International Flights Question

[garycarla]

Some airlines - LOT included - have Premium Economy, which gives you larger seats with more legroom (and usually more recline), plus often better food choices than regular economy.

 

 

Yes, LOT is one of the few that offer a better product in premium economy by taking out one seat in the row. Here is a layout of their 787

 

Intra Europe on their 737 is a different story. See Layout

[cruiserdru]

Looking forward to this trip. Just want to get the details down so it will be smooth sailing.

 

Take good care of the AMA Serena for us. We will be boarding her to go to Budapest on the day you get off. This will be our first river cruise and we are very excited. Is your itinerary one of the wine-themed cruises?

 

CruiserDru

[gnome12]

On Air Canada Rouge (an airline I wouldn't otherwise recommend) premium economy had both wider seats (only 2-2-2 instead of 2-3-2 on my 767) as well as more legroom. I found it very comfortable.

[Capt_BJ]

if you look at that LOT 787 seating plan you see the issue is semantics

 

US has First, Business and Economy

 

LOT has Business, Premium Economy and Economy

 

LOT business had the BIG 1st class seats that turn into beds and all that stuff

 

PE had larger seats than economy with MUCH more leg room and the seats recline further with a pop up leg support.

 

Two other things to watch for if on LOT

 

1. If in E you can upgrade your meal to the PE .... our PE meal was a very nice steak ...

 

2. Originally I was in PE and DW was in E as she wanted to save the $ and is not as big as I am. A few days out from the trip she got a e-mail offering upgrade to PE for some $$ which she declined thinking it was too much. They came back and asked "what would you be willing to pay?" She made an offer and they took it and we were both in PE. If you get the offer make a reasonable bid and you might get lucky. There were empty PE seats on our flight. She paid about 1/2 the normal price difference.

[garycarla]

....Originally I was in PE and DW was in E as she wanted to save the $ and is not as big as I am. ....

 

Apparently, you are still the "Captain" of your ship. LOL!

 

The day my wife and I sat in different sections would be the day just BEFORE I got a call from her lawyer. LOL!

 

Really, the flight together is really special to us. We often watch a movie together on the ipad or computer with linked headsets. Enjoying wine and maybe sharing different parts of the meals. We have only flown Economy Plys a few times on domestic routes due to really cheap quotes or status upgrades. On some of the RTW flights we were barely sitting together as some of the newer seating is really best for solo travelers. But, some we got to share a "double bed".

 

 

In Intl we either do biz/first or if on a plane with only 2 seats on one side, we are okay with that in coach.

[Capt_BJ]

Apparently, you are still the "Captain" of your ship. LOL!

 

The day my wife and I sat in different sections would be the day just BEFORE I got a call from her lawyer. LOL!

 

she booked the entire trip ... her choices .. she wanted a river cruise but I'm just too tall and wide to spend that many hours in an economy airline seat without serious drugs ... so the deal was I'd go but we had to fly business class (or better) .. she decided we could split for the flight over and HOPEFULLY we'd sleep most of the way anywho {she's a CPA and counts every dollar}

 

as I mentioned she also found the trip back deal which was QM2 with a balcony from Hamburg to NYC at less $$ than the flight over. {of course I ended up spending about $1000 on new clothes for QM dress code not having worn a jacket in 8 years}

 

Either way .... happy wife, happy life.

 

btw ... about 1/2 way thru the flight she'd decided when we go next time, it is bus or 1st .... no questions .... it IS worth it.

[dabear]

What airline is that?

 

In all my travels on maybe 20 different airlines, the only "wider" seats were in business/first. All economy seats were the same. Some of the newer "economy plus" that you spend a bit extra for do have a bit more room from front to back (few inches), but the width is the same. They can not make the plane wider.

 

Not trying to be negative, but you need to have correct expectations. If you tell us what airline/flight I can direct you to a seat map.

 

go to seatgurudotcom & with the airline and flight number you can see the details of your seat

[ducklite]

One of my hacks is to learn how to say, "can you help/assist me? I only speak English," in the local language. So far, it has worked wonders in Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, and France.

 

 

 

Considering four years (or more) of English has been compulsory in most Croatian schools since 1991, most people under 35 speak at least some language, and in tourist areas and major cities, few people don't speak some English.

[ducklite]

What airline is that?

 

In all my travels on maybe 20 different airlines, the only "wider" seats were in business/first. All economy seats were the same. Some of the newer "economy plus" that you spend a bit extra for do have a bit more room from front to back (few inches), but the width is the same. They can not make the plane wider.

 

Not trying to be negative, but you need to have correct expectations. If you tell us what airline/flight I can direct you to a seat map.

