Are Dreamliners noticeably nicer or more comfortable compared to traditional aircraft? (Economy class only, obviously).
From what I read, they are just more fuel efficient...
Yes. Much nicer. Just flew one Dallas-Beijing two weeks ago.
The cabin has better pressure balance and humidity so you notice very little ear popping, don't get dry mouth/nose and feel far more refreshed on landing. The ambient lighting is much nicer and soothing (to me anyways). The electronic tint on the windows is nice as you have 5 or so different tint levels. They tint so well that even for a daytime flight the plane is pretty darn dark inside so you can actually sleep better. More storage (no fighting for a spot to put your carry on) and the storage design provide headroom for everyone. It also seemed noticeably quieter and every seat actually has a charging outlet.
And book the exit row so you can have 10 feet of leg room and are right next to a little walk through where they leave out snacks and drink (on american anyways).
It's sort of neat to watch the wing as well. The flex is incredible.
Let me tell you...I was sad when my return flight to the states was a 777. Also sad I had to come back through ORD. To the poster above who said ORD is efficient I sort of chuckle. I've never thought that of ORD. On the way back from Beijing I had a 3 h 10min connection. We even were off the plan early. I made it to my connection gate near the end of boarding. Just horrible.
The time previous, we were delayed 4 hours because they had trouble getting permission to move our plane from where it was parked to the gate. Don't think I've ever seen pilots and gate personnel more upset at the airport than the travelers themselves!
Random question, but it's been bugging me ever since it was built. What is the brown building that was added between piers A and B (closest to gate A24/B32)? What is it used for?
ask and ye shall receive. sorry for the lack of updates lately - just been swamped last few weeks. and yes, the ceiling looks absolutely awesome!
View down the International Pier with new gate signage
(lighting not so great in the first two pics - looks much better in person) http://i.imgur.com/43x2Bkd.jpg
I agree that they're stylish, but my issue is that when you're in an airport, there's lots of activity and you don't want to have to be guessing at what you're seeing if you have poor vision or there's a bright light behind the signage for whatever reason. The lack of a border or spacing on the text can make it difficult to read at a glance.
It's especially noticeable in that first picture where D 72 and 73 are noticeably cut off. At a quick glance it might be more of a blob of text then a quickly readable set of numbers.
Does this sound overkill? Based on my experience, there's enough people who benefit from properly designed signage that it's a good thing to discuss.
