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Tags: Holiday Travel / Seats / Seating / In-Flight Comfort / Airplanes / Airplane News / → All Tags
Five Ways To Score Better Airlines Seats For Holiday Travel
Like it or not the holiday season has arrived, and chances are you’ll be spending some time at the airport. We’ve jotted down a few of our experiences that have helped make the whole getting there process a little better, even if it’s just as simple as getting out of the middle seat. We can't promise that these will work, but they have worked in the past, and it never hurts to ask!
· Pick Out Your Seat:
If you didn’t pick out your seat when you booked your ticket, it’s time to check and select one right now. Enter your confirmation number at the airline’s website and it should be fairly simple to select your own seat—assuming the airline still allows you to book a seat without a fee. Use SeatGuru and SeatExpert to determine which coach seats are better than others, and maybe you’ll even learn that your seat has power underneath.
More tips and hints after the break
Tags: Virgin Blue / Seats / LCCs / Australia Travel / Seating / Airline News / → All Tags
Virgin Blue Wants To Squish Your Knees, Make Tall People Suffer On Flights
The Aussie part of Richard Branson's vast empire, low-cost carrier Virgin Blue, has a plan that doesn't sound good for tall or large people. Or anyone one wants to sit reasonably comfortably in a plane, in fact.
Like many airline proposals these days, the new project centers on getting more passengers into the same space. The ideas include putting in extra seats after the emergency exit at the back (apparently that alone would decrease their costs by 3%, presuming people buy those seats) and trying to find other ways to alter the mix of premium, economy and "third class" seats.
Tags: Bad Ideas / Seatmates / Seats / Seating / In-Flight Comfort / Airline News / Airplanes / → All Tags
New Airplane Design Proposes Seating Passengers Face-To-Face
If British design company Design Q gets its way, airplanes of the future will seat passengers in an innovative—dare we say interactive—high-density configuration. More specifically, they intend to essentially seat passengers face to face for the entire trip:
A British design company says it is working on plans for new sideways, staggered seating on airplanes as a cost-cutting option for airlines to maximize the number of passengers on board. Design Q released images of the concept, which has a row of seats facing inward on each side of the plane and two rows running back-to-back down the middle of the aircraft.
Listen. We know that sometimes we can be a little harsh about the so-called "innovations" that so-called "experts" bring to the table. We've even been known to inappropriately dismiss a good idea or two, an overreaction we put down to years of travel having made us jaded. So we want to be very clear about this:
Tags: Seats / Seating / Travel Tips / Delta / Preferred Seating / → All Tags
There's Not Much Of A Selection In Coach Thanks to Those 'Preferred Seats'
Yesterday, we told you about our ordeal trying to get out of a middle seat assignment on a long flight to Paris thanks to Orbitz’s out-of-sync seat maps, but the real culprit is the slew of new coach class “preferred,” “choice,” and “select” seats that are blocked off from assignments until the day before travel.
The airline industry is forecasting losses of about $9 billion by a recent estimate in the New York Times. As a way to squeeze every last penny out of travelers already stretched thin by a la carte (so to speak) meals, fuel surcharges, and additional baggage and airport fees, airlines have started charging for certain coach seats they have labeled as “preferred” to get travelers to think they are somehow worth paying an extra fee to reserve. The question is: are they? The short answer is no.
Tags: Seats / Seating / Booking Sites / Travel Tips / Orbitz / → All Tags
Stuck in the Middle: Booking Engine and Airline Seat Maps Out Of Sync
You’re a savvy traveler, and you know that when trying to book the best deal on a flight, you should check all the aggregator search engines (Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Kayak, etc.) before deciding which airline and fare to go with.
The discount you get may be worth it, but we’re here to warn you about one of the perils of booking on a discount sites based on a recent experience we had with Orbitz. We were looking for a flight from Los Angeles to Paris, and we found a great deal on Northwest Airlines. Great route, quick stopovers, and plenty of empty seats to choose from. Or so we thought as we booked the seat through Orbitz and entered our seat selections.
Tags: Seats / Seating / Delta / Airlines / → All Tags
Will We Still Be Able to Get a 'Cozy Suite' in 2010?
There’s been a lot of chatter regarding the best way to survive a long flight—especially in the back of the plane—but things may be getting better. Thompson Solutions has created a seating system that provides a little more room and a place to rest your head in coach. No more using the window as a pillow, and no more drooling on the dude next to you.
They call this new-fangled seating the Cozy Suite, and it does look pretty cozy to us. Of course, we’re only looking at some concept shots, so hopefully things translate somewhat directly into the real-life product. These suites seem to rise up above your head and surround one side of you, providing a little privacy and a place to rest—even if it is in a vertical position.
Tags: Jetstar / Airlines / Passengers / Seats / Seating / → All Tags
Jetstar Forces Overweight Passenger to Pay for Two Seats
Making overweight passengers pay more sure is a thorny issue, but Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar is taking it to the people, by making a 350-pound (160kg) passenger pay for two seats.
