Not everyone can afford a flight in business class and take up a little more space than a standard seat. Those who fly often know that the chance to sit down with a large person or someone with different ideas about hygiene is very high. It is impossible to avoid this, but you can try to sit near the window or in the aisle, if it will be more comfortable for you to survive the hardships of the flight.
Russian Forbes gives good advice on how not to lose a seat on the plane.
You can find out on which model of aircraft a particular flight is made on the airline's website. Planes of different airlines differ quite a lot from each other in the comfort of the cabins. On the websites of SeatGuru, SeatExpert there are all the details about the lineup of a variety of aircraft: about the presence of electrical outlets and televisions in the seat backs, about the location of toilets, about the interval between rows (usually it is 80 cm, but some companies, for example JetBlue, increased it by 5 cm) — this small, it seemed however, the difference with long flights is very noticeable.
The first row behind the business class is considered the most comfortable: there is more legroom, no one is sitting in front of you - which means no one reclines the back of their chair on you, you will be the first to receive food, drinks, newspapers, you will get blankets and pillows, for traveling with young children it is possible to attach a cradle to the wall for babies and put a child seat. But even here there are disadvantages — because of the tables hidden in the armrests, it is impossible to lift these armrests and turn an armchair into a sofa, or put a sleeping child on your lap. And if, for example, you are going to work on the way or prepare for a business meeting, you should hardly strive to sit in the front rows: the neighborhood with children (and there are usually most of them here) is unlikely to contribute to concentration.
The seats at the emergency exits are also held in high esteem by experienced travelers: the interval between the rows here is 15 cm longer than in the rest of the cabin, but depending on the layout of the cabin, the seat backs often do not fall (for long flights you will regret it) and you cannot keep hand luggage on the floor. The rules prescribe to put only tall adults in these places.
"To be honest, for obvious reasons, at registration, first of all, they look at this person to be physically strong, energetic and, how should I say it, smart, says Boris Rybak, director of the Infomost consulting company. "In case of an emergency, he should open the door and help the crew evacuate passengers."
Although there are cases when even a fragile girl could convince an airline employee that she needed to fly in this particular row.
In the middle of the cabin, for a significant part of the flight, you find yourself "locked" by carts with food, drinks, newspapers, and "duty-free" goods. In addition, rows 8-20 are usually the noisiest area in the plane, all the noise of engines and turbines is concentrated here. But there is no such information on the websites and schemes of salons, and only airline employees at check–in will be able to help you find a quieter place - different types of aircraft have different noise distribution schedules.
There is not much space in the tail of the plane (this is the geometry of the plane) — it's tighter to sit there, shakes harder, a small selection of food, newspapers and magazines (according to the principle of — what's left), next to the toilet, which most often has a queue – which means noise. The only plus — tail seats are considered safer.
Pre-booking allows you to choose your seats on the plane long before the flight. This is especially convenient for those who fly in large companies – it is difficult to expect that you will all be able to sit next to each other. British Airways has introduced an additional booking fee since October of this year: now economy class passengers will have to pay 10 pounds ($16) on European flights and 20 pounds ($32) for long flights, and 20 pounds ($32) and 60 pounds ($98) respectively for passengers to choose a convenient seat business class. But most air carriers (with the exception of budget carriers, which pay for everything) still provide this service for free when buying tickets both online and at airline offices. But few people know about it – because for some reason it is not particularly advertised by either the carriers themselves or the agents.
When booking a seat in advance, you can also order a special meal for yourself (which few people know about either) – all air carriers have different lunch options. Transaero, for example, offers a choice of about 30 different meals – vegetarian, kosher, Muslim, low-calorie, diabetic and others, plus 2 types of baby food.
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You can also choose a place convenient for you during online check-in, such a procedure is becoming more and more popular — you can check in at the airport at special kiosks, and even on the airline's website. This way you save a lot of time (you can arrive at the airport at least 50 minutes before departure), however, there are a number of restrictions – you must travel without luggage, without small children, without animals. In general, this option is suitable for a businessman traveling light. In addition, some companies, for example, Delta or Air Berlin, do not display seats next to emergency exits (and they are considered good by travelers) in the online check-in system, holding them for tall and large passengers. The second point is that not all companies have online registration desks in Russia, and so far only in Moscow – in Dodomedov and Sheremetyevo-2.
In the near future, — the creation of a single group boarding pass, which will allow you to get seats next to each other, for example, a large family or a company of passengers – for this they will not necessarily be all at the airport at the same time, 1 person will be able to register the entire company: the data of several travelers will be stored on the chip of one ticket.
Do not neglect the simplest and most proven way to get the desired seat in the cabin: do not be lazy and come to the beginning of registration. According to Sergey Bykhal, director of the press service of Transaero Airlines, "airline employees at check-in always try to meet passengers halfway and take into account their wishes." For those traveling alone, the following option is also possible: take a chance and play the lottery — come, on the contrary, by the very end of registration: if you are lucky, you can be given a seat in business class, and if you are not lucky, you will get a seat that all other passengers have already refused.
Experts recommend, if possible, to schedule flights for the days and hours of the least busy airports - this is Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. The busiest days are Friday and Sunday. The most crowded flights are morning and evening. In the half-empty salons of "weekday" flights, the flight attendants themselves will offer you to transfer to unoccupied rows, — it is quite possible to sleep on three seats.
A few years ago, the practice of getting good seats on board or getting into business class for a bribe to airline employees was widespread (500 rubles invested in the passport can still open the way for you to the place at the emergency exit, but we do not recommend this). American Forbes.com tells the story of a passenger who, when flying from New York to Germany, a hundred-dollar bill helped him get into business class. However, on the way back with the German airline staff, the same trick did not work.
Source (Julia Kaul)
