Ask the Seat Expert » American Airlines http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert Just another SeatExpertBlogs weblog Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:00:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Best seats on Alaska Airlines codeshare to Hawaii with American Airlines http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/26/best-seats-on-alaska-airlines-codeshare-to-hawaii-with-american-airlines/ http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/26/best-seats-on-alaska-airlines-codeshare-to-hawaii-with-american-airlines/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 00:03:55 +0000 The Seat Expert http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/?p=253 To our best knowledge, Alaska Airlines does not fly any Boeing 757 aircraft, however, there is an AA code-share that flies KOA-LAX. This flight is operated by an American Airlines Boeing 757-200, with AA flight number 246, and code-shared as AS 1846.

]]> http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/26/best-seats-on-alaska-airlines-codeshare-to-hawaii-with-american-airlines/feed/ 1 American Airlines “More Room Throughout Coach” product http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/20/american-airlines-more-room-throughout-coach-product/ http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/20/american-airlines-more-room-throughout-coach-product/#comments Wed, 20 May 2009 23:53:40 +0000 The Seat Expert http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/?p=245 American Airlines quietly removed their “More Room Throughout Coach” (MRTC) product from their entire fleet in the 2005 time frame. Their current seat pitch is a very (unfortunate) common 31 inches in the coach cabin. The best seat pitch in a domestic carrier currently is United Airlines’ Economy Plus product, usually at about 34-36 inches pitch. This Economy Plus product is complimentary to United’s MileagePlus Elite members, as well as to those passengers who purchase access on an annual or per flight basis. JetBlue Airways also has seats with up to about 38 inches pitch if you pay a premium on top of the standard ticket. With the exception of exit and bulk-head rows, other carrier’s so called “preferred” seats offer no additional room comparing to other standard rows.

]]> http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/05/20/american-airlines-more-room-throughout-coach-product/feed/ 0 What is “preferred seating” on an American Airlines flight? http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/04/09/what-is-preferred-seating-on-an-american-airlines-flight/ http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/2009/04/09/what-is-preferred-seating-on-an-american-airlines-flight/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:30:30 +0000 The Seat Expert http://seatexpert.com/blogs/ask_the_seat_expert/?p=184 “Preferred seating” is a concept that many airlines have been experimenting with recently, and the concept is evolving and often means different things at different airlines. To most normal passengers, we think that “Preferred seating” should mean a seat with extra legroom, but this is too simplistic for the airlines, and they actually have a fairly different interpretation.

To the airlines, “Preferred seating” could mean one or many of the following:
  • Bulk-head row
  • Exit row
  • Window seat
  • Aisle seat
  • Any seat in rows further forward
  • Any seat that is historically selected by more passengers
  • Any seat that the airlines decide to set aside for last minute (highest fare, usually people on business that must be on the flight to make a meeting) passengers
  • Other criteria that are even less defined
The airlines are defining the term “preferred seating” loosely, so that many seats could potentially fall into this category. From the passengers’ point of view, they generally prefer seats with following characteristics:
  1. Exit row seats – for generally more legroom, although sometimes trade-off with slightly narrower seats due to the tray-tables being in the non-moveable arm-rests
  2. Bulkhead row seats – with no one reclining into them, and sometimes slightly more leg room. The trade off is also potentially narrower seats due to in-armrest table tables and no under-seat storage in front of the seat
  3. Seats further forward – in order to get off the plane sooner, especially when they have a tight connection at the hub airport
  4. An aisle seat – so that they can get to the aisle easier, particularly at the end of the flight, where they can get their overhead luggage without being boxed in
  5. A window seat – at least it is better than the middle seat!
The answer to your question then is this: Other than the exit row and perhaps the bulk-head rows, there is essentially no difference in the legroom amongst any other economy class rows. Of the large US legacy carriers, United Airlines’ “Economy Plus” is the only product that is consistently offering several inches additional legroom on almost every plane. While standard economy class pitch is around 31 inches, “Economy Plus” has pitch around 34-35 inches, which makes a big difference on long flights.
Most airlines allow their elite level frequent flyer members to access the “preferred seating” without any additional cost, and charge non-elite passengers different amounts for the same privilege. Since this is still an evolving concept, the actual cost will vary from airline to airline, and change over time until the airlines can arrive at a sweet spot to maximize revenue and passenger expectation.
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