Travel search engine KAYAK.ie reveals the best spots to sit on board an aircraft.
Your bags are packed, you’ve got your passport, but there’s one thing still standing between you and your boarding pass – your seat choice. There’s a perfect day to book your ticket and a perfect time (more or less) to get to the airport but what’s not as widely known is where the best place is to sit. Working with the aptly named Dan Air, cabin crew member and author of Confessions of a Trolley Dolly, we’ve created an infographic weighing up the pros and cons of particular plane seats, with travel hacks on how to make smart seat selections.
Whether you are looking for a quiet ride, a quick exit, some extra legroom, or if you’re travelling with a nervous flyer, picking the right seat can make all the difference. Some parts of the plane are more susceptible to turbulence, while other parts absorb more of the engine noise. Irish travellers are creatures of habit when it comes to flying and the common preference is for a window or aisle seat, but can we just rely on our lucky numbers to pinpoint the perfect aeroplane seat?
For instance, A1 is secretly known as the best seat on the Airbus A320, used by Aer Lingus or vueling for short haul journeys. The combination of an unobstructed view, extra legroom, being served first, as well as being the quietest seat on the plane make it very popular. However, passengers in this seat should also wrap up for warmth, as it’s typically one of the colder seats in the plane.
In general, the preference for seats at the front is presumably due to the perceived ease of disembarking, but picking a seat toward the front will also ensure you put significant distance between yourself and the roaring plane engines. Therefore, when picking a seat in this type of Airbus carrier, aim for rows 1 – 10 for the quietest seats. Rows 1, 12 and 13 are your best choices for a bit of extra legroom.
Rows 29 and 30 are the seats receiving the most complaints, and for good reason, with less legroom, limited reclining space and close proximity to both the toilets and crew galley. Also, if you’re looking for a nice place to shoot some aerial photos for your social feed, best to steer clear of seats 10A – 12A and 10F – 12F, as these seats offer the poorest window view.
In the Boeing 777 aircrafts commonly used by Emirates or Delta, seats in rows 44 and 45 are the least desirable. Complaints include less legroom, limited reclining space and close proximity to both the toilets and crew galley.
As experts in smarter travel, KAYAK.ie developed the below infographic which shows the different characteristics of seats in these popular aircraft models and provides tips for selecting a seat that corresponds to individual travellers’ needs.
