Leg/shin room in economy for taller passengers.

3 replies

slim

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 29 May 2013

Total posts 46

Leg/shin room in economy for taller passengers.

Hi everyone, I'd like to start a survey thread about leg/shin room in economy/premium economy for flights departing Australia (ex-SYD, preferentially) for North America and Europe. I've flown on a few different airlines now, with various degrees of comfort.

In economy, my personal fav is Qantas with their foot net, as this can be used as a cradle for your feet/legs, or also, if you want a raised 'step' to angle your feet up (with heels on ground) - it also serves this purpose. As a 188cm guy I find this a best fit.

Having recently flown SQ in economy, I was a bit disappointed at the flip-down foot rest - for I found that when down, it wasn't 'low' enough (creating an awkward angle for my legs/hip), and that when up, occupied a rather significant amount of 'shin' room, so much so that I couldn't actually stretch my legs down in front of the seat ahead of me. Has anyone else found this? The seat itelf was otherwise very comfortable, with a cradle-action recline mechanism.

Having flown Etihad & Virgin Australia 2 years ago(A346 & B777 respectively), I found their seats OK (VA doesn't have much cradle action... but that aside, a good pitch). Does anyone have experience with which to speak on the B777 from Etihad and the new A380 seats (e.g. - any type of footrest/net?). I know the B777 reviews for EY will report width cramping, but curious nonetheless on 'stretch comfort' for both.

Lastly - only flown PE on Qantas. Same issue with flip out footrest (not being long enough (I have a 33" inseam, so its not that i have gargantuan legs)). No shin room issues though as it is a flip out design from the footrest & the seat comfort was superb.

Thats about it folks. Looking forward to hearing feedback on other airlines economy / PE if you have any (even economy plus-type seating as found on Delta/United), as there are many options to get from here to NA & Europe!

Cheers!

riley

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

Member since 19 Mar 2014

Total posts 358

I'm 182cm so consider myself average height. Emirates A380, QF A380, BA 777, SQ 777, Cathay A330 all have comparable leg room in my opinion/experiences. The difference in economy is splitting hairs. I feel you can use a tool like Seat Guru to determine optimum seats on a particular aircraft which is as comparable as one leading airline to another (in economy.)

I'm sure the differences are greater at the pointy end of the cabin, but as an economy chum myself, I go to Seat Guru and try and snag a plum seat, or better still, an op-up!

slim

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 29 May 2013

Total posts 46

Thanks riley.

I agree, the differences in economy are subtle, but significant to some.  I also regularly use SeatGuru for any many flights I take when unfamiliar with the layout, but find that although comprehensive in the information prvovided across various airlines, the focus is often on nuisance/recline/extra legroom seats, lav/galley noise, IFE box intrusion, etc.  When it comes to the specific information that I seek (e.g. is there a foot rest/net? what is it like?  do all rows have it?) this, in general, is not available on SeatGuru.  I learned this the hard way with SQ, as the official SeatGuru description of the seats in economy make no note of the bulky flip-down footrest.

Also agreed re: the differences in business & first class offering, but alas, similar to you, I am primarily an economy-class traveller.  As such I'm seeking opinions from the AUSBT readership on information that I've not found readily available from other sources.

(on a side note, though: you've invspired me to write comments on some aircraft within SeatGuru detailing some of my experiences (e.g., on the QF A380-type economy seats (at least on the B747), the row behind the bulkhead seats do not have the footnets due to the IFE box configuration in the bottom of the these seats).  Perhaps these comments may be incorporated into the offiical seat descriptions on the map if enough people make the same comments. 

riley

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

Member since 19 Mar 2014

Total posts 358

It would be great if such comments were included, along with a visual.

Agree re Seat Guru being geared towards the obvious such as galley noise. Perhaps a shift to an urbanspoon type review would broaden the information?

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