V-Flyer

Hello v-flyers! It's been ages since I posted regularly and it's great to come back and see the new-look site.

I've got flights coming up on the A330 in PE. I think I'm right to say that in the old days every PE seat reclined fully, including those on the back row. Is that still true?

Thanks

Yes, all PE seats have full recline.

Neil wrote:Yes, all PE seats have full recline.

Totally agree with Neil, but do consider other passengers as a full recline - especially during meal times - can be regarded as inconsiderate as it does restrict movement in the seat behind.

buns

For me, it's the one failing PE has: when the person in front of you reclines it's really uncomfortable and doesn't feel any step up on economy. They could cut the recline in half and everyone would be happy but as it stands I can't risk it, might as well save up for upper class.

Can someone please confirm what is 'full recline'. I have my first trip on Virgin in PE coming up later this year and my understanding is that the seat only goes back about 20 degrees. Are you telling me the seat goes almost flat?

TIA

etk wrote:For me, it's the one failing PE has: when the person in front of you reclines it's really uncomfortable and doesn't feel any step up on economy. They could cut the recline in half and everyone would be happy but as it stands I can't risk it, might as well save up for upper class.

That's the reason I won't even fly PE anymore. It is significantly worse than economy if the person in front decides they want to recline, and I don't. Totally horrible.

I'll choose Economy over PE now. Ok, so no chance of that. It's Upper or another route or not going. Luckily it's holiday and not work based.

I must admit it's a pet hate.... I hate inconsiderate recliners!

cheesebag wrote:I must admit it's a pet hate.... I hate inconsiderate recliners!

Yeah, but in some sense isn't that the point of the product? People have paid extra so they can recline and sleep.

Yet the weakness of the product is that it either forces the person behind to recline (and in turn each one), or its a much worse seat than Y.

I think BA's PE/WT+ seat pivots at a higher point, making the problem better with them.

Never flown them, might have ended up flying them back when it was 12.5K to upgrade to Club from any sale fare, having proactively bought a sale fare, and then found no reward seats. No chance of that now, with ex-DUB.

And on 787 it is really hard to see the screen when the seat in front is reclined. I resorted to jamming the magazine behind it to maximise the angle!

I do wonder how much "real user" testing is done sometimes as opposed to just a demo setup...

Besides that, I find the PE seats quite comfortable and the extra space is well worthwhile.

Tallguy wrote:Can someone please confirm what is 'full recline'. I have my first trip on Virgin in PE coming up later this year and my understanding is that the seat only goes back about 20 degrees. Are you telling me the seat goes almost flat?

TIA

No, it doesn't go even close to almost flat. The recline is similar to that of economy.

We've been lucky and the last couple of times we have flown PE we've had the seats in the back row, which means if the person in front reclines (as one did immediately after take off on our last PE flight) you can also recline without disturbing anyone.

I do think it is one failing of the PE seat design - full recline in front of you really does seem to impact on your personal space. I also found it limited knee room and found it a bit uncomfortable.

As for people that recline and don't put their seat up during meal service, don't even get me started!!!!!

Thanks everyone. In the past I haven't really had a problem with people reclining in PE. I just wanted to be sure that seats in the back row did recline.