Sometimes emergency row seats offer more room…and sometimes not

If you book far enough in advance, you will be lucky and have your choice of open seats when purchasing your ticket. Depending on if you need more leg room or like to sleep, the aisle and window seats are usually the coveted seats. The front of the airplane is desired for faster exit upon arrival and the rear is the worst because you will have people standing in the aisle for the restroom next to you all flight. The back is also noisier because of the engine.

Most airlines are charging now for rows with extra legroom, including emergency rows and bulkhead rows (I am 6′ and my husband is 6’7″ so we think the extra space upgrade is worth every penny!). Some people love bulkheads so they can put their feet up or not have to worry about their kids kicking the passenger in front of them, but know that in some cases you actually lose leg room because you can’t slide your feet under the seat in front of you (if it is just a curtain dividing economy and first class you are fine). Also, your tray will often come from the armrest between the seats, which makes the width of your seat smaller and you can’t flip it up to give your family more room to wiggle.

Use Seat Guru to find the best and worst seats on the plane

SECRET: Before you select your seat and check out, go to www.seatguru.com to find out the best and worst seats on your plane (you can also log in on the airline’s website after purchasing and change if necessary).

Simply add your airline, flight number and date, and the website will pull up a map of your plane. Green, yellow, red color coding helps show the seats to try to secure and avoid. By hovering your mouse over the seat, a note pops up explaining why. There are also user reviews, pictures, seating details in first and economy (pitch and width), and a list of in-flight amenities like audio, video, internet and food.

Family Seating

Families of four often debate how they should split their group when the plane has seats in groups of three. We prefer to take up an entire row of three with my sons at window and middle and me on the aisle. My husband sits across the aisle from me so he is easily available for an extra hand (hold a drink, grab something out of the overhead bin, etc.). If your kids are older (and you aren’t worried that they will disturb a passenger next to them), you may want to separate them so they don’t bug each other. This allows you to more evenly “divide and conquer.” In this case, I’d recommend a pair of window/aisle combos on the same row so you can quickly get out for potty breaks and walks up and down the aisle to get the wiggles out.