How to Find the Best Seat on the Plane

After finding an elusive business or first-class award seat, the next step is often overlooked: selecting the perfect seat on the plane.

If you’re flying in economy class, there’s less disparity between seats, and your seat selection decision might be less impactful. However, there are still some important factors to be aware of whether you find yourself flying in economy class, business class, or first class for your next flight. 

Below is a complete guide to ensuring you can select and enjoy your next flight in the best seat possible, no matter which airline, aircraft, or class of service you end up flying on.

Basics of Seat Selection

Before we get to how you can find and choose the best seat on your next flight, there are a few basics to be aware of.

When & How to Select Your Seat

Depending on the airline, your elite status, and the fare class you purchase, you may be able to select seats immediately after booking a flight without any extra fee. Usually, when you buy a premium ticket (Premium Economy, Business/First Class), you’ll have seat selection included and be able to choose your seats right away.

As always, there are a few notable exceptions to the rule, such as British Airways Business Class, which can charge as much as $165 CAD per passenger to select seats. Other carriers, like JetBlue and SWISS, will charge only for their most desirable seats, for example, bulkhead or throne seats. We’ll dig into definitions of seat specifics later. 

Figuring out how to select your seat can prove difficult if you’ve booked with miles. For example, I booked Air France’s excellent A350 Business Class using Virgin Atlantic Miles and had to go to the Air France website with my reservation code to select seats.

Turkish Airlines can be a troublemaker when selecting seats with Aeroplan redemptions. Often, you’ll need to use the Turkish App to view and manage your trip, but in extreme cases, you’ll be forced to check in at the airport. On the flip side, when I booked Gulf Air Business Class, I could only select seats through the chat function on their website. 

Either way, no matter the airline that you booked with, always try using both the loyalty program that you booked seats through and the carrier’s site to see if one of those options lets you select your seat. If both fail, a quick Google search or looking up an answer on FlyerTalk should get you on the way to being able to select your seats.

Reading a Seat Map

When looking at a seat map on our favorite resource, AeroLOPA, it will be easy to understand where a seat is located thanks to the inclusion of a nosecone on their diagrams.

Of course, the other dead giveaway to know where you’ll be sitting on the plane is by row number. The lower numbers are always at the front of the plane, but seat maps don’t always start with row 1. When viewing an airline seat map, what you’re looking at is less obvious.

The aisle, or aisles if you’re flying on a widebody, usually aren’t marked or labeled; instead, it’s assumed the reader knows there will be an aisle where seats aren’t. Preferred seats, or seats with extra legroom, will usually be signified in a different color.

When describing a plane’s seat configuration, the lingo often lists the number of seats on either side of the aisle from left to right. In Business and First Class, you’ll find various arrangements, from the typical 1-2-1 to a 2-2-2 or even an odd configuration alternating between 1-2-1 and then 1-1-1.

Types of Seats in Economy

When flying in economy class, seat selection has less impact on your flying experience, but depending on your needs, there are still some preferred seating options.

Bulkhead

Bulkhead seats can benefit from extra legroom, or if you’re trying to get some work done and don’t want the passenger in front of you to recline and restrict space.

Potentially, the best benefit of bulkhead seats is that the armrests tend to be solid, so depending on which seat you’re in, you won’t have any awkward leg contact with your seatmate. Conversely, traveling as a couple is almost like a VIP Movie Theatre in the middle, where you’re contained in your pod of two seats. 

It’s a mixed bag for how much legroom is offered on narrowbody planes. I’ve felt cramped in bulkhead seats on Air Canada’s 737 Max 8’s even when these are sold as a “premium” option. But on Embraer planes, you have more legroom than business class passengers.

Exit Row

Exit-row seats are usually excellent, with lots of legroom, but you’re far from the front of the plane. So, if you have a tight connection, you’re better off sitting as close to the front as possible.

One benefit of exit row seats is that you can still store your bag in front of you. The opposite is true for bulkhead seats, as you’ll almost always be forced to store your bag in the overhead bins for takeoff and landing. 

You’ll find the ultimate bulkhead and exit row combination on some widebody aircraft. This produces unlimited legroom! On some of Air France’s fleet, these are also in a row of two seats, compared to three in the rest of the cabin.

Economy Plus

Most American carriers will feature an Economy Plus section separate from Premium Economy. This section will offer more legroom and better complimentary snacks. Delta is most famous for its Comfort Plus seats, but United has a nice offering with Economy Plus.

This type of seat is usually found on short-haul, narrowbody aircraft, but some carriers, like KLM, still offer it on long-haul products. Long-haul flights typically include extra legroom, think 34 inches of pitch compared to 32.

