Follow these simple tips to find the best airplane seats on your next trip
We recently introduced the option to select seats for SpiceJet flights on Via.com. Here’s a nifty guide weighing the pros and cons of each section of the aircraft to help you snag the best seat on your next trip.
Front, middle or back of the cabin
This is largely a personal choice, but on most wide-body aircrafts, the front of the economy cabin, away from the engine tends to be quietest. The front seat passengers also have the advantage of being the first ones to deplane at the destination. The rear of the cabin is the noisiest due to its close proximity to the aircraft engines and the section is also more sensitive to turbulence.
Aisle, middle or window seat
The middle seat is the least preferred in most instances – especially in cabins with 5 across layout, where you will have to ask two passengers to move each time you want to stretch out or use the washroom. If you want to board the flight and sleep with as little disturbance as possible, the window seat is your best bet. A tradeoff is that the window seats can feels as if it has less shoulder room compared to ordinary seats.
The aisle seats gives you the freedom to walk around, but the seat position is prone to knocks and bumps as passengers walk by or try to squeeze past service carts. It said that an aisle seat is where you find out how inconsiderate your fellow passengers can really be!
Exit row or bulkhead seat
Many airlines now charge for an additional fee for the exit rows seats, while others allocate it during check-in. You do get additional legroom in an exit seat, but the seat has its share of downsides.
You will not be allowed to keep any hand-baggage by your seat during take off and landing. If the bins above your seat is full during these times you will have to hope for a helpful cabin crew to take the items off you and return them after take off and landing.
Some exit row seats will have the meal tray table built into the armrest. This design layout will make it seem like the actual seat width is less than ordinary seats and make it cumbersome to use the tray tables.
Bulkhead seats are seats that is located immediately behind a cabin divider, between business and economy class or the restrooms and galley. The benefits include not having a seat reclining on you and the additional leg space. However, like exit row seats, you will have to deal with having your meal tray on your armrest. Another downside to bulkhead seats is they are sometimes in proximity to washrooms.
Aside from the obvious fact that being seated near the washrooms can result in unpleasant odours wafting around you, the airline toilet flush can be fairly noisy, and you will find this incessant noise annoying, especially in long flights. In night flights, the constant light intrusion every time someone opens the doors will be add to your misery.
Being next to the galley areas can also be annoying – these are the areas with higher level of pedestrian traffic, light intrusion and noise.
The seat pitch
The airline seat pitch gives you an indication on how much legroom you can expect. Economy class cabins generally offer 31 to 32 inches seat pitch (industry standard), while a small number of carriers offer 33 to 35 inches of seat pitch.
