Tag Archives for aisle seat.
I always take an aisle seat. I like to look out the window, but I really prefer to control my own destiny. I don’t want to have to wake a neighbor to get up, or climb over them. I want immediate access to the aisle.
Along with that comes the obligation to get out of the way when someone in the middle or window seat needs to go to the lavatory. And I’m always happy to get up!
The best flyers prefer aisle seats, and airlines even value the business more of those who do. Aisle seats are just better than window seats, and we don’t even need to talk about the dreaded middle.
If you’re in the aisle seat you don’t get those window seat views, but those are better in theory than practice outside of the first and final minutes of a flight. And you do have to get up to let other passengers into the aisle if they need to use the restroom. So there are tradeoffs, but they’re minor compared to the 6 reasons that aisle seats are best.
When you’re in an aisle seat you direct your own destiny. You get up to use the lavatory whenever you wish and don’t need to worry about waiting on other passengers to gather their belongings to let you out, or your seatmates falling asleep and needing to be woken to let you out. I find window seats claustrophobic.
It turns out that the preference for an aisle seat over a window seat also means you’re a better customer of an airline’s loyalty program, based on data.
We all know (or should know!) not to stick our hands down inside seat back pockets. Those are bigger germ farms than the monkey in Outbreak. All seats have them though, usually even bulkhead seats. So those seat back pockets don’t differentiate one seat from another.
The question is, if you want to avoid the plague, which seats are the most infected on an aircraft? Which ones do you want to avoid?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
