Hoping someone can help here…

Next year we are flying long haul to visit family in Australia and flying (mainly) with Emirates on Airbus A380 and Boeing777 and flying Economy class. As we are travelling with children we can’t get seats over emergency exits but we were wondering if there are any seats in economy that have any more leg room/better seating configurations? (Trailfinders who are dealing with this for us can’t confirm anything definitively and I cannot get hold of Emirates to ask them either) – but with the amount of time we will be spending on the flight with two 8 year olds, we want to make it as pain free as we possibly can!

Any help, advice or tips would be hugely appreciated, thank you.

Everything you need to know can be found here

https://www.seatguru.com/

Magic thank you!

Seatguru as above is very useful. My experience of economy on the Emirates 380 is that it’s pretty good in terms of space.

That’s good to hear given the amount of flight time we will have. It was hell when we went to LA with the girls (Virgin Atlantic) but they were only 2.5 yrs old then!

It’s loads better than Qantas so you’ve made a good choice.

Ha, I came on here to post seat guru. It’s excellent!

It’s loads better than Qantas so you’ve made a good choice.

One leg (Brisbane to Hong Kong) is Qantas (we had no choice and we wanted to visit there), the rest is Emirates.

You can’t book exit seats in advance, they’re allocated at check in. Worth asking but after flying hem a lot I prefer the normal seats. With exit seats you have to stop watching your film as soon as the descent starts as the screens have to be folded away, also you get people loitering near you queuing for the toilets as here is a bit more space and they tend to be near the toilets. Unless you’ve got long legs I wouldn’t bother.

How many kids? If 2 of them then just book a middle row of 4 on the a380. There’s not really any better seats available to you.

777 at the back where the 3 seats become 2 the first row of 2 has a bit more legroom although the tv box cuts in a bit, only a few rows from the bogs though.

It looks like it might also be time for me to book a long haul trip back to the far east for a break … 🙂

I only fly with Emirates from the UK.

No point in me recommending SeatGuru now, is there! 🙂

I’ve never had a bad seat since I started using it. Things like a misaligned window can annoy you on a 13hr flight, and I don’t like being annoyed!

Emirates cattle is a good choice there, I reckon. I now use Cathay for Australia trips over Qantas, however.

Avoid bulkheads as the TV folds into the armrest so the armrest is static and your kids can’t lie across your lap.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Emirates cattle is a good choice there, I reckon. I now use Cathay for Australia trips over Qantas, however.

Personally, I would prefer to fly with Royal Brunei but they only fly from London … 😮

Qatar airways for me these days. Fly from Manchester and Birmingham so get to avoid the horrible cess pit of Heathrow, nice new aircraft and the planes are not always rammed full like emirates. Service is all much of a muchness these days between the top airlines, same or similar IFE, I am now sick of airline food, it’s all crap even in business so prefer to eat at the airport and have a snack or two on the plane if I get peckish and quaff their wines.

When we flew to oz with emirates we opted to seat at the rear of the aircraft as there were pairs of seats. If you get the back pair you are able to recline your seats without upsetting anybody. This configuration may depend on how many children you have. If theres 2 children and 2 adults it might work as you could have the pair infront too. Only negative is that they are usually located near the toilets.

If you suffer at all from motion sickness you don’t want to be at the back of a 777-300. The tail end is so long on those things you don’t half get a swaying fish tailing motion going on when the aircraft is manoeuvring or in turbulence or at the hands of a pilot who’s rudder control is a bit course. It’s very noticeable

Thanks for all the recommendations- we are a family of four (two 8 yr olds) so we’re thinking it would be a middle row but hadn’t considered bulkheads etc. All booked tonight so looking forward to a couple of days in Dubai (one of our daughters best friend has just emigrated there) then on to the Gold Coast for three weeks and then a quick check-out of Hong Kong on the way home.

And we’ll get to see some of the Commonwealth Games whilst we are there too 🙂

And also just realised that the Melbourne Grand Grix is on whilst we’re there… (yes I know it’s a huge place and just how far the GC is from Melbourne but what the hell)…

a quick check-out of Hong Kong on the way home.

I have many, many recommendations for HKG, so please feel free to ask on here!

Fire away! I do have an old work colleague living there right now but with 36 hours to cram it in, any recommendation will be gratefully received!

Here goes, then!

Don’t bother with the Peak Tram. The queues get silly. Take a cab up instead. Superb views.
Manchu, on Elgin Road. Have the Cumin Roasted Lamb. Thank me later.
Take the ferry from Wan Chai over to the Dark Side Kowloon and back. Tourist fun on the cheap!
Din Tai Fung at Causeway Bay. Again, thank me later.
Smuggler’s at Stanley. Yeah, it’s a cliché, but it’s a fun place to have a cold beer and watch the world go by.
In town check in and the airport express. Perhaps the best thing in HKG!
Maybe not ideal with 8yos in tow, but Amazonia in Wan Chai has the BEST house band, Icebox. Play classic rock, perfectly. And I mean perfectly!
Fuel. In the Landmark. Not cheap, but the best coffee in HK.
Maxim’s. Lunch only.

More if needed…!

Many thanks – bearing in mind we only have approx 36 hours, how much of that could we realistically fit in? And the Amazonia sounds great – one of my girls plays the drums and is very influenced by my taste in music (ie rock) so she’d be inspired by that 🙂

May be worth seeing if they’d be allowed in! Should have added that last night.

Peak and ferry would be the best touristy bits to do. Oh, and the light show is well worth it, too.

A lunch food recommendation- Tsim Chai Kee on Wellington St. Cheap, and glorious. Now sadly being discovered by non-locals, so get in quick!