Which international airline has the most comfortable economy seat? How do I upgrade from economy to business class with the least amount of money?
Your questions regarding international airline economy class seats and upgrades touch on two of the most important questions for many travelers.
Each one of us have a different build, and our definition of comfort also varies widely. There are many factors that determine comfort, of which the physical design of the seat is only a part of the equation. The typical international airline has a variety of different aircraft models to fit their specific needs, and often the different aircraft within each airline have similar but different seat designs. Speaking in broad strokes, Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 economy class seat is probably one of the best in the sky currently. While the seats only have average row pitch, it is one of the widest economy class seats, and each seat is installed with a state of the art AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) in-flight entertainment system, along with universal power ports. Coupled with very high quality in-flight service provided by the flight attendants and a quiet cabin design, the Singapore Airlines A380 economy class seats is arguably on the top of many people’s list.
As you can see, there are many non seat-specific factors that affect overall comfort, and each factor carries a different weight depending on the passenger’s unique perspective. Here is a long list that comes to mind:
- Width of seat. The wider the seat, the more room to move around. Seat width is measured between the inside of the arm rests. The average economy class seat is between 17 to 18 inches, with relatively minor variations. However, with the trend of the overall population getting taller and bigger, every half inch is probably a noticeable difference in terms of comfort.
- Pitch between rows. Pitch is measured from one point on a seat to the same point on the seat one row behind, and is an indication of how much room is available. For the same seat pitch, a very thin seat design will provide more room than a very thick design. The trade-off is whether there is sufficient cushioning for comfort when the passenger is in the seat for long stretches.
- How quiet is the cabin? Studies have shown that a quiet cabin provides for a less tiring flight, and perhaps less perceived jetlag.
- Single aisle vs twin aisle. Everything being equal, twin aisles make getting around the cabin easier, and the wider cabin on twin aisle aircrafts provide a much more spacious feel.
- Whether there is any middle seat? Some smaller aircraft have no middle seats, every seat is either a window or an aisle seat. On a completely full flight, overall passenger comfort might be highest in the coach cabin on this plane vs the larger planes that are also completely full. On a typical large aircraft, about 33% of the seats are middle seats.
- Whether your adjacent seat is occupied? Everything else being equal, if the seat next to you is not occupied, this is one of the most important factors as to whether you will have a comfortable flight. You have double the room to spread around your belongings, are much less likely to be disturbed by someone climbing over you to get to the aisle, have an extra tray table to move your empty tray onto before the flight attendant collects the empty dishes, and no one fighting you over the shared arm rest.
- The temperature of the cabin. Some airline cabin crews like to set the cabin temperature higher to induce sleep, while many of our users report that the high temperature makes them very uncomfortable. If you are one of the passengers that dislike a warm cabin, you might find your flight uncomfortable when another person had a very comfortable flight.
- Whether there is an individual air vent overhead. This is the saving grace for those that dislike a warm cabin. Unfortunately the majority of international airlines do not install individual over-head air-vents.
- In-flight entertainment options. An individual in-seat AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) entertainment system certainly will make the time go by faster. Fortunately, more and more international airlines are installing AVOD in the coach cabin, perhaps due to the realization that the passengers are not very comfortable sitting in their seats.
- Amount of overhead luggage space, which affects whether you have to stow your carry-on under the seat in front of you. Not being able to fully stretch your legs would certainly give you an uncomfortable flight.
- Lighting of the cabin, whether mood lighting is installed? Many newer aircraft have customized lighting system that makes it easy to gradually adjust the color and intensity of the cabin light to match the time zone, helping the mind and the body to minimize the effects of jet lag.
- Amount of recline. Different seat designs offer different recline. If the passenger in front of you reclines the seat throughout the entire flight, your flight probably would not be very comfortable. Some airlines recognize this problem, and install seats that have cushions that slides forward for the seat back to recline. Essentially, the seatback stays in the same place and does not intrude into the seat behind. The passenger who reclines their seat gains the recline by trading away their legroom, since their seat cushion slides forward as the seatback reclines, reducing the space between their seat and the seat in front of them.
- Foot and leg rest availablility? Some airlines install leg rests or nets under the seat in front of you, to provide better support for your legs during long flights to avoid fatigue.
- Is an in-seat power port available? The batteries on most portable electronic devices only last a few hours, much shorter than the typical international flight. Having in-seat power ports available means you can work on your notebook computer throughout the flight, or play games or even watch a DVD movie. You can also charge your iPod or other MP3 players. When you are entertained or distracted, your body will not notice the discomfort of the seat as much.
- Is there a view out the window? The importance of a window seat is actually not the window view, since typically it is only the few minutes during the take-off and landing that there is any worthwhile view. What is important however, is the fact that there is no adjacent passenger on one side of your seat, and that the natural curvature of the fuselage away from your seat typically gives you approximately three inches more shoulder space. If the window cavity is located in the correct position relative to your seat, it also provide an additional few inches of space for your pillow or shoulder to move around.
- How easy is it to access the aisle? This is usually a function of the row pitch of the seat, as well as the design of the recline mechanism. Larger pitch and seats reclining via the sliding seat bottom are the best. When your neighbor has an easier time getting to the aisle, you will be disturbed less.
- The proximity of the seat to the lavatory and galley. People tend to queue in the aisle waiting for the lavatories, and often bump the seats of the passengers seated by the aisle. Also, in general there is more traffic, noise and perhaps odor the nearer you are to the galley or lavatory.
- How soon will you be served during meals? Typically, airlines serve meals front to back. It could be 30 minutes or more between the first coach passengers getting meals served vs the last one. This means that the ones served first will have their trays cleared first, and that much more time to rest.
- How quickly can you get off the plane at the end of the trip? Typically, one of the forward doors are used for disembarkation, therefore the passengers seated further forward will get off the plane sooner, and get through immigrations sooner.
- How are the quality of the meals and the service? Not directly related to the comfort of the seat, but certainly a consideration for the overall quality of the flight.
I will stop at these 20 factors, but obviously there are plenty of other considerations, such as the cost of the ticket, convenience of the flight times and number of connections, frequent flier mileage accumulation and elite level benefits, and of course the ability and cost to upgrade to premium class.
The question of being able to upgrade from economy to business class could be just as complex. I will try to answer that in a separate post.
I’m having back surgery in Germany and will recuperate in Munich for two weeks before flying home to the states. I’ll need to fly home in the most comfortable possible seat. What seat and which airline would that be?