travel

How to get the best seat on the plane and hold it

19 Comments

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19 Comments
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I would gladly pay a small extra charge for seats in the exit row!

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It's good to be an executive platinum (One World) and Platinum (ANA/Star Alliance) member.

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I used to think that fat people would be given better seats -but now I know that is a downright lie and everyone must mooch for every extra inch you can get.

=I must work hard to make others suffer.

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In my experience, it's colder by the doors so those door seats might not be as attractive as they once were. Recently some airlines announced they'll no longer have blankets for passengers.

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"Bulkhead seats in first-class are often not desirable seats because they don't offer enough legroom. This is why sometimes you might find a better seat in coach"

I can't believe that if I paid several times the cost of a coach seat, I might have less legroom than a seat in coach. This makes no sense at all. Moot point, though, because I would never pay several times more for a first-class seat, even if I had more money than Bill Gates.

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"Bulkhead seats in first-class" stupid add in. Do First Class people care? No. If they don't like their seat, they get re-seated. First class is never book 100%.

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Actually, bulkhead seats in first-class are preferred by VIP's since it's the best seat to be in if you don't want to have your face seen by others...

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Flying business or fisrt on a long haul makes a huge difference. Huge.

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I flew 1st class four times over the past 15 years from racking up family miles and moving them to my account. Excellent, but the seats were designed for big gaijin. I am not big and found the full length beds to be uncomfortable with the way the three parts of the seats split apart. I am less tired flying in coach when I land then with first class. I am glad they stopped the ability to move unlimited mileage with UA. If they did not, I would still be flying them rather than Delta now, and not exhausted at all after the 24 hour door to door. Can't we get tech done here and learn to beam us aboard?

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The bit on bulkheads in first class is extremely rare. The only time I've seen it is on Air France intra-Europe which is just coach seats where the middle seat isn't bookable. Most have a cutout or have more than enough of a setback to stretch out.

I have to disagree with the bit on paid upgrades too. While some airlines offer them, they are typically are the cost between the coach fare and discounted business price. Most airlines do not offer sell upgrades because no one would pay the regular price if they did. JAL and ANA would let the seats go out empty before selling an upgrade to the international first class cabin.

Seatguru.com is a great resource. I would also recommend once you have your seat keep checking it and make sure you don't get bumped out of it. Don't be afraid to call the airline and complain if you loose a prime seat. Oh, and if you have no status with the airline, don't be surprised if you can't book prime seats. They best customers will get first crack weeks (or months) before general passengers. You get the table scraps on day of departure.

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seatguru is an amazing website ... i have used it for years to assist while booking flights

my experience with flying first class is if i slide down as far as i can with my butt still touching the seat a tiny bit ... my legs (or fairly average western length) won't come close to touching the seat in front of me. good luck having not enough leg room with that ... even if there is a wall rather than a seat in front. first is called first for a reason ... you aren't going to be slummin' up there.

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Seems to me that the biggest factor is how many people are flying. I've flown coach before with a half-empty plane and that easily beats anything else for the price. I even once had an entire center row to myself (5 seats) on a 777 from Chicago to Tokyo. Made a nice bed... On the other hand I booked economy plus on United once to get the legroom and had a baby on one side and a Marine recruiter on the other. So much for the extra money I spent for a few inches of legroom...

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Exit row seats are considerable smaller in size than regulars seats because the tray tables have to hold up into the arm rests. Don't confuse yourself with business and first class seats with the same tray table in the arm rest those seats are much bigger. If your not below average size then don't sit there it sucks.

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I am 6-4 and flying accross the world is torturous. Please don*t selfishly take exit row seats just to relax. Some of us need them just to fit onto the plane.

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Lowly, the aircraft makers didn't design their aircraft for the comfort of tall people, they designed them to make the most profit for the airlines. And a lot of them still lose money. Can you believe that?

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A little trick they didn't mention is to have an airline credit card. The card also has your FF# on it, so I always show my credit card and not my FF card when I check in -- this usually gets me upgraded over half the time...

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Sucks being a big guy and not having the money to upgrade. I get the aisle seat just so that I dont have to climb over people when my legs cramp up.

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Tatanka - Are you serious?! Holy crap, I'm going to get an airline credit card TOMORROW!

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In the final analysis, the trick is, fly a lot and become a Gold Star member. These tips though some helpful won't help you if you only travel every so often. You don't have the leverage. I still have 1/2 million miles left over with UA's FQ, but doubt it would help now since I haven't flown with them in about 3 years. I fly according to destination now on 1-stop airlines.

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