Seats on AF 777-200
 

Hi all,

Sorry if this is a repeat, but my first post seems to have disappeared.

I shall be taking my mother on her first trip to Paris in April.

We have been assigned seats 36K/L on a 777-200 with the 3/3/3 configuration. They are just abaft the emergency exit. We would like to see something other than the wing.

Should we sit farther back?

Any experience with the double seats alllll the waaaay in the rear?

Go to seatguru.com. You will be able to see the plane layout and even change your seat if you like.

Wishing you and your Mom a great trip :)

Hi Janda,

Thanks for the response. Been there. Done that.

They don't list Air France, but did have some info on Continental, which has a 3/3/3 layout similar to AF.

Janda,
Seatguru.com has US domestic airlines ONLY.
And you can't change seat assignment through seatguru. I don't know where you got that impression.

I should have said US airlines ONLY, since all do fly internationally as well.

YOu've probably flown a lot, but my only comments on the seats way in the rear (and I've flown AF 777 several times but it's the same anywhere) -- you probably do not want these seats. Seats at the very rear of the plane sometimes don't recline fully, but mainly there are lots of people standing around there due to the bathrooms. So, it is noisy because these people often want to carry on loud conversations or even stand right over you or kind of on your seat arm, it can be more claustrophobic than usual just because of all these crowds, and you get the traffic in and out of the restrooms, and it may even smell a little. Sometimes families with little kids sit back there a lot, also, in addition to the bulkhead, and that can be noisy.

In short, I always avoid the last row or two, if possible.

Unless you're flying during daytime, and even if you are - what do you expect to see other than water?

It's not till you get to the Continent that there is anything below you, but at 40,000 ft. again, what do you expect to see.

And as you fly into Paris, it looks much nicer at nighttime with the lights of the city aglow.

Row 36 is midway in the last section of the plane and is probably based on the price you paid for your ticket. If you've booked through a travel agent, they can probably change it; if online or direct with AF, then the only way to change the seats would be to arrive at the airport earlier than necessary and see what's available.

A certain number of seats are allocated for bookings direct with the airline and TAs, for online bookings; and what's left for the agents at the airport.

Obviously Sandi is not a frequent traveler. Just call Air France and change your seats to sit as far "up front" as possible. For the best possible comfort, I would suggest aisle seats across from each other.

You can certainly contact AF and try to change your seats regardless of how you purchased your ticket. The idea that you can only do this thru a TA is ridiculous. The only instance where you cannot change your seat assignment is when all seats available for pre-assignment have already been taken. In that case, a TA wouldn't be able to do anything either.

I suggest sitting in the middle 3 section. If you sit on the outside then one person is 2 seats away from an isle. It is a pain to get in and out of that seat as you have to make two people move. Even if you arent in the outermost seat you will find yourselve getting up all the time to let the window seat person get ou Go for bulkhead seats. Those afford the most legroom.

Anyone have any suggestions on where to sit if you are 6'3 on Air France's airbus (Ord to Cdg)? I would like a seat by the exit door but cannot find any configuration sheets on this plane. Anyone familiar with AF overseas airbus? thanks!

If you've already booked and have seats allocated, this site is quite useful: http://www.checkmytrip.com It has your sector by sector itinerary,seat maps of the plane, shows you your seats and which of the other seats are available or already allocated. You just need the booking number and your last name to log in.

Thanks for all of your helpful responses.

I think we will stay where we are.

My wife likes the window seat.

We arrive in Paris at 11:50AM, so this leaves lots of time to watch clouds, look for ships on the water and look for land.

maybe a travel agent told Sandi that, sometimes they lie about stuff to make you book through them. Why would any airline allocate seats to travel agents nowadays (if they ever did, I never heard of that myself)--they don't even want to deal with them any more and want you to book directly through them.

I'm pretty sure you can find a seat configuration and choose seats that way on the Air France web site, if you book through them. I have several times and seem to recall they had a plane configuration where you could choose your seats. I don't think it's easy to find on that web site or that you can find it if you aren't booking a ticket, though. I might be remembering wrong, but I think so.

Hi to all who have been kind enough to respond.

I have followed up on all of your suggestions.

Sandi is a Frequent Traveler/Flyer and the information I provided comes right from the horses mouth - a few major airlines themselves.

And there are not seats allocated specifically to TAs, but a good TA, and there are still plenty who book tickets (for a fee to a client), can work wonders in getting seat changes.

If the tickets had been booked with a TA, they would have asked where you want to sit and gotten them. If online, again, some seats are assigned to the online services, others for the airlines call in reservations, and the rest to the check-in counter.

And since AF, in particular, has a code-share arrangement with DL, a certain number of seats are assigned to each partner.

Certainly while booking online you can select your seats from the charts they provide, often I've notice insufficient numbers of seats available, so then it's just a call to the airline for seat assignments.

Sandi is quite right, seats are rarely allocated on a "first come first serve" basis on international flights in "economy". A number of airlines are now allocating forward section economy seats for full economy paying passengers (and I don't just mean the airlines that brand them as such). Moreover, a number of airlines will not release bulkhead or (more typically) emergency exit seats until day of flight/check-in. And yes, if you are an elite member of an airline's loyalty program you also get priority for
things like bulkhead seating. And I've found that when travelling at the back of the bus, the TA who gets all my/our front of the bus business bends over backwards to make things happen.

johnc,
I don't think anyone was referring to the seats allocated for elite or full fare pax or exit row/bulkhead seats. We were just countering the statement made by sandi in her earlier post: "if online or direct with AF, then the only way to change the seats would be to arrive at the airport earlier than necessary and see what's available." which simply isn't true. If there are other seats available for general pre-assignment, then a change can be made by calling AF prior to the day of travel.