The best seats in Premium Economy on Virgin Australia's Boeing 777

Flying on Virgin Australia's Boeing 777-300ER across the Pacific to LAX or up to Abu Dhabi to connect with Virgin's Etihad codeshare to Europe, the Middle East and Africa? Here's how to pick the best seats in Premium Economy.

The plane

Virgin Australia flies its Boeing 777-300ER planes to Los Angeles (connecting with Delta and Virgin America) and Abu Dhabi (connecting with Etihad).

It's a three-class plane, with business class at the front of the pointy end, followed by premium economy in the middle and economy down the back.

The premium economy cabin

The cabin is laid out in a simple five rows of 2-4-2 seating. A & C seats are on the left, with D, E, F, and G in the middle. H & K sit over on the right hand side of the cabin.

Each seat is 49.5cm (19.5 inches) wide, and has 38 inches of seat pitch -- that's the space between your seatback and the one in front, which you can call your own during the flight. Recline goes back 20.3cm (8 inches), making the whole setup pretty similar to a domestic business class seat.

You also get inflight power at your seat, a USB socket and access to the snazzy in-flight bar.

The best seats on the plane

10A 10C 10H 10K: these pairs of bulkhead seats at either side of the front of the cabin have nobody leaning back into you. That means more space and an easier clamber over the aisle person if you're in a window seat. The downside, though, is that it's also the only row for bassinet cribs: so if there's a baby, you're more likely to be kept awake.

10D 10G: these bulkhead aisle seats are in the middle section in the front row. Since the wall in front doesn't stretch the full width of each seat, particularly tall passengers will be able to stretch their legs all the way out. (Just watch out for trolleys and people falling over your feet.)

The worst seats on the plane

Row 14: the last row in a premium cabin is usually a bad pick, since there are usually noisy economy babies, lavatories and galley kitchens behind. It's not so bad here, since there's a wall separating you from economy, with a closet between for sound insulation. But the seat doesn't recline all the way, although as a tradeoff there's nobody behind you to bump into you or get their knees in your back. Overall, though, we'd give it a miss.

E and F seats: These middle seats mean you've got someone either side of you and need to climb over them to get out.

Also in our Best Seats series:

• Business Class on United's 747
• Business Class on Singapore Airlines' A380
• Economy Class on Cathay Pacific's A330
• Business Class on Emirates' 777-300ER
• Premium Economy on Qantas' A380

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.