The Best Economy Seat To Book For A Long-Haul Flight

Modern day air travel is famously not the most comfortable experience. After all, who wants to sit in a cramped seat next to strangers in a pressurized metal tube for hours on end?

Big budget travelers will splurge on upgraded seats in business class or another premium cabin, but unfortunately, most of us can’t afford to splash out like that. Still, there are ways to maximize comfort with your economy cabin seat choice.

“The longer the flight, the more important it is to be strategic about your seat assignment,” Zach Griff, a senior reporter at The Points Guy, told HuffPost.

So what’s the best economy seat to choose for a long-haul flight? Although the answer can differ from aircraft to aircraft, there are some best practices to keep in mind. Some may seem contradictory, the key is to figure out what you value and prioritize those factors. Below, Griff and other experts share their advice, including some A+ hacks.

“First things first, you’ll want to maximize your personal space, which can mean splurging for an extra-legroom seat or strategically selecting a seat that sports a unique configuration, such as the exit row or bulkhead,” Griff said.

Even just a little extra space to stretch your legs can make a huge difference on a long-haul flight, so take that into consideration as you choose a seat. Although the exit row offers that nice extra room, avoid the row directly ahead of the exit.

“I’d absolutely avoid the last row or the seats in front of the exit row,” Griff added. “These seats offer little to no recline, so beware before selecting them.”

Even if you can’t book a seat with extra space, you can still increase your legroom with careful packing. Try to fit most of your things into your checked bag or the carry-on suitcase that goes in the overhead bin to avoid having a bulky backpack or other stuff at your feet.

“I do my best to get an aisle seat next to an empty middle seat, or window seat next to an empty middle,” said travel expert and author La Carmina. “Having an empty middle seat next to me lets me spread out and sleep better.”

She increases her chances by looking for three-person rows in which the window seat is already taken and then selecting the empty aisle seat.

“This way, there is now only an empty middle seat available in between, which is less likely to be taken,” she said. “If I chose an aisle seat in an empty three-person…