How to fly tourist class yet get a seat with first class leg-room.
All commercial airlines have a handful of seats
that have more space to stretch than others. If
you are six foot, 3 inches tall as I am, spending
any period of time in a standard size aircraft
seat becomes uncomfortable after a period of
time. If you are a smoker, your choice of seating
would be at the back of the aircraft. Now that so
many flights are completely no smoking, I take
advantage of the situation . Whilst I can no
longer smoke on the aircraft, at least I can get
a special seat in which to stretch out in, and
get away from the engines which, depending on the
design of the aircraft, would be towards the back
of the aircraft by the smoking section.
These special seats are usually next to the
emergency exit - where aviation authorities
insist airlines take out at least one row - and
give as much, if not more, leg-room as
first-class passengers enjoy.
Passengers can request a specific seat when
booking, but those next to the emergency exits
will not be confirmed until check-in: airline
staff need to ensure that the customer is fit
enough to open the door in a hurry.
Below we give the numbers of the seats next to
emergency exits on eight airlines. The selection
is not comprehensive, but includes a
representitive group of large carriers. Airline
timetables list which aircraft is used on each
route. But it is always worth confirming the type
at check-in. Airlines sometimes change seating
arrangements depending on routes. The
arrangements listed below are correct at the time
of going to press for aircraft operating to and
from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
British Airways.
747 -100/200: row 26: seats A,B,J,K; row 27:
seats C & H. 747-400: row 29; seats B,C,H, & J;
row 30 : seats A & K; row 65 (business class):
seats A,B,C,H,J & K. 737-400: row 11 (business
class): seats A,B,C,D,& F. 767-300: row 26:
seatsD,E, & F; row 27: seats A,B,J, & K. 737-200:
row 9 (business class);seatsB,C,D, &e; row 10:
seats A & F. 757: row 26: seats A,B,C,D,E & F;
row 3 (business class): seat C; row 2 (business
class): seat D.
Virgin Atlantic
747-200: row 10 or 26 (upper class): seats
A,B,C,J & K; rows 38 & 49: seats A,B,C,H,J & K.
747-100: rows 25,38 & 49: seats A,B,C,H,J & K.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
747-400: row 8 (business class): seats A & B; row
21 (business class): seats A,B,G & K; rows 35,51
& 77 (business class). 747combi: row 8 (business
class): seats A & B; rows 21,35 & 77(business
class). 747-300: rows 8 (business class), 12 51
77 (business class), 21,51 & 77 (business class).
DC10: row 21: seats A,B,J & H. A310: row 14:
seats A,B,K & J. 737-400: row 2: seats D
(business class); row 12 (business class): seats
A & F.
Cathay Pacific
747-400: row 15 (business class), seats 34 & 54.
747-200: rows 30 & 54. 747-300: rows 20 (business
class), 30 & 54.
Lufthansa
A300-600: row 34. 747-400: row 9 (business
class): seats A,C,H & K, row 83: seats A,B,C,H,J
& K. 747-200: row 32. 737-200: row 10: seats A &
F.
American Airlines
DC10 (Heathrow/Boston): rows1 (business class)
and 22. DC10 (Gatwick/Dallas): row 24.
When smoking seats at the back of the aircraft
were available, in order to get one of these we
made a habit of cheeking-in early. You are asked
to check-in two hours before take off, but we
would turn up as soon as the check-in opened
(enquire when this might be). This would give us
the seats we were looking for (we would be one of
the first to check-in).
Now that smoking has ceased on many flights, do
the same as we have done and check-in early. This
will give you plenty of time to have breakfast or
whatever, and makes aquiring exit seats easy -
just ask the check-in personnel for them.
