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Five New Ways to Score Better Airplane Seats for Holiday Travel

The holiday travel season is just around the corner, so if you haven’t made those reservations to visit the family, now’s the time to do so. The fun doesn’t stop there, as once you pay a premium for flying the Wednesday before Thanksgiving you have to select a seat. We went over some of our favorite tips last year, but here’s five more that might help you survive this year’s season:

· Watch Those Seating Maps:
If your worst nightmare is being stuck in a middle seat in the very last row, then you need to know about your airline’s frequent flyer policies even if you aren’t one yourself. Most major carriers start bumping their favorite flyers up to the front days in advance—sometimes up to five days before takeoff—so you need to start checking the available seats when these upgrades are processed. If an aisle seat opens up near the front thanks to an upgrade for someone else, it can become yours. Persistence is key here, so remember to check early and often. It worked for us last week!

More tips and hints after the break...

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Airline Hell / Airlines / Airline News / Seating / Airplane Seats / Airplane Safety / Tatarstan Airlines / Ryanair / → All Tags

If the Russians Can Do It, What's Stopping Ryanair From Making Passengers Stand?

Airline travel is one step closer to the dreaded "buses with wings" status that we all dread, after Russia's Tatarstan Airlines had six passengers stand up for a 5 hour flight a few weeks ago. A 148-person tour group had reserved a plane from Turkey to Russia, but at the last moment, the airline substituted an airplane with a maximum capacity of 142. The six tourists who drew the short straws were told they could either stand during the flight home or wait for another flight later in the day. They chose to stand.

We're actually surprised we haven't heard Ryanair crowing about this, given their enthusiasm for the idea. The customers-last LCC has long been pushing for stand-up seating, but has been stymied by European regulators concerned about trivial things like "passenger safety." The obvious argument in the aftermath of the Tatarstan flight is that none of the worst-case scenarios about stand-up actually happened. That's an awful argument since there were also no safety emergencies on the flight, but that doesn't mean that we don't expect Ryanair to make it. In fact we're almost a little disappointed they haven't put this at the top of a press release yet.

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Tiger Airways Also Considering Pee Fees and Stand-up Airplane Seats

Until an airline actually goes through with it, we are going to be continually reminded that stand-up seating is a pending possibility. Ryanair started things off, but now there’s another airline that might just want to get a little attention with it as well. Tiger Airways is also thinking about bringing a bit of in-flight discomfort to the masses.

The airline stated that they’d consider the possibility of stand-up seating in order to pass on lower fares to their customers. Just like their pals over at Ryanair, Tiger Airways would also think about installing those infamous coin-operated toilets. Apparently the airline is all about anything that can make flying cheaper for the flying public.

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Eleven Original Videos from the First Flight of Lufthansa's A380

This is it. This is end of the week during which Lufthansa took delivery of their first superjumbo Airbus A380. It was an equally important week for us too, as we were fortunate enough to be on board the maiden flight from Airbus' private airfield at Hamburg-Finkenwerder down to Lufthansa's HQ in the Technik hangar at Frankfurt International.

We sincerely hope that you enjoyed our thorough coverage throughout the week, but we couldn't rest without sharing some of our videos with you, which really helped to capture the day—not to mention the massive size of this airliner. From boarding the plane to playing with the in-flight entertainment, and even rolling into the hangar at Frankfurt amidst partiers, all our videos are here. Check them out...

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Airplane Seats / Seats / Air New Zealand / SkyCouch / Seating / In-Flight Comfort / → All Tags

Check Out Air New Zealand's New SkyCouch and Premium Economy Seats, in Video

Last week we shared Our Ulitmate Guide to Air New Zealand's New 'SkyCouch' Seats, complete with a few titillating photos.

This week, we're going to show you the video demo we made showing how the nifty airborne lounging seats actually work, as well as one of the new Premium Economy seating modules that will be debuting on Air New Zealand's new set of Boeing 777-300's later this year.

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Spirit Airlines Updates Planes to Include Seats that Don't Recline

Spirit Airlines loves being the center of the attention. They recently got loads of press over their decision to charge for carry-on bags, and now they’re doing something else to further ruffle the feathers of airline travelers around the country. The airline has decided to install some new seats on select planes, but these are hardly an improvement on the existing design. The new seats do not recline.

They’re calling the new seats “pre-reclined,” but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to give you any more legroom. It actually means that your seat is stuck in the locked and upright position for takeoff, taxi, landing, and the whole time that you’re up in the air. We know many enjoy a little extra room thanks to an in-flight recline, so there are definitely going to be quite a few people less than thrilled about this recent update.

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The Ultimate Guide to Air New Zealand's New 'SkyCouch' Seats

The official Air New Zealand shot of two yuppies on the SkyCouch

We’ve been eagerly anticipating the Stateside unveiling of Air New Zealand’s new SkyCouch for months now since the Kiwis got a first look way back in January, and last night, we got the chance to check out the divine divans for ourselves at the company’s headquarters by LAX.

