Expert: Roberto Gomes - 7/10/2006

Question
Thanks for ALL the help Roberto, but two last things. What do you mean pitch? I know on planes you have pitch & yaw, but what does that have to do with seating. Lastly, I rarely hear about coach anymore, is it better or worse than economy? Once again, I can't begin to tell you how much you've helped me. JZ Zaranka
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Followup To

Question -
I should have mentioned that I am flying to Beijing China. I am wondering if you know the best airlines that fly there. I would like to make only one transfer in S.F. instead of two (I desperately want to avoid Chicago (does it cost more to have one stop over than two?) In addition to finding out the best airline for this I want to know what is the latest most airlines have a scheduled flight. As before I want to go in the evening (early morning if I have to). If I get the airline and times, I don't need to worry about which day. Do they give a break to you when you stay over a Sat. night like they used to. Also, I'm disabled. Not in a wheelchair, but I use a cane for my back, knees and feet. So leg room is fairly important. I think the last time I was in the lowest class and could barely move my legs, I made the mistake of not asking for the aisle. I know if I call ahead, they will make accomadations for my condition. So basically it's overseas airline, time of day, legroom and cost. Sorry if this was a bit long Roberto.
Thanks for you last answer and I look forward to this one. JZ
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Followup To

Question -
I'm interested in finding out the best day to travel and the best time. Obviously, I'm not talking about holidays. I would think Mondays and Fridays are the worst. Time wise it would seem to me that night is the best time to travel. These are guesses on my part, so I would like to know the ins and outs of this part of air travel.

Answer -
Dear JZ,

According to your question, time and days of the week are not an issue to you, so I will focus my answer in the economic aspect i.e. fares.

You are absolutely right about Mondays and Fridays. They are the worst days to travel anywhere in the world. Mornings from 6 to 9 AM and afternoons from 5 to 730 PM (depending on the route) are the busiest periods. Naturally fares are higher in this timeframes. If your itinerary permits try to match best fares with flights out of this window.
But you will have to do a lot of research because the behavior of the air passenger is also changing. With the new airlines in the scene the so called LCC’s (Low Cost Carriers) even a Saturday night flight may be full. Also you can consider choosing a particular airline for the legroom and seat reclining that is offered. Take a look at www.seatguru.com

Hope this helps. If you need any additional info please let me know.

Best Regards,
R. Gomes


Answer -
Dear JZ:

In addition to your comments SFO stands for San Francisco, CA, the airport code initially mentioned in your question.
Regards,
R. Gomes

Dear JZ:

Basically, two airlines flies from SFO to Beijing: United Airlines and Air China. United leaves SFO at 138pm and Air China at 220pm. So you will have to arrange your itinerary from your origin to be in SFO at least 1130am to allow you plenty of time to connect.

My reccomendation is, if possible, to use only one airline, so your bags and boarding cards will be issued at the origin and you won't need to collect them if some other airlines does not check you bag through.

I did not find at Air China website information regarding fares but at United I simulated a trip with a departure for July 13 and return August 14 and came with USD 1923 for the round trip. You will need to take a look on this fare rules, which is very long to be reproduced here.

Finnaly as far as seating is concern. The United's airplane B747 has 172 seats on coach class with 31'' pitch. Due to your condition I believe that the best seats are in the row 50 bulhead D or G (this row is a row of 4 seats).

Hope this helps. Best Regards,
R. Gomes

Answer
Dear JZ,

In response to your questions, please note:

1. Seat pitch is a term used in the aviation industry to indicate the measurement between identical points on seats of an airplane; the greater the pitch, the greater the degree of comfort.

2.Coach is also a term used for the economy class on an airline. It is also referred to as "economy" or "tourist".

My great satisfaction lies on the fact that doing this I can help people with questions and concerns. Also your remarks were very helpfull and showed me that I will have to make some changes in the way I answer some questions, specially regarding the clarity of the terms which are so familiar to me but not to others. Thanks again for your input and let me know always if I can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,
R. Gomes