I know that most people here say that LX J > LH J, but I don't agree.
- Obviously when traveling alone, LX's 1-2-1 has a tremendous advantage over LH's 2-2(-2), but for two people traveling together I'd say that LH wins hands down. And for me personally (due to my size), I'd go for LH over LX even while traveling solo.
- The LH seats are way more comfortable, cushioning-wise. They're simple and to the point - you sit down on them and your butt is happy. LX, OTOH, is simply horrible. The "firmness adjustment" is basically an air bladder, so when it's set to soft you're basically sitting directly on the hard plastic underside, and when it's set to "firm" you're sitting on a balloon that keeps on shifting, so half of you is on plastic and half is on a bubble two inches higher. My buttocks were numb the entire flight, regardless of the supposed firmness setting.
- Now this is obviously a tall-person problem, but for me it's an absolute deal-breaker. While the LX bulkhead has an absolutely massive footwell compared to LH (either bulkhead or not), it did me no good. Being that I'm too tall to sleep on any airplane seat without bending my knees, with LH there's a lot of space to do so. LX however has the seats so much closer to one another (front to back), that most of the bed is actually in the footwell. What this means is that I was physically unable to bend my knees at all, and thus it was simply impossible for me to lay down. In short, the only way I was able to somewhat stretch out was in a semi-reclined position, which was extremely uncomfortable and thus I did not sleep a wink the entire night.
- The above depends a bit on the exact LH seat layout - the 747's somewhat-herringbone seats have gobs more kneeroom than the parallel seats on the A340 (the A380 has a mixture of the two), but even the LH A340 is way more comfortable for me than LX.
- It may be a matter of taste, but I find the LX seat claustrophobic, versus LH is nice and airy.
- I also find the LH crews more pleasant than LX's, but that may be a personal thing or just the luck of the draw.
In short, I find LH overall more pleasant and more comfortable, even aside from the sizing issues that is not an issue for most. For a normal-sized person traveling solo, I could see the argument for LX. But for a couple? I'd say LH, any day of the week.
At this point I've had my worst long-haul J and Y flights both on LX, so I think I'm done with them for good. (Until of course they'll have the only award availability I need and then I'll be suckered into them again
.)
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