VRAY Seat 1A New Upper class suite warning and my opinion

Just returned from JFK in my first time in the new UCS. This is not really a trip report so I am posting it here.

Firstly (and I hope they fix it soon) note that the wall/overhead lighting over this seat (1A)seems to be broken and does not turn off overnight. A nice touch to avoid that pesky sleeping option on the overnight flight.

Secondly... I will never knowingly choose one of the new UCS planes again (in Upper) at least for overnight flights. Why? Forgetting my luck with the broken lighting, the new seats ARE certainly more cramped (as is the feel of the entire cabin). The seat does reline a little further y) and possibly the leather is softer, and when flat the padding may be better, but I the seat feels more restricted when flat, If I had one leg and a pointy head it may have suited better ?| . There is significantly less storage space than on the 340 or 747, and if you drop anything in the magazine bin it is so narrow you may never be able to get it out again. As someone who generally unloads phone, ipad, magazine and other bits and pieces arond my seat so I can put bag in overhead bin provided, this is a negative in my book. There isn't even anywhere to stick a small bottle of water.

The table decided to partially spring out during take-off and could not be convinced to return to its normal (safe) location until I removed seatbelt.

I noticed already that there is some fraying around the upholstery edges, and small bits of plastic panelling coming loose. While softer, a negative of the leather was that it looked like it might be prone to tear after too much exposure to small studs on jeans etc. Time will tell if I am correct on that one.

The new entertainment system is a BIG improvement over VPORT, but if you have not experienced it before its more "Archos" than "iPad" (that might make sense to some of you out there). I'm far from an apple junkie, but if you are used to decent portable media interface and display you still won't be tempted to use the inflight entertainment over your own device.

While you can get it then, make the most of the space on the other planes in the fleet, and keep bringing your own entertainment.

I'd add to avoid 9A or 9K too since they have no windows and 9K particularly suffers from having the bar in the partition behind it (cue lots of banging and noise).

Generally your comments echo mine, it is cramped, there's very little storage, but I did find the seat more comfortable and JAM is very good.

I'm sure the One-legged and pointy headed marketing team will be happy mind... As it "is" the longest bed in use...
Will be worth someone taking one of those freebie Ikea tape measures onto the new suite just to compare....

[preiffer]

Indeed - as VS quite clearly refuse to accept that it's smaller.

Oh... and may I add the flight attendant advised me to write in an express my comments! Now this was not in any way a reaction to my making a fuss (I'm far to english for that - and this was before we established that I was going to enjoy additional illumination all night) I just said I was not sure it was an improvement over the old seats. He/she (No names - I don't wish to get anyone into trouble) went straight into this statement as if it were universally acknowledged that the new UCS was not seen as an improvement by either passengers or crew. Rather telling I thought...

Got 1A booked for a flight in a couple of weeks on a 330, shall get that changed (although is outbound to NY seems quite annoying anyway!) so thanks for warning!

Was booked in premium at first because of the reports of what the UCDS is like but a £200 upgrade price meant it was too tempting not to give it a go!

If the seats are too cramped am just going to have to take up residency at the bar for the flight, what a shame!!

Was booked in premium at first because of the reports of what the UCDS is like but a £200 upgrade price meant it was too tempting not to give it a go!

If the seats are too cramped am just going to have to take up residency at the bar for the flight, what a shame!!

A £200 upgrade and I'd say it was worth it! The seat itself I did not find cramped (apart from the pitiful storage), more the whole cabin.

As a SEAT its great the extra recline is very welcome, excepting the light issue (which I would certainly hope them to fix quickly - don't prove me wrong VS!) and the lack of storage, but really not as good a bed as a 340/747 IMO. And the cabin itself does seem rather packed - not so much herring-bone as sardine

200 upgrade a no brainer though, almost the lounge (although if you are on the AM New York flight correctly "utilising" the bar may be hard) and tier points alone make that worthwhile.

As a SEAT its great the extra recline is very welcome, excepting the light issue (which I would certainly hope them to fix quickly - don't prove me wrong VS!) and the lack of storage, but really not as good a bed as a 340/747 IMO. And the cabin itself does seem rather packed - not so much herring-bone as sardine

200 upgrade a no brainer though, almost the lounge (although if you are on the AM New York flight correctly "utilising" the bar may be hard) and tier points alone make that worthwhile.

Doesn't sound so bad for a day flight then really, just a bit of a dissapointment on overnight ones!

Was quite an expensive PE ticket in first place, so when the UC sale came on wasn't a huge difference - purely a leisure trip though so no working at the other end, so be rude not to give the bar a go even on the VS3, it's always evening time somewhere haha!