled flat", (Seatguru's term) which you describe in your point #1.

 

As far as I am aware, having used lie flat seats on various airlines, both in First and Business, there is no absolutely smooth lie flat "beds", there is always some "seams"- the places where the seat folds. Many First class seats come with pads or similar to smooth these out.

 

So, I would think your comments refer to the lack of smoothness.

Thanks.

I know how they are described by Air Canada, but not everything is as advertised.

And there were several complaints about the seat *not* being really flat bed, which is why I asked.

A very occasional complaint can be dismissed, but when we read several that mention the same problem, we tend to take that more seriously.

We've been in an occasional so-called "flat bed" business seat that didn't recline the full 180 degrees, and it was noticeable. But it could have been that those seats/beds were slightly broken, or maybe that was as good as it gets.

Those weren't long haul, so it wasn't a serious problem.

We'd rather fly Air Canada for the specific trip being considered, so we are trying to figure this out.

Hmmm. We'll be on an Air Canada Dreamliner later this month (domestic within Canada). I wonder how the flight attendant would react if I wanted to "try" the business seat for just a few minutes, if it wasn't full. (Probably, "not well"! :( )

Are there any first hand reports about this...?

I'm sure this information is on flyertalk.com. Have you looked there?

The 787-800 is different from the -900. Do you know which version you have on your flight? CA flies both. The -800 was 180 lie flat with a slight angle recline, as I remember. I'll be on the -9 in a couple months.

The 787-800 is different from the -900. Do you know which version you have on your flight? CA flies both. The -800 was 180 lie flat with a slight angle recline, as I remember. I'll be on the -9 in a couple months.

Ah, that's very interesting. I wonder why the difference... not quite enough actual pitch in the -800 series?

I'll have to check about which category, and it could change anyway. This is for very long-haul, so I'm guessing the larger -900 series. We'll double check before booking.

But if it's angled/*flat*, that's okay for us, although not ideal.

(Well, depending upon *how* angled, I hope? We either haven't had "angled flat bed" yet, or it didn't bother us/we didn't notice.)

Thank you.

The angle is around 5%, no where approaching 10%.

The angle is around 5%, no where approaching 10%.

I actually have no idea how much angle would be noticed, or would become troublesome/irritating in terms of "sliding down". But if it's *flat* with a slight angle, that should be okay.

Any idea why AC have the slight difference in the seats for the two aircraft?

Or... how much "angled" tends to be ignored (by AC or other airlines) when describing First or Business class seats as "lie flat" (when "not horizontal") without including the word "angled"?

Does SeatGuru pick up the seat measurements/descriptions from the manufacturer or the airline, or...?

Thank you again.

Seat guru actually shows those seats as lie flat not angled. Someone in the comments section pointed out they are not perfectly flat. Seat guru is typically fairly good at designating seats as angled lie flats when they are so. You won't slide off the seat, no worries!

Seat guru actually shows those seats as lie flat not angled. Someone in the comments section pointed out they are not perfectly flat. Seat guru is typically fairly good at designating seats as angled lie flats when they are so. You won't slide off the seat, no worries!

Yup, that is where I read the "not perfectly flat" comments, and didn't know quite what that meant, per my initial post here.

I didn't (at the time) think about it meaning "angled" [as in "sloped"], because those are, after all, *flat*.

I was thinking of "angled" as in "there is still a slight angle between back and seat", given we did have that once. A back sleeper probably wouldn't be bothered much (?). But for a side sleeper, it sort of ruined the "flat bed" concept somewhat.

[Yes, yes, First World Problem! We aren't so much complaining as trying to figure out which is which, and perhaps how to tell in advance, etc., as it could affect choices for ultra-long haul.]

Anyway, your info is really helpful. These seats (assuming no equipment changes, etc.) will be just fine for us :)

I do wonder why Air Canada has the two different Business class seats. They must interrupt the "recline" a bit, so it can fit better into a slightly smaller pitch? But the pitch is stated as the same, also.

Do you happen to know where SeatGuru gets this information? Airline, manufacturer, Little Gremlins running around planes measuring ;) ...?

Some of the seat guru info comes from passengers - I know because my brother emailed them about some errors in one of their seating plans.

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The 787-800 is different from the -900. Do you know which version you have on your flight? CA flies both. The -800 was 180 lie flat with a slight angle recline, as I remember. I'll be on the -9 in a couple months.

Hello again.

Have you taken your trip on the AC 787-900 "business class" yet?

If so, how was it?

We are now planning to take it long-haul (~11 hours) next year.

We've since been on our trip to Japan, and we know that we were *totally* spoiled, with F in JL and CX. What an experience!

But that was to be our "Trip Of A Lifetime", and it definitely fit that title. We spent a fortune, and it was so very worth it. It's been a few months now, but we still comment several times a week about "... remember when we were at...?"

But we are trying very hard not to have that affect our expectations (yeah, good luck with that, eh? ;) )

So on the "900", were the beds horizontal? And more importantly (for us, anyway), were they truly *flat*?

Any other comments so we can have reasonable expectations?

There aren't many other good choices for routing without inconvenient connections or such.

Many thanks.

GC

We flew this in April and I must say this plane in business put any others we have flown to shame. Even in business class, I RARELY fall asleep on even the longest flights, but I was so comfortable on this plane, that I slept about 5 to 6 hours on it - can't believe that. It was very comfortable!

Hello again.

 

Have you taken your trip on the AC 787-900 "business class" yet?

 

If so, how was it?

 

We are now planning to take it long-haul (~11 hours) next year.

 

We've since been on our trip to Japan, and we know that we were *totally* spoiled, with F in JL and CX. What an experience!

But that was to be our "Trip Of A Lifetime", and it definitely fit that title. We spent a fortune, and it was so very worth it. It's been a few months now, but we still comment several times a week about "... remember when we were at...?"

But we are trying very hard not to have that affect our expectations (yeah, good luck with that, eh? ;) )

 

So on the "900", were the beds horizontal? And more importantly (for us, anyway), were they truly *flat*?

 

Any other comments so we can have reasonable expectations?

There aren't many other good choices for routing without inconvenient connections or such.

 

Many thanks.

 

GC

DH and I did two segments on this plane in May/June. If it wasn’t completely flat, I would be very surprised. Both legs were extremely comfortable. I would go out if my way to fly in this plane again.

DH and I did two segments on this plane in May/June. If it wasn’t completely flat, I would be very surprised. Both legs were extremely comfortable. I would go out if my way to fly in this plane again.

You are mistaken. The 787 has lieflat seats in business class on the both the -8 and -9 variants with Air Canada.

You are mistaken. The 787 has lieflat seats in business class on the both the -8 and -9 variants with Air Canada.

I was responding to the posters question as to whether the seats were lie flat. I said “If it wasn’t completely flat, I would be very surprised”. How am I mistaken?

I was responding to the posters question as to whether the seats were lie flat. I said “If it wasn’t completely flat, I would be very surprised”. How am I mistaken?

Apologies, I misread what you wrote as "it wasn't completely flat". I blame the turbulence and handheld device combo.

If there is an angle it is a very small angle. I think you will notice a bigger angle from the pilot changing altitude to avoid turbulence or something else than the seat.

The last 180 angled flat seats in the fleet were the A340-500. They left the fleet almost a decade ago.