 

 

 

Actually on many airlines, premium economy does have wider seats. Not business/first wide, but a couple inches wider than economy. Instead of 2-5-2 they have 2-4-2 or instead of 3-4-3 they have 3-3-3, etc.

[garycarla]

...btw ... about 1/2 way thru the flight she'd decided when we go next time, it is bus or 1st .... no questions .... it IS worth it.

 

Start playing the NEW credit card game. We did all our RTW flights using sign up bonuses. 50k here, 30k there, etc. Went through 800k in points on the trip and less than 20k were real airline miles.

[jpalbny]

Really, the flight together is really special to us. We often watch a movie together on the ipad or computer with linked headsets. Enjoying wine and maybe sharing different parts of the meals.

 

It sure is!

 

btw ... about 1/2 way thru the flight she'd decided when we go next time, it is bus or 1st .... no questions .... it IS worth it.

 

Nothing more to add to that...agree!

Edited October 4, 2016 by jpalbny

[CPT Trips]

Considering four years (or more) of English has been compulsory in most Croatian schools since 1991, most people under 35 speak at least some language, and in tourist areas and major cities, few people don't speak some English.

 

Well of course many Europeans, unlike us do speak multiple languages. But it's rather rude to be presumptuous about a person's language ability and launch right into English don't you think?

[ducklite]

Well of course many Europeans, unlike us do speak multiple languages. But it's rather rude to be presumptuous about a person's language ability and launch right into English don't you think?

 

I usually ask if they speak English. In English. You'll get the same answer either way. I can speak some French, Spanish, and Italian. Not great, but enough to get by to order a meal, ask directions, or check in at a hotel. I have found particularly in Italy and Croatia, the people I've encountered LIKE to speak English--they have told me they like to practice. Of course I like to practice my Italian, so...

[omahacruisercm]

The passengers will need to hurry or ask for help in Chicago. You need to leave the main terminal and take a train to the international Terminal and go through security again. This can be very time consuming. They should ask the flight attendant on their first flight for help.

[omahacruisercm]

OOS...I thought the connection was in Chicago.

[garycarla]

... re: your signature notes...

 

Just noticed you had a number of comments in your signature about taking 2-3 week trips with just a carryon.

 

We recently did this on our RTW trip (link in signature). We found it liberating and did the same on another trip. Doing 16 days later this month and will do it again.

 

Interesting note. In all our travels, I always had a carryon with important stuf and a change of clothes for both of us. On this trip, my wife also had a carryon and almost walked out the lounge leaving hers behind. LOL!

[TravelerThom]

Just noticed you had a number of comments in your signature about taking 2-3 week trips with just a carryon. We recently did this on our RTW trip (link in signature). We found it liberating and did the same on another trip. Doing 16 days later this month and will do it again...

In early April we did 3n Lisbon, 7n Douro River, 2n Porto and 1n Frankfurt (13 nights not counting the night on the plane) with just carry on. The challenging part was this was on Lufthansa who has an 8Kg (17lb) carry on limit (and they do often weigh). I wore my waterproof hikers and my heavier coats and did manage to get both my carry on and personal item down to 8Kg. I have done a 3 week trip to Antarctica where the long-haul was on Lan Chile who also has an 8Kg limit; I was actually over the limit then, but kept moving stuff around and putting on more clothes until they gave up and let me go. Laundry is your friend.:p I haven't lost a carry on yet (which is better than I can say for checked luggage).

 

Thom

[tlund]

Take good care of the AMA Serena for us. We will be boarding her to go to Budapest on the day you get off. This will be our first river cruise and we are very excited. Is your itinerary one of the wine-themed cruises?

 

CruiserDru

 

We will try our best. Everything I hear is that AMA is top notch. We are not doing a wine-themed cruise.

[tlund]

if you look at that LOT 787 seating plan you see the issue is semantics

 

US has First, Business and Economy

 

LOT has Business, Premium Economy and Economy

 

LOT business had the BIG 1st class seats that turn into beds and all that stuff

 

PE had larger seats than economy with MUCH more leg room and the seats recline further with a pop up leg support.

 

Two other things to watch for if on LOT

 

1. If in E you can upgrade your meal to the PE .... our PE meal was a very nice steak ...

 

2. Originally I was in PE and DW was in E as she wanted to save the $ and is not as big as I am. A few days out from the trip she got a e-mail offering upgrade to PE for some $$ which she declined thinking it was too much. They came back and asked "what would you be willing to pay?" She made an offer and they took it and we were both in PE. If you get the offer make a reasonable bid and you might get lucky. There were empty PE seats on our flight. She paid about 1/2 the normal price difference.

 

 

 

Bummer. They already booked and paid for PE. If I would have known about the bidding process, I would have tried to bid for the seats. Although, it can be risky too. If they weren't offered or won the bid, they would be disappointed.