Lower Deck Premium Economy?

My wife and I are booked Premium Economy to Orlando next week and have selected seats downstairs. The upper deck seems pretty empty, only 12 seats selected.

We chose downstairs because its completely empty at the moment, all the second row seats are available and all the front row seats are not selectable because they are Emergency Exit type seats.

My thought process was that if the flight remains emptyish then we may be able to skip one row up and get exit seats.

Asssuming that this isn't the case and the flight becomes massively full or that for whatever reason that we can't get the next row, then are these Premimum Economy seats as good as the ones upstairs?
Are we 'risking' anything with this tactic?

Hopefully there are a few more seasoned travellers in here who may be able to give me the benefit of their experience.

Many thanks in advance.

My mate always travels PE to Orlando and swears on upstairs (Nick you looking at this?)

Hello Ognils.

I have never flown in P.E but reading through many trip reports and comments about the L.G.W Fleet I think I am right in saying the general consensus is that the upper deck P.E seats are far more comfortable than those on the main deck.

Have fun in the sun and have a safe enjoyable flight.

Super quick responses. Thanks.
Any thoughts about my assumptions about seat swapping and whether I'm being naive in believing the seats are really empty?

From what I have been told "upstairs" is much more comfortable.

Hopefully you will get some more confirmation over night?

Enjoy the trip, it will soon arrive!

Ian [y]

Originally posted by Ognils
Super quick responses. Thanks.
Any thoughts about my assumptions about seat swapping and whether I'm being naive in believing the seats are really empty?

I would always go for upstairs, and you'll still have the possibility of getting exit rows at check in for upstairs, or downstairs.

Dean

Well I guess that I should go upstairs then.
I can't believe that the cabins are this empty with only four days to go, but then it is off season.
Fortunately changing seats is dead easy.
Thanks to all.
P.S. is the expertflyer trial still valid to forum members or has it now expired. I guess if they have up to date seating allocation then I can see how full/empty the rest of the plane is too.

[Decker]

Welcome to V-Flyer!

Expertflyer trials are available to paid up members of V-Flyer.

AFTER the 3rd of Jan LGW-MCO flights are showing as wide open in cabins other than UC currently.

Upstairs everytime[y]

-Steve

Upstairs- the first row of PE seats downstairs have the skycot fixings which is why they are not pre-bookable.Granted, you get a lot of leg room in them but upstairs has a much nicer feel.

Agrre with everyone - upstairs is like being on a different aircraft and I would thoroughly recommend it.[y]

Agree again on going 'up'.

Seat swapping if not busy is easy. You may want to ask first as it affects loading calculations (albeit marginally) so the crew sometimes ask pax to wait until after take off. However, I suspect you will find that in PE the non-exit/non-bulkhead seats are better. You can properly stretch your legs out (whereas in the others the bulkhead or 'door bump' can get in the way), and there is plenty of room (particularly if nobody is in front of you, but even if there is and they recline).

I would plump for a quiet area up top.

Upstairs every time [y]

Although I can only comment on the LHR fleet, I would go for upstairs every time - much quieter and it feels a lot more spacious. Also, I dislike the exit row seats in PE as I prefer the foot rests to the little blocks they give you.

VS.

Upstairs, it's a lot better.... I'm always a bit upset if I'm downstairs.

One point nobody has mentioned is the difference in seats. Barbarella has the old P.E. seats in the bubble which are brilliant, whilst downstairs in P.E. they are the last lot of newer ones which are nowhere near as comfortable. I do not know whether all the Man/Gwk 744's are the same.

All comments much appreciated.
Up we go.
Also going to join this forum properly too.
Thanks everyone.

Originally posted by Ognils

My thought process was that if the flight remains emptyish then we may be able to skip one row up and get exit seats.

If you moved to the front row of PE downstairs, you would have the toilets right in front of you[:$]

Tinkerbelle,
You are right of course, I didn't really mean 'exit' seats, I meant extra legroom seats, which are right by the toilets, but assumed that they would only be serving the other non-existant passengers in downstairs PE and whatever UC passengers that there were.
But I've been swayed by opinion on here and am now upstairs.
Thanks.

Originally posted by Ognils
My wife and I are booked Premium Economy to Orlando next week and have selected seats downstairs. The upper deck seems pretty empty, only 12 seats selected.

We chose downstairs because its completely empty at the moment, all the second row seats are available and all the front row seats are not selectable because they are Emergency Exit type seats.

My thought process was that if the flight remains emptyish then we may be able to skip one row up and get exit seats.

Asssuming that this isn't the case and the flight becomes massively full or that for whatever reason that we can't get the next row, then are these Premimum Economy seats as good as the ones upstairs?
Are we 'risking' anything with this tactic?

Hopefully there are a few more seasoned travellers in here who may be able to give me the benefit of their experience.

Many thanks in advance.

Upstairs, without any shadow of a doubt - my experiences of being downstairs in PE have been much less pleasant, you're only separated from economy by a curtain and it all feels far more cramped.

All five of us always go upstairs, (again in March) we always have rows 79 and 80.

Kaz

Upstairs, without a doubt. More spacious, nice wide centre aisle, so you can pass, even when there's a cart in the aisle. The seats on the LGW fleet up there are so comfy, too.

The new enhanced PE service will probably flow a little better on the single aisle, plus you've got two dedicated flight attendants up there to look after you.

Enjoy!
Mike

I'm going to use OLCI tomorrow and confirm my upstairs seats but still go to the check in desk to see if there are any exit seats available.
Thanks for all the comments.

Upstairs, and I don't bother anymore with extra legroom seats. sure you get more legroom, but there is plenty anyway, and the seats in exit rows are narrower than than the others, as they have to accomodate the meal trays.

Originally posted by Ognils
I'm going to use OLCI tomorrow and confirm my upstairs seats but still go to the check in desk to see if there are any exit seats available.
Thanks for all the comments.

People often go for the exit row, I myself prefer the last row, especially the AC seats in row 74. Sure, you have seats in front, but none behind so no irritating people who can only stand up by pulling on the seat in front, and there's still the space and width of the normal PE seats without the TV monitor inside, the normal recline, and there's also the little luxury of the little drinks table to the right of 74C.

As to downstairs, I hate, abhor, detest, loathe (get the picture) the PE seats on a 747 abreast of the galley, They are miserable seats and VS should never have put them there. Guess you get that picture