On a recent flight from YVR to JFK (Vancouver to New York JFK), I flew on Cathay Pacific’s 777 in Premium Economy flight CX888. Note that this is an overnight flight. The BEST seats in premium economy on this plane are 31 AC. The configuration of this plane in PE is 2-4-2.
In 31 AC, there is no bulkhead wall in front of you.
Look at all this space, with my legs fully extended:
What about the title of this post – lay flat? Well, when you recline the seat, extend the leg rest all the way, and the footrest, it ALMOST feels like you are laying flat. I have read that some people will use their roller carry on as a leg rest, which brings you are close as possible to lay flat as you can in PE. I didn’t try it, but I can certainly imagine how that would be the case.
What about the bulkhead middle seats or the other side, 32 HK? The problem with the middle seats, although there is also a lot of leg room, is that there is one restroom in PE, and people and flight attendants will keep walking in front of you to cross the aisle. 32 HK has a bulkhead wall in front of it.
On the way back, from JFK to YVR, CX 865, 31AC was not available, and I did not want people walking in front of me, so I chose the second row of the middle aisle 31D. The leg room and comfort was no where near the outbound flight:
Anyway, if you are on this plane, and flying in PE, I would recommend you try to get 31AC.