I fly to Shanghai this week. I was excited to be on the reconfigured 777-200. Since I am flying in Economy Plus, I was excited for Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) which is available at all Economy seats on the newly reconfigured planes.  Even better — the flight was pretty empty too.  I wouldn’t have to worry about sitting next to anyone, I’d be able to stretch out (sort of) watch the AVOD and watch hours of TV on my tablet.  This would make my 14 hour flight so much more bearable.

Here is how the flight looked yesterday evening. Look at all of the economy availability

Today I double checked the seat map to see if someone moved to sit next to me and I found that the plane had changed.  We are no longer flying on a reconfigured 777, but the old style.  Check out those BusinessFirst seats — no longer would you be flying in a new(ish) fully flat seats, but in the old recliner seats.  I am very happy I didn’t pay to upgrade to BusinessFirst — these recliner seats are not at all worth the extra cash and miles if you ask me.

I am still excited about this trip to Shanghai, but I am a bit disappointed in the aircraft we are taking. I’m just hoping that my tablet will be able to keep a charge for the full 14 hour flight. At least now I have the opportunity to stretch out across 5 seats in the center section and sleep if I want.  I may even move over to the window seat so I can get a view of Shanghai as I land.

Have you flown one of these old 777 recently? The last time I did was in September 2010 from Frankfurt to Chicago — and that was only 9 hours.  How do you keep yourself occupied while on a 14 hour flight while in Economy without AVOD?  Where would you sit if you were me?

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