5 ms·

And with the new thinner seat types discussed in the article, the passenger in front feels your knees much more than they used to. I'm 6'3" and while I've never

by ciguy 9y ago

And with the new thinner seat types discussed in the article, the passenger in front feels your knees much more than they used to. I'm 6'3" and while I've never been in trouble I have gotten a lot of dirty looks from the people in front of me. Airlines need to start reserving the aisle or bulkhead seats for taller passengers or something, this isn't sustainable otherwise.

paulsutter 9y ago
I finally gave up and now just pay to sit up front (6’6” here)
- regularfry 9y ago
  6'7" here. I don't fly long-haul any more.
dmckeon 9y ago
As a person of similar height, I would happily pay 10% more for a seat pitch that is 10% greater, just as airlines now charge for exit rows, bulkheads, etc. Make a few rows deeper, charge more for seats that pax reserve in those rows. Don't need a hot towel or free booze, thanks, just a seat that my femurs fit into, but not at 2x price of coach, darn it.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  I'm not even tall, but I have had flight anxiety/claustrophobia on flights before and I can only fly aisle seats. I'm often happy to pay for exit as well. What's the current markup on exit rows? 15-25%?
- Swizec 9y ago
  > Don't need a hot towel or free booze, thanks, just a seat that my femurs fit into, but not at 2x price of coach, darn it. Isn’t this what premium economy is for? I’ve seen it for as little as 10% extra.
  - nmcfarl 9y ago
    My problem is that's it's just not available - of my 4 transcontinental flights this year, all booked 2 months in advance - only on one leg was there a premium seat for me to buy (well on 2 legs, but they canceled and rebooked one of those legs - and no premium left on the rebooked flight. ) And they simply don't sell them on Bombardier CRJs that I normally fly.
  - sitepodmatt 9y ago
    PE is usually between 80-150% of the ticket price on routes between Asia and Europe (BA, Lufthansa, EVA). However PE tickets are usually more flexible on many routes and if the company is booking flexible economy tickets (usually around +75% of cheaper saver fares) then it is only a small price more to fly PE
- avh02 9y ago
  I like to think of this as discriminatory. I'm a human being, yes, unusually tall, but a human who has no control over their height, why should I pay more to keep blood circulating to my feet? But then the question is where does it stop, cos then little people get almost a bed while I'm getting just a seat.
  - sitepodmatt 9y ago
    Then you get obese people saying it's part of genes or they are naturally big boned so they want the wide seats. Then you get hipsters with ESAs wanting an unoccupied middle seat for their annoying dog/cat. Then the tall persons wants to sit next to their wife and kids too so they want the whole exit row for free. You dont have any control over height I guess but it's open a whole set of another problems if check-in staff start explicitly and openly profiling people. You probably find though, if travelling alone, and check-in early you can just ask for an exit room seat - only when check-in is managed by a 3rd party (check this) and the seats are already sold have I been declined, it's a request not a demand though.
    - avh02 9y ago
      Yeah I used to go early to do this, but more recently they've been far less lenient and far more airlines encourage (or borderline force) early check in. These days I just pay attention to the aircraft, I can sit in regular seats on widebody/long haul aircraft but can't do it on a320s or 737 class aircraft with budget airlines (there are surprising exceptions such as easyjet and ryanair but I think that's truly because of thinner profile seats)
- sitepodmatt 9y ago
  This is starting to happen. FinnAir has economy comfort on long haul, it's about 20% of ticket price for the upgrade, it's economy with just the legroom enhancement to 35"
- grkvlt 9y ago
  So, why don't you purchase premium economy seats, which are exactly that? Probably ~50% more, but for ~50% more comfort.
gvurrdon 9y ago
Also 6'3", I've had some luck reserving bulkhead seats with British Airways for transatlantic flights, both for personal flights (can't afford more than the basic seat) and work (employer won't pay for more than the basic). The online reservation system has been effective, though I recall having to wait until a few days before the flight to reserve those seats. Of course, on busy flights they're not always available. I did once receive an aggressive harangue from the passenger in front on a short flight (~2 hours IIRC) about how he'd paid for his seat and had a right to recline it, but unfortunately for us both I was in the middle of a row on that occasion and had nowhere to put my knees but the back of his seat, and they touched that before he even started to recline it. This had to be resolved by the cabin crew moving me to another seat.

