Share

A few airlines do not assign seats but do assign you a boarding group based on how early you confirm your flight online within 24 hours of the flight.

As they receive your booking for a specific flight, most airlines will promptly assign you a seat. If so, consult SeatGuru (noted below) and visit the airline website soon after. If dissatisfied with the automatic selection, see if you can choose another interactively from all available seats on the plane in your cabin class. If you are checking in at the airline’s counter with no seat yet assigned, you should ask if a desirable seat is still available.

What’s desirable? Different seat types on a plane have advantages over others. The greatest determinant of a desirable seat will be your cabin class.
• First Class is always at the front of the aircraft to minimize engine noise, and offers luxurious seating with generous legroom and well-padded, wide seats. On aircraft configured for long routes, the seats often recline fully to create comfortable single beds. Each may be set within walls providing some privacy. These features, plus the superb meal, drink and services that accompany them, drive the typical cost of tickets many times that of economy class.
• Business Class will also be located toward the front of any aircraft, immediately behind first-class, if any. Seating will also be very comfortable, often able to recline markedly if not fully. The newest seats also have walls for some privacy. These features, plus deluxe meals, drinks and other services, drive the typical cost of tickets several times that of economy class.
• Economy Class makes up the bulk of aircraft seating. Some aircraft will have two “flavours”…a premium economy that offers greater leg-room than the other…standard economy.
o In those flavours, seat width and “pitch” basically determine comfort, though newer designs may have seat cushion and seat back contouring that also help. Pitch means the distance between a fixed point on one seat and that same point on the seat behind it. It basically defines the amount of legroom someone will enjoy or (possibly) suffer.
o In standard economy on full-sized aircraft, pitch can vary from 30-32 inches, and width from 17-18.5 inches. In premium economy, seats may only offer greater pitch, perhaps 35-36 inches; on many flights, that extra legroom comes at a substantial cost. On long flights, these variations can be enough to make travel comfort range from acceptable to somewhat miserable, e.g., 17 inches for the portly can force them into the space of seat mates, a 30-inch pitch can cause a tall person some pain.
o In regional jets or short-haul propeller aircraft, widths can be under 17″, while pitch can be 28 or so inches.
SeatGuru and other sites can provide seating maps/details (and other information rarely shown on airline websites) to help you judge whether particular aircraft and seating will be comfortable for the travel you plan.
Beyond cabin class, other considerations include:
• Window seats, popular with many flyers, as they allow you to look out the window, rest your head against it while sleeping and not be disturbed by other passengers. The major downside is that you’ll have to clamber over a seatmate or two to reach the aisle for any purpose. You may also have slightly less floor space due to the curvature of the plane, and the wall can become quite cool.
• Aisle seats, the choice of some road warriors because they make it easy to get out and off the plane, provide more leg space, and make it easier to get up and stretch your legs. On long flights, though, it’s hard to sleep with people walking by, seatmates climbing over you, and the risk of your elbow being hit by a service trolley passing by. Planes usually disembark row-by-row, so a seat further forward will often get you out at your destination quicker than an aisle seat farther back.
• A third possibility is middle seats, which combine the disadvantages of both aisle and window seats.