Boeing 787-8 (788) - Is it worth switching to premium economy

[getab0at]

Hi

 

Looks like my plane changed to a different plane configuration.    Anyway, what people think of changing to premium economy versus economy - this is $350 a person.   It is three of us so would probably do the middle three?   Or is it just worth paying $130.00 a person to move to the main cabin extra section.    My husband and I are not 'small' people so trying to decide whether to move and possible take a bulkhead seat for more legroom.   Though then I see comments that those seats use the table for the entertainment so they then seat could be a little smaller. 

 

Just wondering if others have flown this type of plan for 8 hours!! and their opinions on the seats.   Sadly. I don't have $2618 more a person to move to business class.

[Zach1213]

Airlines matter, so do share that. Airlines choose interior configurations, not Boeing, so different airlines have different 787-8 interiors...hell, some airlines have multiple different interiors on the same aircraft type. 

[getab0at]

• Hi   I used seatguru to find the configuration.   It is American Airlines flight number 714 on 8/19/2024

 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, getab0at said:

• Hi   I used seatguru to find the configuration.   It is American Airlines flight number 714 on 8/19/2024

 

No US based carrier uses the 747 anymore. Must be a codeshare. British Air, perhaps?

 

Seatguru is horribly outdated and inaccurate. It is essentially not being updated for many years now.

[Shorex]

Seatguru is no longer updated. The most accurate site for airline configuration (to the best of my knowledge) is aerolopa.com

Here is the page for AA:

https://www.aerolopa.com/aa

 

and one config for AA 788:

https://www.aerolopa.com/aa-788

 

Booking a bullkhead seat can be problematic as some airlines will displace you for a parent with a baby (if bulkhead is a bassinet location on a long haul aircraft.) Also bulkhead seats may be allocated at the gate to handicapped passengers. Booking an exit row will give you more legroom, assuming you meet the requirements.

 

Personally, I'd choose premium economy, but it's your evaluation that matters.

 

 

[getab0at]

Thanks for the information.    It is British Airways it looks like for that flight.

[Globaliser]

44 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

2 hours ago, getab0at said:

• Hi   I used seatguru to find the configuration.   It is American Airlines flight number 714 on 8/19/2024

No US based carrier uses the 747 anymore. Must be a codeshare. British Air, perhaps?

 

Who said anything about a 747?

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

4 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

Who said anything about a 747?

 

 

Think the title was edited...

[Zach1213]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

No US based carrier uses the 747 anymore. Must be a codeshare. British Air, perhaps?

 

 

US-based carriers absolutely use the 747. They just don't put human passengers on them 🙂

 

BA doesn't have any 747s whatsoever anymore. Thank gosh...those things were getting trashed.

24 minutes ago, getab0at said:

Thanks for the information.    It is British Airways it looks like for that flight.

 

AA714 is not a codeshare, it's an AA flight number. The thing is, right now, AA714 is DFW-MIA which I sure hope isn't the flight you're taking because it's bad news if it takes eight hours to get from Texas to Florida. 

[getab0at]

• On the 19th of August, 2024?  

[Zach1213]

Just now, getab0at said:

• On the 19th of August, 2024?  

No clue because I have no idea what route you're flying

[getab0at]

It's PHL TO VCE

[Globaliser]

16 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

AA714 is not a codeshare, it's an AA flight number. The thing is, right now, AA714 is DFW-MIA which I sure hope isn't the flight you're taking because it's bad news if it takes eight hours to get from Texas to Florida. 

 

10 minutes ago, getab0at said:

On the 19th of August, 2024?  

 

9 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

No clue because I have no idea what route you're flying

 

I had to do some research to find this out. Digging into the OP's posting history, I found some clues that they're flying PHL-VCE, which is what AA714 is on 19 August 2024:

 

[Zach1213]

2 minutes ago, getab0at said:

It's PHL TO VCE

In that case, yes, it's an American Airlines aircraft. Premium Economy is a nice bump up from Economy. I am not sure it's worth $350 vs. $130, but that's because I can think of plenty of better things to do with $220 (or $440 for two people) once I get to Europe. I'd almost rather spend that $440 on a really nice hotel room to rest up after an overnight flight in Main Cabin Extra...but again, that's just me. 

Edited February 1 by Zach1213

[taxatty]

If your not "small" skip the AA bulkhead 787-8 Economy seats, they're narrower due the tray tables in the seat armrests and not that comfortable. PE seats are much better, especially the bulkhead row because those seats have footrests.  The downsides for those PE bulkhead seats are that the IFE screen holders fold down between them and need to be kept down during takeoff and landing, and they are closer to the lavatories.

[getab0at]

So thankful for the comments.    You even me things to think about!!    Really appreciate you all taking the time to comment.    I will run this by my family!

[Globaliser]

11 hours ago, taxatty said:

If your not "small" skip the AA bulkhead 787-8 Economy seats ...

 

If you're not "small", you'll want to think carefully about any economy seats on a 787. Most airlines (including AA) now operate these in a 9-abreast configuration. When the type was first introduced on BA, a cabin crew member who I knew commented that he'd never seen so many passengers choosing to stand for the duration of their flights because the seats were so narrow that it was more uncomfortable to stay seated. Although there are some economy seats that are slightly wider, the difference is never going to be more than marginal because there's a limit to what you can do within the confines of a fixed distance between the cabin sidewalls.

 

Main Cabin Extra only gives you a bit of extra pitch between rows. The seats themselves are (AIUI) exactly the same as normal economy seats, including being the same width. Extra legroom does nothing to improve your shoulder comfort.

[6rugrats]

You'll agonize for hours about this to carefully choose your seats, and then, because this flight is six months in the future, they will change the equipment.

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, 6rugrats said:

You'll agonize for hours about this to carefully choose your seats, and then, because this flight is six months in the future, they will change the equipment.

 

[waterbug123]

As others have said, be careful with economy "extra" because it's just a little more legroom, no extra seat width.  And yes, with bulkhead seats you'll often find both the tray table and the entertainment screen in the armrest.  That means a wider armrest and a thus a narrower seat. 

[Ashland]

Sorry to hijack but I'm probably one of the few that has stopped booking AA since they have no seatback entertainment on most of their domestic fleet. I feel this was a big mistake. Not everyone can opt to use a personal device. 

 

So I mainly fly DL (first/bus) although I did recently fly UA on their Dreamliner and it was very impressive.

Edited February 4 by Ashland

[snowballs mom]

If you can swing it I would definitely book premium economy instead of regular economy with extra legroom. The seats are like those in domestic first class, so they are wider along with the additional legroom.  They also recline a bit further.  I do not fly AA, but our UA premium economy flight allows two checked bags instead of one (DEN to LHR).  As we get older my husband and I are finding sitting in economy seats for more than a couple of hours is much less bearable than it used to be, so I was very happy to discover the premium economy option for our flight to London this summer.

[Andros]

Thanks to the OP for this question.  It helped answer plenty of questions about an upcoming flight in the late fall.  Though I booked through AA the flight is operated by BA.  We will be sticking with our economy seats but elated to have a non-stop flight(8 vs 16-20 hours).  Gone are the days of multiple flights/connections to reduce cost,or because our airport was not International at the time. Enjoy your time in Venice.