Ask the Seat Expert » best seats

Best coach seats on China Airlines for passengers with long legs and bad knees

The Seat Expert — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:28:41 +0000

Your specific requirements cause conflicting seat choices. The seats assigned to you are bulkhead and exit rows, and have both good and bad attributes:

First let us talk about the GOOD points:

30FG is the first row in coach, and is one of the designated bassinet rows. There is a bit more space for your legs due to the bassinet location, however, your seats could be changed at the last minute to accommodate passengers traveling with infants. In this case, you would very likely be given vacant seats that are still unassigned, which are often some of the worst seats.
There is no one reclining into you.
You are in the forward part of the plane, one of the first served during meals, as well among the first off the plane and through immigrations.
Less affected by turbulence.

Now the NEGATIVE points:

There is no underseat storage in front of you due to the bulkhead
You are located at the bassinet row. Even if you are not relocated to accommodate passengers traveling with infants, there is a good chance that there will be infants around you. Which means that you are subjected to their noise, as well as parents catering to them. Just be aware that there will be more movement and noise when comparing to other regular rows
The galley is very close by, so you are subjected to more traffic, noise, and perhaps smell of food preparation. You mentioned that your are “very sensitive to smells”, 30FG will have food smell, and possibly diaper and/or infant smell. 38HJ is close to lavatories, with its associated odor.
The trays and video screens are in the non-movable arm-rests, making the seats feel more narrow.
People sometimes congregate in the area in front of 38HJ, while they are waiting for the lavatories, or just to stretch their legs and talk. They might occasionally bump your out-stretched legs or the shoulders of passengers seated by the aisle, this could be a problem for your husband as well as yourself.
There will be more noise and people movement in both of the seat assignments. You mentioned that you are a light sleeper, perhaps you should prepare to either bring a good set of ear plugs, or good quaility headphones that completely cover your ears in order to block out noises. By the way, noise-canceling head-sets will not help, as they cancel out the hum of the plane, which makes other random noises that much more clear.

Based on all of the issues you mentioned, you might want to consider flying business class on your next flight. It is a good compromise between standard coach and International First class. A quick check shows that fares between LAX and HKG are generally around $5000 – $6000 per person for the round trip. You will have much more room for your knees and your husband’s shoulders, and about 3-4 times the space per seat compared to coach. There will also be much less issue with noise and smell, and you should be able to get much better rest due to the significantly better recline in the seats.

Seat comments on El Al 744 and 777 aircraft

The Seat Expert — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:49:52 +0000

Regarding El Al’s specific seats:

LY Boeing 744 – 3 Classes – seat 21A

Window seat at exit row
No underseat storage in front of you
Might have limited overhead bins in this area
Trays are in non-moveable arm-rest, making the seat feel narrower
We are unable to verify the location of the video screen, but it is most likely located on a swing-arm
This row is located at the primary door for the aircraft, and boarding passengers might bump into your legs as they pass through
We recommend boarding as early as possible, in order to find near-by space for your carry-on items, then take another seat elsewhere in the cabin, and wait until boarding is mostly complete before taking your assigned seat 21A
There will be very good legroom for you, since there is no bulkhead in front
The window at this row might be slightly behind, so you might not have much of a view. Depending on the actual location of the window cavity, you might not have much shoulder room normally available at window seats.
You should be one of the very first passengers from coach off the plane and through immigrations
You should also be one of the first served during meals, and you can even get up and place your tray in the nearby galley, before the flight attendants are ready to pick up trays
The exit slide might be slightly in the way of your legs, forcing you to angle your legs to the right in order to fully stretch out.
Some people reported that the area immediately by the door feels colder, especially by the legs
The galley is adjacent, so there will be a bit more traffic and noise

LY Boeing 777 – seat 45K

Very similar to 21A, but this row is most likely to not have a window
The lavaroties are just in front, people sometimes tend to gather in front of your seat, to stretch their legs or just to talk, as well as waiting for the lavatories
Located in the middle of the two coach cabins, you will not be the first off the plane.
Depending on how meals are served, you might actually be served early by the second service crew

Sleeper seats on Gulf Air to London

The Seat Expert — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:19:16 +0000

Our research team continues gathering information on this airline’s seats and we were able to find some information that might be helpful:

Gulf Air has nine A340s in two different configurations, one is referred to as the sleeper service, and it is the more likely configuration for the BAH-LHR route, however, please do keep in mind that substitutions often occur at the last minute due to airline operations. Row 22 is the second or the third row in the forward coach cabin. Unfortunately the two configurations use different letters in their seating plan. Both configurations are in 2-4-2 layout, so most people would prefer the pair of seats along the side, since there is no middle seat. The sleeper version is lettered AC-DEFG-HK, and the other version is lettered AB-CDEF-HK. On the likely version, 22D is the aisle seat in the center, and 22E is the second seat adjacent to 22D. However in the other configuration, 22D and 22E are the middle seats in the cabin. If possible, you might want to contact Gulf Air to see if you can switch to any HK seats. This would give you a good chance of having the pair along the fuselage regardless of which version ends up on your flight.