It would be awesome if bunk beds could be used to improve space efficiency.
I can see there being significant hurdles from a regulatory point of view - safety during takeoff and landing, emergency situation procedures & timings, etc.
Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
41–50 of 57 posts
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#42I once had an Emirates flight from Dubai to Hamburg where, by pure coincidence, no one else was in the seat group with me--exactly the convenience Lufthansa is offering here. If I may be a bit tacky on HN--oh brother didn't I travel like a king that day! :P It was also the last half of a longer route so it was really a pleasantly surprising luxury to be able to stretch my legs like that.
Granted, that was an Emirates flight, already known for its luxury. If my experience with Eurowings is anything to go by, I don't know if $260 USD would be worth two seats, a blanket, and a pillow. Buying a second seat might be a wiser way to get a bit more comfortable.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#43I'm still waiting for an airline to roll out proper lie-flat seating in Economy, like couchette/sleeper trains: just stack three bunk beds on top of each other. Unfortunately safety regulations make it difficult if not impossible to implement this, and prohibitively expensive for an airline to even try.
Air New Zealand is trialing this. I guess for a country with such distances to anywhere, not surprising they are pioneers in flight comfort. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/26/lie-flat-beds-...
But it seems like this is in addition to a seat, not instead:
> “The concept is designed as a pod you go to during the flight,” she said. “You will still have your economy seat separately for the other portion of the flight.”
Which of course avoids all the regulatory problems of evacuation during landing, etc. But also must make it expensive -- if you are buying twice the floor area, then you could have a business class seat.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#44So this means that if the plane is empty they'll now forbid passengers from using 3 seats and ask them to pay instead?
> So this means that if the plane is empty they'll now forbid passengers from using 3 seats and ask them to pay instead?
I was wondering what exactly they were offering, and to my surprise this what I would do after the seating process and the snacks were handed out. Typically the lights would be low and people moving about made it easier to ID.
I was asked not to do that since in about 15+ international long haul flights, with various airliners but other than that I thought it just made more sense if there were 2-3 of us on a single row while there unused rows in the back.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#45I would really like this on trans-continental flights. I don't want the frills of Business but I just want a seat that reclines more than 100 degrees - perhaps 180.
Business has gotten closer to just that and nothing else. 3 years ago I ate amazing food on TAP business class, now a month ago I just left it there and ate almonds that I brought with me in case.
> 3 years ago
Actually I have had the same experience 1 year ago. The current situation is just due to the pandemic.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#46I would really like this on trans-continental flights. I don't want the frills of Business but I just want a seat that reclines more than 100 degrees - perhaps 180.
> I don't want the frills of Business but I just want a seat that reclines more than 100 degrees - perhaps 180. But that's really all business is these days - a lie flat seat.
But really, you pay for wider seats, pre-boarding, lounge, better meals, extra baggage, etc. Not worth the cost of a business class IMO.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#47I once had an Emirates flight from Dubai to Hamburg where, by pure coincidence, no one else was in the seat group with me--exactly the convenience Lufthansa is offering here. If I may be a bit tacky on HN--oh brother didn't I travel like a king that day! :P It was also the last half of a longer route so it was really a pleasantly surprising luxury to be able to stretch my legs like that. Granted, that was an Emirates…
It looks like it’s not exactly the same. With Lufthansa, it looks like you get some sort of cushion that presumably smooths out the seat bumps, which would make a big comfort difference, at least for me.
However, I won’t be trying it out. Lufthansa has been willfully lying to people about COVID-related refunds, stonewalling, and making it impossible even to request a refund. Thank heavens for American Express, who took care of it for me.
(Sorry for the off-topic rant, but I would seriously urge folks to think twice about Lufthansa.)
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#48I was expecting flat seats, manacles, an alternating head-to-toe arrangement, and a crew with whips and swords. So this isn't what economy look like yet?
And I'm 200 cm, so how exactly is this supposed to work? Does it include leg removal surgery or leg origami?
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#49To recline or not to recline?
Not if the passenger behind has Knee Defenders.
Re: Lufthansa trialing lie-flat Economy seat concept
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds great if you're short. There's nothing pleasant about that for anyone over 6 feet (1.8 m), I've tried. I'd rather sleep sitting up.
I’m 185cm. By far my two best hacks for flying comfortably on long-haul are, in order: 1. Have my employer pay for business class; and, 2. Lose 45kg. Being fat is awful for flights.
I kept the weight and wrote a scraper that looks for cheap business class across continents(I can do last miles in economy)