Would you pay $120 for a better seat in a 9 hour flight?

[Deleted User]

daveyjp wrote: »

For 9 hours on an AA 757 the only seat I would want is one of the two with a forward facing view.

They were built for holiday charters, not crossing the pond!

All seats on a plane have a forward-facing view unless you're in a FAs seat.

FWIW,unless someone else is paying and now I'm retired that's unlikely I always travel in the cheapest seat.
A middle seat is only inches away from any other seat.
I'd rather have the $120 to spend on booze.

Lorian

I guess their 757's are pretty tired.

I *guess* it's this layout?

http://theflight.info/seat-map-boeing-757-200-american-airlines-best-seats-in-the-plane/

If it is row 18 looks like the sweet spot, but I guess not available.

If you mean you can only sit with a stranger both sides of you, well I do that on a 1 hour flight on EasyJet quite often, and hate it even for an hour.

richardw

daveyjp wrote: »

...on an AA 757..They were built for holiday charters, not crossing the pond!

You don't need ETOPS for holiday charters, so why did Boeing design them with ETOPS?

ERICS_MUM

Definitely yes. It's worth every penny to have 9 hours of relative comfort. It's a small fraction of the total cost of the 3 flights.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

So if the airline reckon it is worth that much for "those who know" - then I guess if you can afford it - you will thank yourself.

Of course, you still don't know who will be sat in the seat next to you...but it will be one person not two as when you are in the middle.

And with that many hours in the air...

bagand96

They were built for holiday charters, not crossing the pond!

Most definitely weren't built for holiday charters! They were built for medium and short haul initially, the US carriers wanted an aircraft with transcontinental range, but one that would also be as happy on short hops. Similar in Europe.

Now of course, it did become the aircraft of choice for holiday charters for many years, mainly due to its excellent performance. But it also became the aircraft of choice for many missions, be it thin long haul routes, flogging back and forth between LHR and MAN/EDI/GLA and many more. One of the most versatile airliners built, and there's airlines today still snapping up used ones because not a lot can replace it.

But I digress. Back to American 757s. An aircraft is only as good as the airline's cabin configuration, and AA's are awful. No PTV... it's 2017! I've flown long haul on other 757s with PTV, a decent layout, new seats, and wifi. It was great.

richardw

I had a surprisingly good experience on a UA757 EWR-LIM 8 hours, I paid extra for extra legroom which was worth it. Take a tablet computer with downloaded stuff to watch if the IFE is likely to be poor on AA.

SaveTheEuro

American release more seats 24 hours before the flight. Wait until then and you shouldn't have difficulty getting a window or aisle seat without charge.

jackieblack

peachyprice wrote: »

If no aisle seat were available elsewhere without paying extra, then yes, I would pay $120.

Me too! ...............

Murphy_The_Cat

Hell would freeze over before I booked a 757 cattle truck with AA to go transatlantic.

OP keep an eye on your flight times and if AMS to PHL or PHL to CA changes, contact AA and ask them to reroute you (onto planes that aren't 20 years out of date).