By Shawn Gallagher
Seats can make all the difference when you’re flying. Each seat provides different pros and cons, whether that’s in first, business, or economy. This also means that some seats can have a much better experience compared to others, even in the same cabin class. Keep reading for my tips on choosing the best seat that maximizes your comfort.
Avoid Seat Selection Fees
Depending on your fare class, you may have to pay a fee to choose and reserve a seat in advance. This can almost always avoided by booking a main cabin (regular economy) fare instead of a basic economy fare. I go over this in more detail in this post, but here’s a brief overview on this:
This is for a one way ticket from New York City to Los Angeles on American Airlines. As we can see, basic economy is offered as the cheapest option for $254, while main cabin is listed as $304. Although it may be tempting to choose basic economy, we can see several restrictions including “pay for a Main Cabin seat.” These fees can add up to the point that it would’ve been cheaper to choose the $304 main cabin fare. If you want to choose a seat in advance, try to avoid basic economy.
READ: Basic Economy vs. Main Cabin, Which Should I Choose?
With this in mind, here are some of the best and worst seats to choose depending on what you’re looking for.
For Seats With Less Turbulence
Turbulence can be annoying. And for some who may get anxious from a shaky flight, you would want to sit in an area of the plane that gets less affected.
Seats over the wing have been said to get less turbulence because that’s where the aircraft’s center of gravity is. On the other hand, seats in the very back of the plane will experience a more turbulent flight.
Always remember though, that planes are completely safe during turbulence.
- Best: Seats over the wing
- Worst: Very back of the plane
Related: What Is Severe Turbulence, And Should I Be Worried?
For Comfort And Legroom
Planes are cramped, and we all want space to stretch out during the flight.
Exit row seats and bulkhead seats offer extra legroom since there is no seat in front. However, these seats may require an extra cost or may be reserved for elite status members. They do sometimes open up a day or two before departure, so be on the lookout. If you aren’t able to get these, then an aisle seat will do justice. You’ll have more arm space and can stand up to use the bathroom and stretch whenever you want.
Middle seats are the worst seats, no doubt about it. You have to climb over your neighbor to get up, and your arm space is limited by the two passengers next to you. I avoid the middle seat at all cost, and I in fact have not sat in one since I was in early elementary school.
- Best: Exit row/bulkhead seats, or otherwise aisle seats
- Worst: The middle seat
Related: Is Delta’s Comfort Plus Worth It? Tokyo To Detroit Review
To Relax And Sleep
The window seat, in my opinion, is the best for sleep. Because you have control over the window, you can close it whenever you want. Having a darker cabin for your row to get some rest is probably important for most of us. Note that some airlines may require you to leave the window open during taxi, takeoff, and landing due to safety reasons.
Another benefit of the window seat is that you won’t have passengers climbing over you and waking you up because they need to use the bathroom. The aisle seat may be great to have more space, but you will always have 1 or 2 seat mates next to you who need to stand up every once in a while.
Seats to avoid would be any seat that’s close to the galley and the bathrooms. The galley/bathroom area can get very loud and smelly, especially on a longer flight.
- Best: The window seat
- Worst: Seats near the galley and bathrooms
Bottom Line
Although it’s difficult to find the perfect seat on an airplane, you can maximize your comfort depending on what you want to prioritize during your flight. If you’re unsure though, I would go for an aisle seat as close to the front of the plane as you possibly can. You can never go wrong with aisle seats.