How do you get the seats with more leg room?

techman said:

EMERGENCY EXIT SEATS:
For safety reasons passengers who sit at the exits must be able bodied.
Exit seats will be assigned only by check-in on the day of departure.

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This is common sense, however it is not adhered to by Aer Lingus and they publish it ??

I fly about 10-20 times a year, mostly european and mostly at least one leg with Aer Lingus. I always try to get emergency exits and succeed 80 % of the times, my advice is come early and check in through the check in machines.
2 Months ago I flew with them to Lanzarote and me and the GF got the emergency exit. On the way to Lanzarote an elderly lady was seated beside us on the same (emergency exit) row. She seemed to be quite drunk and had a few more wodkas during the flight. She could not understand the crew when they were asking her something and I was waiting for them to change her seat. But no, why would they.. what did happen was that she was welcomed by a wheel chair in Lanzarote (able bodied?)
Now believe it or not, but on the way back we had an even older lady sitting next to us , and although I do absolutely respect the elderly, I do not understand why the Aer Lingus crew let this lady who was at least 80 ( and just about 5 ft tall, a waste of legroom) and was obviously not able bodied sit in an exit row. She could not open her bottle of wodka (the crew actually helped her), you think she would be able to open the exit doors ??

Flying with the yanks: they'll test you whether you understand how to open the exit doors, fail or make fun of it and you will be moved. Emergency exits are there for a reason.

Don't know if they fly to US, but we always fly, where possible with SAA: South Africans generally are very big so I (5 ft 8 inches tall) had about 4 inches clear between my knees and the seat in front.

Hi,

I have recently been on holiday to Egypt - and being 6ft 4inches / 190cm tall, I could hardly fit in the seat!

I fly Ryan air short haul all the time and thats a bit of a sqeeze, but for the price and only being there for an hour or 2 , I dont mind really - but 6hrs was a killer , REALLY uncomfortable!!

Is there any way us 'lofties' can guarentee some kind of comfort by ensuring we get seats with extra legroom (without paying business / 1st class)??

All suggestions welcomed,

Thanks in advance!!!

Re: Leg room on flights !!

murray said:

Is there any way us 'lofties' can guarentee some kind of comfort by ensuring we get seats with extra legroom (without paying business / 1st class)??

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Seats beside the emergency exits generally have more room and can be requested.

Caveat emptor-there was a story on the front page of last week's Sunday Time that tour operators (e.g. Budget etc.) are now charging separately for nearly everything, e.g. if you want to be guaranteed to be sitting beside a comapanion or to request a specific seat (e.g. beside the emergency exit).

Re: Leg room on flights !!

I'm in the same boat as yourself...6'5"

It's getting increasingly difficult with online seat reservations as the exit seats are naturally the first to go. For long haul, you just have to be really careful about which airline you choose and always try and get at least an aisle seat which somewhat negates the discomfort. Business Class/1st Class are prohibitively expensive but can be worth it for really long haul if you shop around.

I was on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to the Whitsundays last year...they're a no-frills, no reserved seating subsidiary of Quantas. Obviously there was a scrum for the exit seats which I didn't bother partaking in. As I came down, a stewardess ordered a guy out of one of the seats and said I needed it more...can't imagine that happening on Air O'Leary!

Re: Leg room on flights !!

Sites like www.seatguru.com or www.airlinequality.com allow you to try and predict what your best flight option is prior to booking for overall quality and seat pitch.

I can't help smiling at the thought of a regular Ryanair user asking if they might get a free concession for being too tall for their seat specification.
They might consider a height levy of £2.50 per segment for every passenger though

Southwest Airlines charge double for people who are considered to be too large for a single seat so that is the most likely solution as space contracts.

Charter have been charging extra for exit row seats for a while now. It used to be quite easy to get them but now if you want space you have to pay. In economy an aisle seat is the most realistic level of expectation.

For long haul, it has to be the cheaper business or premium economy options with a middle eastern airline whenever possible - costs about the same as economy in a full service airline.

Re: Leg room on flights !!

We flew with BA to Bangkok last year and I did a bit of research on www.seatguru.com to find the best seats in economy. We opted for rows at the back of the cabin (row 52 I think), where there were only 2 seats beside the window rather than three - thus offering a bit more leg-room for the window seat, as there's a gap where the third seat would have been.

Obviously, this will only work if you book your flight in advance and have the option of changing your seat online. Still, it's worth bearing in mind.

I've merged this new thread with the existing discussion.

I've never been able to pre-select an emergency exit seat online. I thought it was because they have to visually inspect you at checkin in case you would impede the exit during an emergency, but it might also be related to ticket class.

With Ryanair the best bet is to pay for priority boarding and hope to beat the rush to a bulkhead or exit row seat.

Some carriers such as Aerlingus reserve these premium seats for their frequent flyers and they will not waiver.

bond-007 said:

Some carriers such as Aerlingus reserve these premium seats for their frequent flyers and they will not waiver.

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The last couple of times I've flown with AerLingus I've got the emergency exit seat, even though I'm not on their frequent flyer program.
The first time I asked at check-in and it was no problem.
The second time was with the automatic checkin - I was surprised I could choose these seats.

bond-007 said:

Some carriers such as Aerlingus reserve these premium seats for their frequent flyers and they will not waiver.

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It's true that some airlines such as United give their premium economy seats to gold card holders Aer Lingus were not one of those. I know plenty of Gold Card holders who never got anything more than lounge access and I even got upgraded to business once when checking in after a gold card holder and I'm not even in their program!
I thought they had left One World anyway.

The problem exists usually with US based check in agents. Despit being first in the queue they said all the Emergency seats were already assigned.

Actually my most recent experience with Aer Lingus was being told they were gone at checkin in Dublin (they weren't) and then getting one in NYC at checkin on the way back (may have had something to do with the fact that I was the only one who wasn't complaining to the checkin agent about the 5 hour delay, as otherwise I would have missed the plane.).

The check in machines in Dublin allow you to book an emergency row seat.

i did it only yesterday.