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We flew down to Florida on AirTran.

We got lucky and got seated in one of four exit rows. There really is much more leg room in the exit row.

One side has 3 seats, the other side 2. The flight was no where near full. Only 5 people were seated in the exit rows. Me and Sting, a couple behind us and one man in the row across the aisle from us.

The flight attendant came to give us the "You are seated in a exit row" speech. I am immediately awakened by his unwillingness to start his speech until everyone was looking at him and Sting took his head set off. He gave his speech then asked if we each knew what was expected and if we could handle a 40 pound door. Everyone said yes.

He came back a few minutes later and told the couple behind us that he was not comfortable with the man's ability to assist in case of an emergency and he needed to re-seat them. The wife wanted to know if they would have as much leg room and she was told no. She was also told they were going to be re-seated.

I watched them move - that guy could not have helped (in fact he would have hindered) in a evacuation.

I was and still am impressed.

I thanked the attendant on my way off the plane.

peacock2121 wrote: He came back a few minutes later and told the couple behind us that he was not comfortable with the man's ability to assist in case of an emergency and he needed to re-seat them. The wife wanted to know if they would have as much leg room and she was told no. She was also told they were going to be re-seated.

I watched them move - that guy could not have helped (in fact he would have hindered) in a evacuation.

I'm glad the the safety of the plane and passengers was worth annoying this couple, who will probably be forever pissed at AirTran for this.

At least the guy wasn't a jerk about moving to another row.

It isn't just AirTran. All airlines are supposed to do this. I've seen it a time or two in the past year (I tend to fly Delta and USAir and their smaller versions).

I often have no trouble getting an exit row seat, once they see me, and I don't mind paying a little extra, like some of them are doing now. Especially on a flight longer than an hour or so, when my legs get cramped.

What I meant was not to diminish Pea's experience, which was remarkable.

I meant to say it's great she saw this, and we should see it elsewhere, too.

peacock2121 wrote:We flew down to Florida on AirTran.

We got lucky and got seated in one of four exit rows. There really is much more leg room in the exit row.

One side has 3 seats, the other side 2. The flight was no where near full. Only 5 people were seated in the exit rows. Me and Sting, a couple behind us and one man in the row across the aisle from us.

The flight attendant came to give us the "You are seated in a exit row" speech. I am immediately awakened by his unwillingness to start his speech until everyone was looking at him and Sting took his head set off. He gave his speech then asked if we each knew what was expected and if we could handle a 40 pound door. Everyone said yes.

He came back a few minutes later and told the couple behind us that he was not comfortable with the man's ability to assist in case of an emergency and he needed to re-seat them. The wife wanted to know if they would have as much leg room and she was told no. She was also told they were going to be re-seated.

I watched them move - that guy could not have helped (in fact he would have hindered) in a evacuation.

I was and still am impressed.

I thanked the attendant on my way off the plane.

Not bad for an airline that once had to change its name because it had such a bad safety reputation.

I understand airline's desire to squeeze more revenue and in principal, I have no problem with charging for extra legroom. However, I think the exit rows should be an exception, and not be sold. There are FAA criteria that need to be met, including minimum age, physical ability, willingness, and comprehension of orders barked in stressed-out English. Many airlines block these seats out for very frequent fliers, who presumably know the drill pretty well.

They didn't charge us extra.

I always try to check in for flights online as soon as possible to snag those exit row seats. I get them quite often.

I always irks me to walk past tiny little (OK, what most of you would consider normal sized) people sitting in those seats wasting all that extra leg room that could be making me at least reasonably comfortable.

Airlines that charge extra for those seats do not get any repeat business from me.

andrewjackson wrote:
Airlines that charge extra for those seats do not get any repeat business from me.

The only place I saw that recently was one of those little start-up airlines. Ours is skybus, and flies from Greensboro to other smaller markets. The fare is so cheap to begin with, it doesn't feel bad to pay extra for the exit row.

I was in an exit row recently. Great legroom. The people in the seats ahead of me had it even better; great legroom themselves, & because I, in back of them, had great legroom, they had great "reclining seat room" too. Well, great not in that their seat went back any further than usual, but great in that they could actually do it without getting their hair in my free sodapop glass, etc.

I mentioned this all to the stewardperson, saying "I'll ask next time for this seat!" & stewardperson said "didn't they charge you extra?". Me: "Are you kidding?" SP: "I wouldn't kid about that!".

SP then philosophized that this was supposed to have been a full flight, & that's why they had given me that seat without an extra charge (it wasn't full; "crawl" running on the network TV stations in the previous few days had said Northwest was overbooked, so people should call ahead from home for voluntary rebooking; I completely missed that this might have been rewarded-by-flight-coupon "voluntary" rebooking, or I'd have gone for it. Of course, since this was done as a "public service", they couldn't exactly advertise freebie on it. Next time, I'll know to call & ask. I appears that whatever the recomp, a lot of people took them up on it.).

Actually, the row that is just ahead of an exit row is not supposed to recline at all. Theory being that might restrict the egress a bit. So, if you have any control of seat choice in advance, you might want to keep this in mind.

andrewjackson wrote:I always try to check in for flights online as soon as possible to snag those exit row seats. I get them quite often.

I always irks me to walk past tiny little (OK, what most of you would consider normal sized) people sitting in those seats wasting all that extra leg room that could be making me at least reasonably comfortable.

