As we know airlines are packing planes tighter and tighter these days, cutting the services and charging for food, pillows and exit-row seats. By following just a few steps your next flight will hopefully be more desirable.
As a traveler are you tired of being stuck in the middle seat, behind someone much bigger than you who has their seat leaned back into your already small space? Most travelers are, and here are a few tips that might help your next flight to be a little more pleasant.
Things are ever changing within the airlines and the planes themselves. Being able to select your seat is a great option we are now offered, however with the re-arrangement of planes to fit more passengers per flight the “good-seats” have changed a little. There is a helpful site SeatGuru.com that you might find helpful. By just entering your flight number SeatGuru.com shows you which seats are good, which ones have some drawbacks, and which seats are poor. There are a few other options you’ll have to check out for yourself.
There are new options when booking your flights as well they are referred to as “premium economy” these are a roomier seat, between business and coach. On average these seats offer an extra 4-6 inches of legroom. The price as well as the room varies for each airline. The cost range is anywhere from $8-$159. Airlines that offer the extra leg room include but aren’t limited to American Airlines-offer Main Cabin Extra seats, United Airlines-offers Economy Plus rows, and Delta-offers Economy Comfort. However if you are valued customer with some airlines they will automatically bump your ticket for no extra charge. United for example lets elite frequent fliers sit in Economy Plus for no extra charge.
Try these tips:
Don’t shop for price alone. Certain airline companies pack their seats, for example Spirit packs 178 seats in their planes, and only 4 seats recline. Compared to a roomier 150 seat JetBlue flights, these simple modifications make your traveling experience that much better. And when it comes down to it there is usually less than a $30 price difference, and when you have a long flight that $30 might be worth the extra leg room and option to recline your seat.
Use technology to find a better seat. Major airlines let passengers select seats when booking your tickets, most have their plane diagrams posted on the airlines homepage with the available seats. And if you want to avoid sitting in a middle seat try signing up for free alerts from ExpertFlyer.com.
Call a travel agent. Travel agencies handle mass amounts of airline bookings and they often have special codes that unblock specific seats. Most luxury travel agents have relationships with about 55 airlines. Although you will be charged booking fees that start at about $50 travel agents usually have success unblocking seats for their customers 75-85percent of the time.
Play the nice card. Sometimes you can be the flexible passenger to assure couples or groups are able to sit together. You can let your flight attendant know and they might comp you drinks or snacks, and if you make them aware you gave up your seat and ask them to let you know if a different seat comes available it could play in your favor more often than not.
What it comes down to is that if you are looking for a better seat you are going to have to pay a little more. So if you’re on a budget then yes look around the comfortable seat might be in budget, however the likelihood of that happening is slim. So the moral is just be hopeful that your seated behind someone who is courteous. For more related articles check Luggage Covers.
