ADVICE PLANE SEATS

PHO

TOG

RA

PHY:

SH

UTT

ERST

OC

K IL

LUST

RAT

ION

: MA

RK

WAT

KIN

SON

42 W H I C H ? T R AV E L J U LY 2 0 1 5 J U LY 2 0 1 5 W H I C H ? T R AV E L 43W H I C H . C O . U K / T R AV E L

Cheats to get the

best seat Not all Economy seats are equal – even in the same

cabin, reveals former flight attendant Lee Cobaj

Tall tale

Airlines love touting

exit-row seats – they

earn £10-£40 each way

for them. But they rarely

mention the downsides. You’ll

nearly always lose seat width

as your tray table is stowed in

the armrest (see ‘Speedy exit’),

and all your belongings will have

to be put in the overhead locker.

And if the exit-row is at the front

of a cabin, families with babies will

often be right next to you. Unless you

have exceptionally long legs, these

seats are rarely worth the

extra money.

Book and switch

Here’s a trick: if you can’t get

the seat you want, book the best

available seat, then check back 24 hours

before departure. The airlines often hold

back clusters of seats for families, then release

any that haven’t been needed on the day of the

flight – or sometimes even earlier. So you can nip

in and make a quick switch to your preferred seat.

Easier still, if you have an iPhone, download the

Seat Alerts app (free) from ExpertFlyer,

tell it which seat you have your

eye on, and it will alert you straight away if the

seat is released by the airline.

Long-haul sprawlGetting an empty seat adjacent

to yours is as close to an upgrade as

most of us are going to get – particularly

on a long-haul flight, when you can usually

raise the armrest between the two for a

sofa-esque sprawl. For the best chance,

look to the less-popular back of the

plane, particularly the last few central

rows of seats – which nobody wants.

You’re likely to be within earshot of

the toilets and the galley, but it will

be worth it if you get to spread

out, and a decent set of earplugs

or noise-cancelling headphones

should drown out the noise.

Ask nicelyHemmed in by strangers?

It’s always worth asking the cabin

crew if there are any empty rows

on the plane – but you don’t want

to be earmarked as a nuisance,

so make sure to do it when

they’re not too busy. This

is usually towards the end

of boarding, but not so late

that the doors are closed

and they are preparing for departure.

Speedy exit

The seats in the first row of

Economy are sought-after by those in

a hurry to disembark, particularly if you’re

landing at peak times – typically 6-9am and

4-7pm – when immigration queues can take

ages (check airlinequality.com for airport

reviews). But they have their downsides. Families

with babies are often placed here, and because you

will not have a seat in front of you, your tray table will

be stowed in the armrest. This makes the armrest wider,

which loses you a few precious centimetres of seat width.

Better to go for the second row. You’ll exit nearly as quickly,

but without a loss of space. And if no babies are on the

flight, you’ll get lucky with one of the quietest spots in

the plane. The reason? These front-of-Economy

seats are usually just forward of the engines, so you’ll experience less roar, which

makes it easier to hear in-flight movie dialogue, too.

Smooth rideIf turbulence gives you

the terrors, go for seats over

the wings. Closer to the aircraft’s

centre of gravity, these seats

experience less movement. Think

of it like a see-saw; the further

you are from the middle,

the more motion you feel.

Secret seatsUse Seatguru.com’s

colour-coded aircraft plans to

search out the handful of secret

seats that have hidden extra

space – and to avoid the worst

spots. At the back of the Boeing 777,

for example, the fuselage tapers from

three seats down to two, leaving lots of

room on the side. SeatGuru also shows

the seats to steer clear of – those with limited

recline or fixed armrests, for example.

(Alas, you might have to pay to choose

seats now; see ‘The real cost of

flight extras’ from our May

2015 issue).

If landing at peak times – typically 6-9am and 4-7pm – immigration queues can take ages, so try to sit near the front