Airlines that charge extra for those seats do not get any repeat business from me.

Uh oh. I could be one of those short people (5'3") in an exit row. However, if I were on the same flight with you, I would gladly give you my seat. Really, I would. I've never heard of being charged extra for the exit row.

I know Delta gives priority to frequent fliers. I can get an exit row seat when I reserve a ticket IF I use my husband's skymiles number (he's platinum medallion), get the seat I want, then back his number out and change it to mine so I'll get the mileage credit when I fly. (BTW, this will only work using my friendly local travel agent, who will do it for me and not charge anything). Usually Silver Medallion is not good enough to have priority unless it's a really empty plane.

I have noticed that they are much more serious about the exit row lecture than they used to be and I'm glad they are for all the reason that have already been mentioned.

On Southwest, where you get on like a herd of cattle with no assigned seats, I have noticed that a FA stands in the exit row until they are filled and then proceeds to make sure everyone looks like they are within the guidelines (over 15 years of age, etc) and gives them the exit row lecture more than once.

peacock2121 wrote: I watched them move - that guy could not have helped (in fact he would have hindered) in a evacuation.

I once moved a man in a full back/neck brace out of the exit row. His wife and the people around him thought me to be an evil wench, since he clearly could have used the extra leg room...but sometimes you just have to be an evil wench. I guess they might have changed their tune had those exits been needed. Or maybe not. People can be strange. Oh well.

It doesn't surprise me that some airlines charge extra for those seats...they are much coveted, and some folks go to great lengths to get them. I guess the bean counters know this and some choose to capitalize on it. I'm glad my company doesn't do it, however. They do give priority to platinum elite frequent flyers, though, which is fine by me.

I was surprised, though, to find out a few years ago that most European carriers charge extra for the privilege of picking your seat. Most US carriers allow you to do this online or at the check-in kiosks...nice perk if you ask me. Before a trip, especially for a long flight, it is worth checking out seatguru.com to see which seats are best and which to avoid. You can look up just about any aircraft config for just about any airline, and they are very accurate.

I try to get window seats if there's any chance I can look out them & see something (all too often I get to see mostly the wing), & I try not to get bulkhead seats because they not only have no legroom, they also have no under-seat place to put your underseat-sized-bag. Stewardpeople have always been nice & let me stow it above when I get that seat (although the slightly larger one is already above, & you're not supposed to have 2 above), but I like being nearer to my eyeglass case, money, etc. Otherwise, about the only other free extra I sometimes ask for is an aisle seat as near the front of the plane as a coach seat can be when I've got to run to make a connection, but generally the connection is so fouled up anyway that it either doesn't help or doesn't matter by the time I get off.

ghostjmf wrote:...I try not to get bulkhead seats because they not only have no legroom, they also have no under-seat place to put your underseat-sized-bag.

The bulkhead seats on most aircraft usually have a lot of legroom - they're the second most popular coach seats on my airline after the window exits. And your bags only have to be stowed for taxi/take-off/landing...it isn't usually worth bringing them back down for short hops, but you can always bring your bag down during cruise. I usually pull mine out and use it as a footrest. More comfy for my short legs.

marrymeflyfree wrote:

ghostjmf wrote:...I try not to get bulkhead seats because they not only have no legroom, they also have no under-seat place to put your underseat-sized-bag.

The bulkhead seats on most aircraft usually have a lot of legroom - they're the second most popular coach seats on my airline after the window exits. And your bags only have to be stowed for taxi/take-off/landing...it isn't usually worth bringing them back down for short hops, but you can always bring your bag down during cruise. I usually pull mine out and use it as a footrest. More comfy for my short legs.

Yessirree, I love those bulkhead seats. When we traveled to get PP, we requested bulkhead seating, so that we could use the portable bassinet feature of the airplane. Because the flight was not full, we ended up being able to actually move back and have essentially an entire row to ourselves, so I could lay her down to sleep between us on the remaining seats.

I usually get exit row seating and/or aisle seating when I travel for the Government. It is part of my profile. I like the legroom. I am not sure if my 6'2" frame is sufficiently long enough to satisfy AJ and keep his wrath from raining down upon my head.

I had exit row seating that had at least a hockey rink between me and the seats ahead, if not a football field. Then I saw the guy who was about to sit behind me, and asked him if he wanted to trade. He was 6'6", and agreed instantly. I didn't need THAT much room, and could have done without his knees jamming into my back for 4 and a half hours...

marrymeflyfree says:

The bulkhead seats on most aircraft usually have a lot of legroom - they're the second most popular coach seats on my airline after the window exits. And your bags only have to be stowed for taxi/take-off/landing...it isn't usually worth bringing them back down for short hops, but you can always bring your bag down during cruise. I usually pull mine out and use it as a footrest. More comfy for my short legs.

From my passenger-viewpoint: I've always been told (the about 2 times I got stuck with a bulkhead seat) that I absolutely could not have that bag on the floor at any time. I could get stuff out of it, but I'd have to put it right back above "or it could fly around the cabin & people could get hurt". I must be flying the wrong airlines.

I've also had my backpack, once while under a regular seat as per requirements, shoved around by the attending attendant (& stuff inside thereby bent) in order to better meet the requirements I thought I had already met. Said attendant must have been having a bad day. I was not the only one singled out for this treatment that day.