How to find the best economy seat
WE spend hours sitting on seats at work and at sporting events, concerts or movies, all without too much complaint.But, put us inside the admittedly cramped, air-less confines of an aircraft and suddenly we become obsessed with our seat, even on a relatively short flight.
That seat obsession can begin months before a trip, with people willing to pay four-figure sums for padded comfort.
Someone who has built a career around our obsession with airline seats is American Matt Daimler, founder of Seatguru.com.
Today, SeatGuru.com attracts over two million visitors monthly and has elevated the art of airline seating to near science. New York-based Daimler, who founded seatguru.com a decade ago, has flown over one million miles in 50 different aircraft types. The site advises readers on choosing the best seat on the plane.
So why does Daimler believe that we fret so much about airlines seats so much?
“Flying typically offers so many aspects that are out of your direct control,” he says.
“You are at the mercy of weather, and crew schedules, and air traffic control, and it’s really nice to be able to control this one aspect of your trip, your seat.”
The Doc, who has been known to obsess over airline seats over the years, put the Seat Guru in the hot seat to find out which economy seat really is the best.
Aisle or window?
“For a guy that loves legroom, it might surprise you that I’m a window seat fan. When there’s a view, I love to look out the window while flying, there’s still magic in that for me.
When I choose to sleep on a flight, I like that I can lean against the wall of the plane for some extra support and shoulder room.
“And when I do fall asleep, I find that if I’m in an aisle seat I inevitably get bumped awake by someone walking the aisle or by a seat mate that needs to make a lavatory trip.”
Best to book early or late?
“Book early, no question! On many of the new “value” airlines, the price starts low and continues to rise over time.
For traditional airlines, booking early might not get you the absolute lowest price, but it will often get you the most flight times to choose from.
“As a “seat geek”, booking early also gives me early access to the seating choices which can help me secure a green (SeatGuru’s good seat rating colour) seat or at least avoid the poor seats”.
Bulkhead/exit/emergency row seats: overrated or underrated?
“I’m 185cm tall and average weight, so my preference is for legroom rather than seat width. Bulkheads and exit rows almost always offer some amount of additional leg or knee room, but often at the expense of seat width and other inconveniences.
“The reason for the reduced seat width is that the tray table is typically placed inside of the armrest, making it an immovable and solid structure (usually there is space between the seat cushion and the start of the arm-rest, but not with these seats).
“This reduces the seating width by about five to seven per cent and can feel especially cramped. And of course, there can be exit row seats that don’t recline and bulkheads without a foot cutaway, both of which may actually make your flying experience worse than a regular economy seat.
“One last minor annoyance of bulkhead and exit row seats is that you can’t store your carry-on bag in front of you during take-off and landing, so you have to pack all your bags in the overhead and get them down after you are in the air.”
Is there such a thing as a “great” economy-class seat?
“Absolutely. There are specific airlines who are delivering a good-to-great experience for all of their economy passengers. On SeatGuru we help you identify these airlines through our comparison charts feature which is available on our left navigation menu.
“On that chart, you can see which airlines/airplanes offer the most legroom and seat width, and you can compare the in-flight amenities (video screens, laptop power ports, etc). On the long-haul economy chart, you’ll see an airline like Singapore Airlines will often be near the top of the chart for the amount of legroom and seat width offered in economy, and their entertainment system offers a personal TV screen.
“So, with a little bit of pre-planning, it is often possible to secure a great economy seat by selecting a specific airline or airplane.”
So what is the best seat on the plane and how do I get it?
“Almost every plane will have a small handful of seats that we’ve rated green (good) seats. Many times, but certainly not always, these seats are bulkheads or exit rows. On large planes, there can be green seats tucked towards the very rear of the plane, where there wasn’t enough room to fit three seats together and they instead placed two.
“Those can be great seats for a pair of travellers, and the extra room around the seats makes them feel more spacious and usually allows for a small bag to be placed alongside the seat for easy access.
“Some airlines may charge extra for bulkheads and exit rows, or they may only allow their frequent fliers to reserve them in advance. But don’t fret if you don’t get a green seat right away, sometimes green seats only become available for online check-in 24 hours in advance. Use the online check-in as early as possible to snag a good seat.”
What is the worst seat on the plane and how do I avoid it?
“On seatguru.com we colour-code these seats in yellow (be aware) and red (poor). For the yellow seats, you’ll typically find a minor annoyance, like when there is more wall and less window at your window seat.
“Red seats, however, typically have more uncomfortable problems – like restricted legroom, less seat width or no recline.
“Generally we find poor seats in two places – the row just before an exit row, or the last row of a plane.”
How do I get maximum comfort from an economy seat?
“Many of our SeatGuru visitors love entertainment options to help the time pass during a flight. A personal TV screen at your seat with on-demand video is almost a requirement for me on a 10-hour-plus flight.
“If you can’t choose a flight with on-demand video, make sure you at least have a personal TV screen at your seat. Watch out for airlines that haven’t installed these entertainment options.
“United Airlines for example is still flying the 747-400 between Australia and the US with only that single projected movie screen to entertain the entire economy cabin.”
Tell us about the airline seat of the future?
“The last five years have marked a big change in economy seats. As fuel prices jumped, airlines looked for ways to both reduce weight and increase the number of passengers on board. Seating manufacturers were able to design new economy seats that eliminated cushioning and plastic (they named these “slim-line seats”, while claiming to still provide the same comfort).
“Airlines that installed these seats not only saved on weight, but they were able to fit more seats on the plane. Air New Zealand was able to change from having nine seats across in their economy section to having 10 seats. They simply shaved about five centimeters from each of those existing nine seats, made the aisle a bit smaller, and an extra seat.
“Unfortunately it seems like that’s the future of economy seating – more advanced seating materials, not for our comfort. At least these slim-line seats usually have video screens – that’s a small consolation.”
The best airline seat you’ve ever travelled in?
“Like many of the visitors to SeatGuru, I really prize great entertainment options above average legroom. So, my most memorable seat is not an exit row with unlimited legroom, but rather a great standard seat on a Singapore Airlines 777-200. Choosing from hundreds of movies, on demand, was still one of my favorite flying experiences.”
Read Doc Holiday’s weekly travel advice column in the Escape lift-out in all of the News Ltd Sunday papers. Send Doc Holiday questions to doc@docholiday.com.au
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