A343 on New York route

I'm looking to book 2Gs to NY in Feb or March 2013. I've flown this route a number of times in all 3 classes. Nearly always flown on 747 and 346 (and most recently a 333).

Reward availability seems OK but most available flights seem to be operating 343s. I note from other posts that this aircraft seems to be moving into Shanghai and Dubai routes as well.

How many of these planes do VS have? I hear the IFE is poor. Would I be better avoiding flights with his plane or have they been refitted?

There are four 343s left and yes they do appear on NY routes over the years. IFE on three is the Odyssey system or that Vera Classic or Legacy or whatever the heck the marketing team came up with. G-VSUN has VPort.

Note however that on the non-VPORT planes there are tablets for UC and PE passengers with additional movies and all the features that a tablet offers.

And of course the 343 still has the extra space of the old UCS

I know this has been discussed before but I am still surprised that VS is putting the 343 on the most lucrative premium route. I would much prefer the 333. I don't share in the general dislike of the the new UCS; if they reconfigure the cabin to be less cramped, I think this will be a good product, and the experience in Y and PE is also getting great reports.

Of course the A343s may be appearing on the JFK route.....but I seem to recall when booking G's in the past that it shows A340-300 for some if not all of the redemption bookings.....another bug in VS's systems.

I could be totally wrong of course and it may be an A343 operating the route :0

Jon

Of course the A343s may be appearing on the JFK route.....but I seem to recall when booking G's in the past that it shows A340-300 for some if not all of the redemption bookings.....another bug in VS's systems.

I could be totally wrong of course and it may be an A343 operating the route :0

Jon

Yep, the website seems to default to this aircraft sometimes.

Of course the A343s may be appearing on the JFK route.....but I seem to recall when booking G's in the past that it shows A340-300 for some if not all of the redemption bookings.....another bug in VS's systems.

I could be totally wrong of course and it may be an A343 operating the route :0

Jon

Yep, the website seems to default to this aircraft sometimes.

I noticed this also when searching for G's to new york a couple of months ago

Of course the A343s may be appearing on the JFK route.....but I seem to recall when booking G's in the past that it shows A340-300 for some if not all of the redemption bookings.....another bug in VS's systems.

I could be totally wrong of course and it may be an A343 operating the route :0

Jon

Yep, the website seems to default to this aircraft sometimes.

I suspect that's more to do with the timing ... the A343 is most likely on the late flight the VS10, which is often the least popular, hence more G's available.

Of course the A343s may be appearing on the JFK route.....but I seem to recall when booking G's in the past that it shows A340-300 for some if not all of the redemption bookings.....another bug in VS's systems.

I could be totally wrong of course and it may be an A343 operating the route :0

Jon

Yep, the website seems to default to this aircraft sometimes.

I suspect that's more to do with the timing ... the A343 is most likely on the late flight the VS10, which is often the least popular, hence more G's available.

When I was looking it was saying A343 for many flights, which if checked as a revenue booking showed as A346, a Glitch of sorts not just the fact the the flights offered as G's were actually being operated by A343's