Tuesday
Apr102012
HOW TO BE MIDDLE CLASS ON A PLANE: THE TEN LEVELS OF SEAT DESIRABILITY, FROM WORST TO BEST
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 9:30AM 
10. Near the loos
9. Middle (but, wild card: middle seat on empty flight might allow you to sleep across all four seats)
8. Seat behind or in front of kids
7. Seat next to man with huge amount of carry-on luggage
6. Near stag/hen party – who will, by some weird logic, always be 2/3 of the way down
5. Front seats: always provide the most leg room and also mean that annoying people can only sit behind, not in front
4. Quirky seat that someone who has studied a seating plan will know about
3. Aisle seats, for easy getting in and out
2. Window seat: handy for avoiding eye contact with everyone else
1. Business or first class, of course
Reader Comments (3)
Two should be 'seat closest to the front, by the window.' Was told by a rather frequent flier that they recycle the air through the plane, and by the front it is freshest and least stale.
Nice tip S
A footnote to item 1 - a traveller should take into account the proximity of luggage stowage when 'up front' - typically the locker above seats 1A and 1B is occupied by video equipment, giving you a walk of shame to the back of the bus, enduring hateful looks from other travellers, to stow / retrieve your bag.
That leaves you with either:
- 2C: optimal for a quick exit, but a little too much unavoidable eye contact with the staff when they're fiddling around with the food / booze, or
- 2D: great window views, but impossible to get to the loo after a couple too many gins without barking the shins of the chap in 2C.