Seats on a plane

(as opposed to that classic cinematic masterpiece ‘Snakes on a plane’)

Once you have decided your chosen airline, it is time to consider seating options.  It is probably just as well that first and business class are no longer an option.  There is so much more choice in economy!

When you find out what aircraft you will be flying in go to www.seatguru.com by Trip Advisor.  They have over 700 seat maps for over 90 different airlines, including detailed descriptions of all seats and passenger reviews.  Simply add your airline and flight number and you will pull up a seating plan for your particular aircraft.  Whilst, of course, you are not guaranteed of getting your chosen seat, it provides you with some useful information to help you decide on the best seat available.  As a result, we have changed our seating preferences.

Ironically, the short one isn’t short enough for the bassinettes on board Emirates.  Whilst the very helpful and caring crew from Emirates have allocated us a bassinette (even after being informed of her height and weight), I can only assume they have the facility on board to shrink-wrap travelling toddlers.  If this is the case, more power to them.

But, in the cold light of day, the fact is whilst bassinette seats have the added benefit of being in the bulkhead (a wee bit more leg room & no passenger seat in front, except for the entire manifest of passengers parading through your space, all trying to stretch their legs and avoid DVT), it also means that the arm rests are fixed…so if you were thinking, lift the arm rests and stretch out for a bone-paralysing sleep, then bulkhead seats are not for you.

We have found our travel agent and our airline incredibly accommodating when it comes to getting the best out of our flight experience – it is definitely worth the ask! (I also found crying hysterically, while trying to wrestle a manic 20 month old usually helps too!)