Types of Seats in First Class & Business Class

First Class and Business Class have evolved dramatically in the past 30 years, from a standard recliner to lie-flat seats to enclosed suites with doors. With all of that change, there are some significant differences in an inflight experience depending on the age of your plane and when it was last retrofitted.

This section doesn’t list every business class seat type but reviews the most common seats.

First Class Seats

The most common arrangement for First Class is 1-2-1. There will be one seat next to the left windows (A), two in the middle (D&G), and one on the right (K), or precisely what you see in the image below for Lufthansa’s First Class.

Sometimes, you’ll find a 1-1-1 configuration, like on Cathay Pacific’s First Class or Qatar Airways First Class (777-300ER).

Singapore Airlines uses a 1-1 configuration for First Class, which is an increasing trend amongst new First Class products.

Reverse Herringbone Business Class Seats

The most common modern business class seat is the reverse herringbone, or what’s known in pop culture as a “pod”. Air Canada Signature Class and WestJet business class on the 787 both use this configuration, so for most Canadians, it’ll be a familiar look and feel.

There’s a significant difference between aisle and window seats in this configuration. Contrary to what you might think, companions are better off in A or K seats in successive order. The middle dividers cannot be lowered 90% of the time, and you’re pretty far apart, making it challenging to communicate. The window seats provide lovely views and sometimes have as many as three windows.

Bulkhead Business Class Seats

As you can see from above, bulkhead reverse herringbone seats don’t often provide much benefit. But with certain carriers, like Air France and JetBlue Mint, you’ll find a lot more space.

These carriers designed the seats to be extra premium, and they also charge a premium to select them.

Throne Seats in Business Class

The name of a throne seat matches its description perfectly, as the seat sits solely on its own with two large tables on either side. Here’s an example from ANA’s 787 Business Class.

Airlines such as TAP, SWISS, and JetBlue Mint also offer throne seating. These seats can feel a bit claustrophobic at times or small around the shoulders, so if you have a larger build, they could be a seat type to avoid.

Business Class Seats to Avoid

British Airways is the worst offender for bad business class seats, with potentially the worst seats still in service with a 2-4-2 setup. No matter where you sit, you’ll end up staring at a seatmate for a long-haul flight.

Some travelers prefer to avoid 2-2-2 seating, which is found on airlines like Lufthansa and Qatar. These impact solo travelers more than couples, but I would choose Swiss Business over Lufthansa’s 2-2-2 every day. Qatar has a bad reputation for swapping planes away from the wonderful Qsuites into a 2-2-2 seating configuration.

Finding the Best Plane Configuration

Fleets of aircraft go through lifecycles, and at any given moment, you’ll have brand-new or extremely dated seats offered by the same airline. For points and miles maximizers, we’ll pay the same amount of points regardless of experience, so you want to ensure you book the right plane from the start. 

To know the best seats available on your route, start by ensuring you find award availability. If only one flight is available, you’ll be forced to maximize your in-flight experience based on that seat map. 

If you have a choice, look at our growing collection of flight reviews or do a broad search online to get a feel for the inflight experience. If we haven’t reviewed a certain flight yet, there are many other websites available where someone has shared their experiences, so a quick Google search can get you up to speed. 

Even if you do all your research and find the perfect seat, there’s still a chance your aircraft can get swapped out for an older one. When this happens, head over to ExpertFlyer and see what seats are still available on your flight. Jump on the phone or head to your nearest help desk at the airport and get your preferred seats selected ASAP.

SeatGuru is another resource for checking for seat reviews, but the site has not been updated in a while, so you may not have any luck.

Finding the Best Seat On the Plane

Where you choose to sit will ultimately be a personal preference, and even if you get it wrong, it’s for a “relatively” short time. For solo travel, generally, a window seat will be best. If you’re flying in Qsuites with a partner, there’s nothing better than the double bed in the sky!

If you’re planning to rest for most of the flight, choosing a seat in the middle of the cabin, away from the galley, could be wise. 

For example, when we flew the longest flight in the world (SIN-JFK) in Singapore Airlines Business Class, we chose to sit in the middle seats, as the layout is more conducive to communication. Window seats provide a great view, but for 18.5 hours of flying time, it’s nice to share the experience with your partner. 

We also wanted to be in the forward “mini” cabin, which has only six rows, for a quieter experience compared to the 13 rows of business class over the wings.

Conclusion

With a massive overhaul in modern aviation, business class seats have undergone a considerable change, and so will your experience. To get the best bang for your points, researching plane and seat types will pay off in spades to have a fantastic start or end to a trip.