by ciguy 9y ago

paulsutter 9y ago

I finally gave up and now just pay to sit up front (6’6” here)

regularfry 9y ago
6'7" here. I don't fly long-haul any more.

dmckeon 9y ago

As a person of similar height, I would happily pay 10% more for a seat pitch that is 10% greater, just as airlines now charge for exit rows, bulkheads, etc. Make a few rows deeper, charge more for seats that pax reserve in those rows. Don't need a hot towel or free booze, thanks, just a seat that my femurs fit into, but not at 2x price of coach, darn it.

hkmurakami 9y ago
I'm not even tall, but I have had flight anxiety/claustrophobia on flights before and I can only fly aisle seats. I'm often happy to pay for exit as well. What's the current markup on exit rows? 15-25%?
Swizec 9y ago
> Don't need a hot towel or free booze, thanks, just a seat that my femurs fit into, but not at 2x price of coach, darn it. Isn’t this what premium economy is for? I’ve seen it for as little as 10% extra.
- nmcfarl 9y ago
  My problem is that's it's just not available - of my 4 transcontinental flights this year, all booked 2 months in advance - only on one leg was there a premium seat for me to buy (well on 2 legs, but they canceled and rebooked one of those legs - and no premium left on the rebooked flight. ) And they simply don't sell them on Bombardier CRJs that I normally fly.
- sitepodmatt 9y ago
  PE is usually between 80-150% of the ticket price on routes between Asia and Europe (BA, Lufthansa, EVA). However PE tickets are usually more flexible on many routes and if the company is booking flexible economy tickets (usually around +75% of cheaper saver fares) then it is only a small price more to fly PE
avh02 9y ago
I like to think of this as discriminatory. I'm a human being, yes, unusually tall, but a human who has no control over their height, why should I pay more to keep blood circulating to my feet? But then the question is where does it stop, cos then little people get almost a bed while I'm getting just a seat.
- sitepodmatt 9y ago
  Then you get obese people saying it's part of genes or they are naturally big boned so they want the wide seats. Then you get hipsters with ESAs wanting an unoccupied middle seat for their annoying dog/cat. Then the tall persons wants to sit next to their wife and kids too so they want the whole exit row for free. You dont have any control over height I guess but it's open a whole set of another problems if check-in staff start explicitly and openly profiling people. You probably find though, if travelling alone, and check-in early you can just ask for an exit room seat - only when check-in is managed by a 3rd party (check this) and the seats are already sold have I been declined, it's a request not a demand though.
  - avh02 9y ago
    Yeah I used to go early to do this, but more recently they've been far less lenient and far more airlines encourage (or borderline force) early check in. These days I just pay attention to the aircraft, I can sit in regular seats on widebody/long haul aircraft but can't do it on a320s or 737 class aircraft with budget airlines (there are surprising exceptions such as easyjet and ryanair but I think that's truly because of thinner profile seats)
sitepodmatt 9y ago
This is starting to happen. FinnAir has economy comfort on long haul, it's about 20% of ticket price for the upgrade, it's economy with just the legroom enhancement to 35"
grkvlt 9y ago
So, why don't you purchase premium economy seats, which are exactly that? Probably ~50% more, but for ~50% more comfort.

gvurrdon 9y ago

Also 6'3", I've had some luck reserving bulkhead seats with British Airways for transatlantic flights, both for personal flights (can't afford more than the basic seat) and work (employer won't pay for more than the basic). The online reservation system has been effective, though I recall having to wait until a few days before the flight to reserve those seats. Of course, on busy flights they're not always available. I did once receive an aggressive harangue from the passenger in front on a short flight (~2 hours IIRC) about how he'd paid for his seat and had a right to recline it, but unfortunately for us both I was in the middle of a row on that occasion and had nowhere to put my knees but the back of his seat, and they touched that before he even started to recline it. This had to be resolved by the cabin crew moving me to another seat.