Born out of a desire to “revolutionize the way people at the back of the plane experience their journey,” Air New Zealand has taken the typical three-seat row and turned it into a couch so that economy travelers can stretch out and practically lie flat—albeit in still slightly cramped quarters.

So can two regular people fit on the SkyCouch, and what's the deal with the new premium economy seats? Find out, after the jump!

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Qatar Air Is The Latest To Reinvent First Class By Removing It

It seems like every week our chances of flying first class in some ridiculous sleeper suite are becoming less and less. We saw Qantas pull out of the first class seating business, and then Air New Zealand did the same with some of their shorter haul airplanes. The latest to pull the plug on in-flight comfort in the front of the plane is Qatar Air.

Qatar Air has a lot of airplanes on back order, but before they pay for the expedited shipping, they are doing a lot of assembly line modification. Most of the airlines that have decided to remove and reconfigure will be busy ripping out old stuff in favor of the new. However, Qatar Air is just requesting that things get changed before they ever even take delivery. This probably should save them some decent cash.

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Airplane Seats / In-Flight Comfort / Air New Zealand / Qantas / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

Air New Zealand Doesn't Believe in Business Class Anymore

Remember not too long ago when Qantas was all about ditching their fancy seating options? Well there must be something in the water down under, because now Air New Zealand is thinking about doing the same thing. We don’t believe it has anything to do with that flight attendant manual, but that probably didn’t help things at all.

The airline is pretty sure that high spending business travelers aren’t going to return to the skies anytime soon, so they are ditching some of their business class seating options. Air New Zealand will eliminate all the fancy seats from its fleet of short-haul Airbus A320 airplanes. That means they can cram almost 20 more cheap seats on flights headed across the Tasman Sea to Australia.

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Brazilian Airlines Must Now Rank Their Seats By Legroom Space

Here’s something to add to that Passenger Bill of Rights idea that is continually kicked around. In Brazil, the government is actually requiring the country’s airlines to provide a rating on the abundance of legroom in their planes, or lack thereof. It would ensure that passengers are comfortable, or at least prepare people for what to expect when it comes to their in-flight comfort.

The National Civil Aviation Agency has created a five-tiered system that will actually assign a letter grade and color to legroom availability and comfort. An "A" rating means there will be at least 28 inches between headrests, but the bottom of the barrel—an "E" rating—means there is only about 26 inches between the seats. There’s no rating for seat comfort, so you’ll still be totally surprised when your seat is as hard as a rock. If this ever makes it to the US, we’ll need to change the E to an F so even elementary school kids will know their seat assignments suck.

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Airline Fees / Continental / Airplane Seats / Fees / Airline News / → All Tags

How Much is Seven Extra Inches of Legroom on Continental Worth to You?

The money streaming in from baggage fees is spoiling the airlines rotten. So while millions upon millions of fresh greenbacks come over the check-in counter as passengers get caught by the new fees, the airlines continue to look for more ways to make an extra buck. And although Continental is keeping their free meals in economy for now, they will be charging additional now for something they never have before: seats with more legroom.

It's a very low-cost-carrier move, one that airlines like Jetblue and Virgin America can get away with, but Continental? Times—they are a-changing! Or they will be beginning on March 17 when Continental offers up unreserved coach seats with more legroom with more cash at check-in. A quick visit to SeatGuru.com should tip you off as to which seats will get the $$ treatment or not (hint: definitely the ones highlighted in green), and in some cases, we're talking up to seven extra inches of legroom.

The premium coach seats—since that's what they really are—will go on sale as upgrades 24 hours before the flight, available if you check-in on Continental.com or at the airport, based on availability. Price will be determined by flight length, of course.

Related Stories:
· Continental Airlines to Sell Seat Assignments [ATTips]
· Continental Airlines News [Jaunted]
· Airline News [Jaunted]

[Images: SeatGuru]

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Are You Inclined To Recline Your Airline Seat?

We’ve all been there, and unfortunately it’s just part of the whole traveling experience—the reclining airline seat. Some seats recline more than others, and a lot of it depends on your choice of carrier and where you’re headed. Overseas travel might bring a necessity to recline or even an invitation to do so, especially if you aren’t in coach forced into relaxation thanks to prescription medication.

Thankfully, Cathay Pacific has hard shelled seats in their economy section, and this helps the person in front of you from getting into your personal space. For those that think reclining is a must, this probably is the airline for you. Unfortunately they aren’t really the ideal domestic carrier, so you better start planning that trip to Asia.

Shuttling around the US is a little more difficult, as there aren’t really any airlines that take the discomfort out of the reclining airline seat. Weber Aircraft sells seats to American Airlines and Delta, but we haven’t seen their fancy “high pivot point recline system” during our travels. The unique design makes the bottom of the seat move forward to give the illusion of a little more recline.

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