Get 'seat savvy' and pick the best seats for your next trip

By David Flynn, March 6 2012

In his High Flyer blog for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, AusBT editor David Flynn shares the tips and strategies of business travellers and frequent flyers. This week: how to get the most legroom on any flight and avoid the seats which are cramped and noisy.

Choosing a seat on your next flight used to be as simple as window or aisle. For many people it still is.

But frequent flyers know better, and smart business travellers have added 'seat savvy' to their arsenal of skills.

They know that not all seats are created equal, and those inequalities play a major role in the comfort – or discomfort – of your travel.

That's especially so in the larger aircraft used on international flights or even Australia's transcontinental trek between the east and west coasts.

From the sardine-like squash of economy through the coveted pointy end of the plane, some seats boast substantially more legroom than others.

Others offer more storage for your laptop bag and other personal items, and even a little more privacy (or even just the illusion of same).

The seat-savvy traveller knows just which seats those are. Perhaps even more important is knowing which seats to avoid.

They're the ones which are too close to the toilets or the galley, especially on an overnight flight where the activity of fellow passengers and cabin crew can interrupt your sleep.

Or the seats near basinets, to minimise the risk of sharing your trip with a howling baby.

Airlines have of course cottoned onto the secret habits of seat-savvy flyers, often charging you extra to select your seat online before you travel, or to sit in a row with more legroom such as the emergency exit row.

But not all seats in the emergency exit row are created equal, either...

Head over to this week's High Flyer blog for tips and tricks on choosing the best seat for your next flight.