The number of Preferred seats varies by aircraft type:

Airbus A380-800 – 23 seats
Airbus A380-800A – 11
Airbus A330 – 4
Boeing 777-300ER – 8
Boeing 747-400 – 8
Boeing 777-300 – 4
Boeing 777-300A – 6
Boeing 777-200 (3 Class) – 4
Boeing 777-200 (2 Class) – 4
Boeing 777-200ER – 0 (no exit rows)

A Preferred seat is marked as ‘P’ on the seat maps. They are not available on short-haul routes around south-east Asia or flights to Taiwan and Japan.

Best seats on the A380 plane

The best seats to get are on the Airbus A380-800 upper deck which has a small economy cabin at the back of the aircraft with a 2-4-2 configuration. The pick of the bunch are the window seat pairs on row 81 – seats A/C or H/K at the “mini” cabin right at the back. Further forward, row 71 also has great legroom but is windowless.

We recently tried out the A380 upper deck economy cabin on a 13 hour flight between London Heathrow and Singapore Changi airport. We found the $50 investment for row 81 was money very well spent. In comparison, Qantas charges AUD80 (around US$80) for a pre-assigned exit row (A380 lower deck or 747) on the same route.

The upper economy deck has a quieter and more intimate ambience than the large cabins on the lower deck. However, Singapore’s newer A380 deliveries have the economy cabin removed so that the entire upper deck is dedicated to business class. The original configuration will remain on SQ’s first 12 A380s for the time being.

On the lower deck, preferred seats can be purchased for exit rows 44 and 55, and also middle row seat 48D which has no seat (47D) in front.

It is likely that the newer config aircraft (A380-800A) with no economy upper deck will eventually be deployed on the London-Singapore route – so check your aircraft type carefully when booking. You should also book early to secure a Preferred seat – particularly if flying on the A380 upper deck.

Other airlines that have a small economy cabin on the upper deck of the A380 are Air France and Thai Airways.

It’s time for our annual review of which airlines accept Paypal as a form of payment for purchasing flights.

Paypal has become a mainstream form of online payment used by millions of people worldwide. A number of large international airlines allow Paypal transactions, though in some cases there are restrictions of use in terms of countries and currencies.

Let’s take a look at this year’s listing:

AirTravelGenius.com Paypal Airlines List for 2011

Air Asia – direct debit in AUD only
Air China – US, Australia, Singapore, South Korea
American Airlines – US/Canada/UK only
British Airways
China Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines – US only
El Al
Emirates – GBP/EUR only
Hainan Airlines
Jet 2 – GBP/EUR only
JetBlue
LAN – US
Lufthansa
Monarch Airlines – GBP/EUR only
Singapore Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Transavia
United Airlines – US only
US Airways
Vueling

China Southern and Hainan currently have a 3%-10% rebate off flights when paying by Paypal for international flyers.

Note also that Australian travel agents Webjet, Jetabroad and Flight Centre accept Paypal for flight bookings.

Economy (World Traveller) / premium economy (World Traveller Plus with 38″ seats) / business class (Club World) selected return fares from London are as follow:

Boston £360 / £638 / £1,740
Abu Dhabi £378 / £608 / £1,540
Miami £378 / £816 / £1,940
New York £396 / £674 / £1,752
Los Angeles £458 / £896 / £2,319
Barbados £499 / £814 / £1,629
Tokyo £547 / £959 / £2,400
Hong Kong £617 / £1,029 / £2,449
Singapore £669 / £1,091 / £2,697
Bangkok £685 / £1,097 / £2,650
Buenos Aires £738 / £1,087 / £2,899
Perth £899 / £1,418 / £3,261
Sydney £979 / £1,494 / £3,261
Melbourne £979 / £1,494 / £3,267

Some of the premium economy fares are reasonable (especially east coast US) and upgrading with miles to Club World – subject to availability – would be a good deal. However, the Club fares are not particularly outstanding.

As always, Virgin Atlantic are immediately matching most of BA’s sale fares on routes which they both serve.

Qantas has its own sale (also ends 20th September) – and has matched BA’s economy and business class prices to Asia and Australia. Its premium economy fares are higher than BA’s (example Hong Kong £1,399, Sydney £2,311) highlighting its superior product, which is more of a “business lite”.

Note that Etihad currently has sub-£3k Pearl business class return fares to Australia. London to Sydney (£2,996) and Melbourne (£2,998). We found some availability on Expedia in November for £2,917. Other good Etihad biz deals are Bangkok (£1,420), Kuala Lumpur (£1,590) and Manila (£1,709).

Air New Zealand also has sale fares available. Fly in their excellent premium economy or business cabins to Hong Kong for £1,011 / £2,330 or Los Angeles £1,082 / £2,199. Book by Sep 20th (business) or Sep 29th (premium).

Remember that NZ also has the “SkyCouch” option in economy to Los Angeles where you can book a row of 3 economy seats which fold into a sort of couch bed.

Mumbai €1,512
Singapore €1,522
Bangkok €1,572
Kuala Lumpur €1,618

Note, departures must be made in August. Book before 31st July.

The Singapore fare is the standout here, though nothing spectacular. We do recall an Etihad Pearl business class fare from Brussels to Sydney for €1,575 in 2009.

Alternative: Air Asia X flies out of Paris Orly to Kuala Lumpur non-stop using an Airbus A340. It sells business class seats from around €1,450 return – although you don’t get the lounge access, premium catering and service etc.