Virgin Australia Introduces Extra Legroom Economy Seating

Actually, Virgin Australia is not the first to reduce their Y+ capacity; Turkish did it previously too.

@ Sebastian:

Virgin Aus is just reducing capacity. THY has pretty much removed it entirely. Which is too bad, it was quite comfy for a very reasonable premium and great mileage accrual.

So is this 9-across as shown on the seat map, or hell-on-earth 10-across as shown in the photo? I don't care if I have 36" of seat pitch if my seat is 16.8" wide and my shoulder is jammed up against the guy next to me, and half my body is spilling out into the aisle, to be constantly bumped by service carts with 1/4" clearance on either side. 10-across on 777 should be illegal.

I don't prefer extra legroom, but I would love extra recline. I like to jam my knees into the seat in front of me when I don't have a footrest to help keep me from sliding down the seat.

DL does have another 5cm of recline in their extra-legroom economy product. That looks pretty nice. AA MCE, on the other hand, has exactly the same seats and same recline as any other seat on the plane (except some 9/10-across 777s, which have some economy-minus seats that are even narrower). That's a garbage quality offering for a ten hour or longer flight.

So the arrival of premium economy to US carriers is very welcome. Width and recline can make a journey so much better. Foot rests are surprisingly much more comfortable than knee jamming, too.

For now, I am a fan of these Econ plus or extra space or w/e they are called, seats. I think as long as they are reasonably priced (and to me a 100 bucks on way is worth it, with what you get, with the exception of United) I will keep paying for it. Though I know eventually they will cut back benefits of it and keep upping the price of it. But for now, I am a fan of these airlines adapting this.

$100 is cheap. That is roughly the same as what DL, AA and UA charge for E+, C+, MCE on domestic transcons.

CX also removed a row of premium economy on their A330s which fly to Australia and also removed it completely on aircraft to India and middle East.

@SeaFlyGuy I can't see any photo with 10 across?

I've flown the B777 with both 9 (Qatar) and 10 (Emirates) seats abreast, as well as the B787 (Qatar) which is 9 abreast and honestly the difference was negligible. Now Air Asia A330's 9 abreast, that's a tight squeeze for a 8-10 hour flight.

As a VA Plat I had a look at the seat map for a new-config-operated flight after the intro date for Space+. It does appear that they will be charging elites full price for the Space+ seats at time of booking. The mini-cabin was previously reservable by only by status-holding passengers and traveling companions; the status-based block remains, but the elite sections are now located just aft of door 3.

please review air newzeland premium economy as there new hard product looks very nice, also would be interested in the meal quality and ground service

@SeaFlyGuy the economy layout in VA is 3-3-3 while premium is 2-4-2.