Last Class = 1 Below Economy

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Middle seat is actually alright if you are this big and have leg room as it is the others who have paid more who are now compromised. The problem is when there are 3 of you this size.

This is another type of shrinkflation we are witnessing.

I as reading articles today that airlines are introducing anew travel class on their aeroplanes. We know business and profits are down but this sounds ridiculous. I suppose it is alright if you are 5ft something and are more of a midget, but anyone over 6ft or in my case 6ft5 you are in trouble.

I know airlines play around with seat positioning looking to maximise the numbers they can squeeze in. Seats were even trimmed in width size a few years back and why I fly only certain airlines now. The idea of standing for 10 or 12 hour doesn't excite like it used to as this is how I used to travel for years until I found business class. The savings in my wallet mattered more than comfort back then.

When I read the article the first thought was this is a smoke screen to cover increased ticket pricing. What better way to increase fares than adding a new lower class which is now most likely the old price of economy and thus every class now goes up x percent across the board. Smart as everyone now is going to at least pay the normal economy price as no one wants the last class seat.

Think about it this way that airline is now able to make more money on 85% of it's seats and actually is a smart move guaranteeing a price increase. The last class seats will always have an audience who don't mind squashing for a few hours or however long the flight is.

This evening I tried to find the price difference for a standard Delta flight from JFK to Heathrow but lower economy is not advertised as yet. Economy is roughly $500, Premium Economy is $1800, Business is $2000 and First Class coming in at around $5000. As you can see the gaps are quite significant which tells me Economy is definitely going to still have an increase very soon. Premium never used to be 3 x more and was normally about 80% more at most.

What the lower economy really means is you cannot pre book your seat so will most likely end up in the middle or not being able to sit with friends or family. Also these seats are non refundable so if your date does change you lose what you paid. If you are a tiny person travelling on your own then I don't see a big deal in this.

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Still don't understand how someone this big still pays the same airfare as everyone else. I know it is not PC to highlight this , but it is a genuine concern knowing only half his body fits in the seat. For me this is a safety issue as how do you get past him in an emergency?

The last time I was in a seat I couldn't fit into was when I was flying to the World Cup in the UK. My flight with Air France was cancelled due to a bomb scare the day before and knowing people had a seat found on KLM flying later that night. That seat was sandwiched between two absolute gorillas and adding another gorilla in the middle was not going to work very well. Their shoulders were already overlapping my seat so I was given another seat. This was in economy and the last time I have flown economy even though I was given another seat.

I think once you have experienced business or first class then there is no going back as I know the worst seat I would take now is premium economy. I do believe airlines are forcing passengers to upgrade to seats one would expect to find in economy 20 years ago. The leg room is shrinking so much so your legs end up in the row in front of you. I read somewhere the seats were made narrower by an extra 2 inches which is 5 cm and may not seem a big deal, but 5 cm makes a difference on a 12 hour flight.

One cannot blame the airlines for what they are doing as they are a business and firstly have to make a profit. Profit at the expense of customer comfort is a fine balancing act and why some airlines like Virgin are making sacrifices that others just don't do. The saying "you pay for what you get" is now more relevant than ever as this is going to be noticeable the next time we all travel.

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