Best Seat on the Flight

[noke_travel]

Hey all-
just wanted to recommend checking out www.seatguru.com before your next flight. They have interactive seating maps for a bunch of airlines (international and US domestic) that recommend which seats to go for and which to avoid. I've been using it for a few years now and it's been a life saver.

-jeff

[space virgin]

^ I like that site. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not always possible to pick your seat.

[noke_travel]

true, it gives you a good idea of what areas to avoid, where to get the most legroom etc. though.

[scotters]

My brother is a pilot. He says the best spot for the least amount of turbulance is right on the wing. It's the worst window seat but if you think about a plane like a teeter-totter and the wing is the pivot, you can see the logic.

[LiveFreeorDie]

I agree about seating on the wing. The tail is the worst. I have sat there a few times, its like being on an amusement park ride. If you get motion sickness, don't sit there.

The best use of Seatguru that I have found is knowing where the restrooms and galleys are in relation to my seat. A long trans-pacific flight sitting right next to the bathroom or galley really stinks because people will be lined up all the time, it will be noisy, etc.

[Elizabeth]

This reminds me of a Snopes.com article I read:

Seat 29E (PDF)

A PDF document (available for viewing here) purportedly records the feelings of a passenger who had an experience similar (but worse by several degrees) to mine and undertook the effort to jot down his thoughts while the flight was in progress and send them off to the airline. The seven-page note (complete with humorous illustrations) documents the travails of a passenger who finds himself sitting not just in the last row before the lavatories, but directly across from a lavatory itself — forcibly exposing to him all sorts of unpleasant sights, sounds, odors, and other discomforts.

The document is dated 21 December 2004 and is stamped as having been received by "Customer Care" on 13 April 2005. Its heading indicates the passenger who wrote it was traveling to or from Houston on Continental Airlines Flight 888 (technically, Continental Flight 888 travels from Houston, and Flight 889 travels to Houston) and was assigned seat #29E. (The closest match we could find to a Continental Airlines plane configured like the one described in the letter is their Boeing 737-800, in which Row #29 is indeed opposite the lavatories, although it appears that aisle seat 29D is actually the one closest to the lavatories, while 29E is a middle seat. This is in fact the type and configuration of aircraft Continental uses for its Flights 888/889.)

Snopes.com article

[scotters]

Originally posted by LiveFreeorDie@Jan 17 2006, 09:50 AM
I agree about seating on the wing.* The tail is the worst.* I have sat there a few times, its like being on an amusement park ride.* If you get motion sickness, don't sit there.

[snapback]98946[/snapback]

In addition, the rear of the plane gets the engine's backdraft, thus a louder roar than the front of the plane (which is why they put first class at the front).

By the way (probably better for a new topic) any one got any good tips on getting free upgrades?

[LiveFreeorDie]

This reminds me of a Snopes.com article I read:

Good stuff. My favorite paragraph:

I constructed a stink-shield by shoving one end of a blanket into the overhead compartment — while effective in blocking at least some of the smell, and offering a small bit of privacy, the ass-on-my-body factor has increased, as without my evil glare, passengers feel free to lean up against what they think is some kind of blanketed wall. The next ass that touches my shoulder will be the last!