Whether you agree with this practice or not, Jetstar's made it worse for themselves by doing practically everything else wrong along the way. When passenger Samantha Scafe made the booking Jetstar told her she wouldn't have to pay for an extra seat but that suddenly changed when the flight departure time got closer.
Even worse, Jetstar managed to allocate Scafe two seats that were separated by the aisle--and they made the same error on her return trip. All that doesn't make Jetstar sound like the most customer-friendly airline. And Scafe's fighting them in the anti-discrimination court. We probably would be too.
Related Stories:
· Jetstar Charges Overweight Passenger Two Seats [news.com.au]
· Jetstar Gives Overweight Passenger Seats Either Side of Aisle [news.com.au]
· Fat Passengers Weighing Down Airlines [Jaunted]
Tags: Airlines / Seating / → All Tags
Upgrade Mania
Think we're just a bit obsessed with our seats on the plane? We're just about getting what we pay for, well that and any way we can get bumped to first we'll surely be sharing with you.
This week's Daily Candy travel has some tips on upgrades with a good breakdown on which airlines are more flexible with the upgrade situation: "American and Virgin allow same-day upgrades at the counter; British Airways requires a three-day notice on paper tickets. In general, US Airways, United, Northwest, and American are the easiest upgrades; Continental, Delta, and America West are the toughest." A three-day notice? Who do they think they are?
Just a little something to keep in your mental travel file. You'll thank us when you are taking the redeye from LAX and aren't squished in next to the bathroom.
Related Stories:
· Travel: Making the Upgrade [Daily Candy]
· 29E: Not Exactly First Class [Jaunted]
Tags: Airlines / Seating / → All Tags
Musical Seats Airline Style
You are on the seven o'clock flight to LGA when suddenly you find out it's cancelled. Not to worry-you'll definitely be rebooked thanks to a federal law-but how soon is another story.
The NY Times reports on the intricacies of this summer's packed planes-they are fuller now then ever before-and also notes that the biggest probs often stem from routes where airlines only offer a few flights a day and face little competition (Pittsburgh-Las Vegas for sure).
How soon you'll be rebooked depends on who you fly with. According to the article, "Northwest, for example, first assigns seats to full-fare passengers, travelers with the highest frequent flier status, unaccompanied minors, and adults who need assistance", Delta uses similar criteria, esp with kids flying solo and handicapped persons.
On the other hand, JetBlue has different allegiances-a family emergency or urgent business need will get you there fastest. How you prove these two is for you to figure out-
Related Stories:
· Packed Planes Give Passengers Fewer Choices [NY Times]
Tags: Airlines / Seating / → All Tags
Dude Just Writes About Airline Seats
As we've reported previously, it helps to be nice to the flight crew and never accept 29E sure, but an in-depth analysis was lacking.
If you haven't already, check out SeatGuru.com, "the ultimate source for airplane seating and in-flight services information." You can actually select your chosen airline and get mapped out seating charts for a variety of aircraft as well as consumer ratings on specific seat assignments.
They don't skimp on the details here folks. Seriously, with comments like "noise and light from the galley may be bothersome to seat 12J" and a red, yellow and green color coded system you know it's honest.
Next time you get crammed into a window seat by the bathroom that doesn't recline, don't say we didn't try to teach you...
Related Stories:
· Seating Continued [Jaunted.com]
· 29E:Not Exactly First Class [Jaunted.com]
· SeatGuru.com [SeatGuru Official Site]
Tags: Airlines / Seating / → All Tags
Seating Continued
It's always a downer when you're struggling down the rows on a plane and have to pass those first-class folks smugly sipping champagne and leisurely leafing through the magazine of their choice.
Well, pick up some pointers on getting upgraded today from MSNBC [via Gridskipper].
Tip #1? Be nice to the flight staff--they are the fulfillers of your seat destiny.Just never accept 29E.
Related Stories:
· 10 Ways to Get An Upgrade [MSNBC]
· How To Get A Seat Upgrade [Gridskipper]
Tags: Airlines / Seating / → All Tags
29E: Not Exactly First Class
All my senses are being tortured simultaneously. It's difficult to say what the worst part about sitting in 29E really is? Is it the stench of the sanitation fluid that's blown all over my body every 60 seconds when the door opens? Is it the wooosh of the constant flushing? Or is it the passengers asses that seem to fit into my personal space like a pornographic jig-saw puzzle?
I constructed a stink-shield by shoving one end of a blanket into the overhead compartment -- while effective in blocking at least some of the smell, and offering a small bit of privacy, the ass-on-my-body factor has increased, as without my evil glare, passengers feel free to lean up against what they think is some kind of blanketed wall. The next ass that touches my shoulder will be the last!
It's possible that this very funny illustrated letter, supposedly sent to Continental by a suffering traveler stuck in a seat next to the bathroom, is really a hoax (Snopes couldn't tell.). Either way, it makes for some fun reading: check out the PDF for the full effect.
[Via Boing-Boing]
