'Cuddle class' seat design to allow economy travellers to lie flat.

Cuddle class wins kudos on internet - NZ Herald

The announcement of the cabin redesign for the new Boeing 777-300 jets, which will for the first time allow economy travellers to lie flat, or a couple to curl up, won kudos on the internet yesterday for thinking of those stuck in cattle class.

Airline-watchers noted that only couples with quite short legs - or families with very small children - could be expected to curl up comfortably in the new beds.

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As long as they dont start charging more because of it, I will welcome the changes. For me it is more important to get from here to there at an affordable price, than to lie down or cuddle up.

I dont have short legs either, but that depends on what they mean by short. They are certainly shorter than the legs of somebody who is over 6 feet tall. Reply to this

Yes you'd have to have quite short legs to lie down on these seats...saw pics of them on the BBC's website, as a couple you'd end up doing some kind of weird spoon position for you both to fit on! Even then I'd bet one person would end up with their face squished against one of the seats with an elbow in the head 😉 . We have both tried lying on 3 seats on a plane (not together though!) and even though we aren't really tall, our legs were still quite squashed.

Mel, they do charge more...as Jo says, if you are a couple then you pay for each of your seats and then half the price of a seat for the third. I also read that the seats can move somehow so the two passengers can face each other while they are eating with a little table in between them.

Don't think we'd pay for them either...once you travel for a while you get to be able to sleep in the weirdest of places and positions! 😊

Love the name though...can you imagine saying 'Hi I'm in Cuddle Class, where do I board?'! Reply to this

There is a third option nobody spoke about. 2 adults travelling with a 3 years old. This means you already pay for 3 seats. It will therefore allow the little one to be able to sleep flat in between the two adults.

Air New Zealand is going to use this product on flights to Europe....which means either a stop in HKG or in LAX...these are very long flights, and for a family with a young kid, it should be the same price, and a very serious improvment of confort for the little one, therefore a better travel experience for the parents.

I saw the pics also. The idea is simple, but brillant...and for once that somebody is thinking of the back of the plane.

It is somewhere going in a other direrction than the "premium economy" product. It worth to say that they will gain frequent travellers attention with it. If you have a not full plane, a nice gold card on Star Alliance...these seats are simply way better than the old one if you've got the 3 seats for yourself.

For me Air New Zealand have the best kitchen in the air, they may soon have the best economy.


So now in respect of who is ready to pay for what, the market will tell. Reply to this