# Website for Best Airplane Seats



## Jwerking (Jun 28, 2007)

Have a 14 flight from LAX to Sydney next week.  I will try to change our seats upon checkin and request a buckhead seat to give us free exit and entry and some extra leg room.  Next preference would be the exit row seats.  Any thoughts on the best seats?

We are on a Quantas 747-400 plane.  Isn't there a website that recommends the best seats in an airplane - does anyone have the URL.  Thanks, 

Joyce


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## abbekit (Jun 28, 2007)

seatguru.com


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## TomCayman (Jun 28, 2007)

Jwerking said:


> Have a 14 flight from LAX to Sydney next week.  I will try to change our seats upon checkin and request a *buckhead* seat to give us free exit and entry and some extra leg room.  Next preference would be the exit row seats.  Any thoughts on the best seats?
> 
> We are on a Quantas 747-400 plane.  Isn't there a website that recommends the best seats in an airplane - does anyone have the URL.  Thanks,
> 
> Joyce



Enjoy Atlanta


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## wilsonfamily4 (Jun 28, 2007)

abbekit said:


> seatguru.com



That's the one.  I used ot for my trip to China and back and it was very accurate.


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## camachinist (Jun 28, 2007)

Bulkheads= babies

If it's the 3 class 744, there's only one "bulkhead" row. QF elites, if not in J/F, will likely poach bulkhead and/or exit rows long before check-in. 

If you aren't in any hurry, those rows of two near the back aren't bad. Man, I remember flying that route in Y; lots of sleeping aids.   BTW, if there are any buy-ups to J, consider them. Trust me, it's worth it. Don't know if they do that on QF.

Safe travels and enjoy your trip! I'll be on UA863 SFO-SYD next Friday...

Pat


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## Pat H (Jun 28, 2007)

camachinist said:


> I'll be on UA863 SFO-SYD next Friday...
> 
> Pat



Mileage run?


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## camachinist (Jun 28, 2007)

FAT-(SFO-SYD-AKL)-WLG   CNZ (mistake fare) 3X RDM July, baby 

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=690390

Burned a couple SWU's for pointy end accomodations...

PointsBreak @ WLG IC for lodging. I got the last of the 5K/nt deals for that IC before they wised up.

UA and PC always manage to find a way to keep me hanging around 

Pat


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## Pat H (Jun 28, 2007)

camachinist said:


> FAT-(SFO-SYD-AKL)-WLG   CNZ (mistake fare) 3X RDM July, baby
> 
> http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=690390
> 
> ...



Nice! You should put the post in English though for those who don't know all the abbreviations. How many EQM's for the trip?


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## camachinist (Jun 29, 2007)

EQM's = 22,892
RDM's = 77,434
E-500's (cumulative with other travel) = 8
CR1's = 2

Ride the bear 

Pat


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## BevL (Jun 29, 2007)

camachinist said:


> EQM's = 22,892
> RDM's = 77,434
> E-500's (cumulative with other travel) = 8
> CR1's = 2
> ...



Truly, I try to follow flyertalk - I'm "retiring" next year, so who knows?  But I get so confused ...


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## camachinist (Jun 29, 2007)

What I posted is irrelevant if you don't fly on United Airlines, though Air Canada and UA are in the same alliance, so you can earn AC miles when flying UA.

I have an airline FAQ over on TS4M's for anyone who's interested...

EQM's = elite qualifying miles. Mostly those are BIS (butt in seat) miles, though mine included a COS (class of service) bonus for paid business class on this trip (mistake fare).

RDM's = redeemable miles. That's what you use to get free tickets and upgrades.

E-500's = 500 mile upgrade certs. One required per 500 miles of travel for a one class upgrade. On UA, there's a 50 mile grace (550 miles= one cert). UA elites receive 4 of these every time they fly 10K BIS on UA/UX/TED metal. Sponsorable to another person flying on the same flight.

CR1's = Confirmed regional upgrade. One upgrade covers a whole domestic (plus some nearby regions) one-way itinerary for one person. These can also be sponsored to a person not flying with the holder, which is different than the E-500. 1K's (100,000 EQM per year fliers) earn 2 (max) per 10K miles flown per quarter on UA/UX/TED metal.

SWU's (swooz) = systemwide upgrades. Anywhere UA flies, one of these can upgrade a whole one-way itinerary, foreign or domestic. This is what I'm using next week to upgrade my C (business) ticket to F (first). For a round trip, it takes two. 1K's get six each January, with more available at higher levels of flying.

Obviously, there is much more complexity to this than shared, but I hope the outline explains some of the shorthand I use. Class dismissed 

Pat


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## Jwerking (Jun 29, 2007)

camachinist said:


> Bulkheads= babies
> 
> If it's the 3 class 744, there's only one "bulkhead" row. QF elites, if not in J/F, will likely poach bulkhead and/or exit rows long before check-in.
> 
> ...



Hi Pat:

I see the Seatguru does recommend that rows of 2 in the back - are those seats actually against the side of the plane - so you can rest your head against the fuselage for sleeping?  It appears not.  Seatguru also states that the bulkhead seats can be cold due to being the exit row - that one is true-as we had that problem previously and my daughter froze.  Would not be desirable for such a long flight.  I should just chill - who cares as long as we get there. 

I cannot upgrade - these are FF tickets. 

Joyce


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## Pat H (Jun 29, 2007)

Pat, very nice explanation. Have a wonderful trip. I've got a trip to LHR in July for 3X RDM's. Not likely to make 1K this year!


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## camachinist (Jun 29, 2007)

For the OP, the rear seats do not make for the ability to lean against the fuselage when sleeping...

Personally, I'd take seats as far forward as possible and not too far from the lav. Two reasons...one is you'll get off the plane before a couple hundred other people and you won't have as far to walk in the middle the night to relieve yourself. The exit rows aren't bad if you can get in one. I don't know about QF but on UA the door slide protrudes a bit into leg space in the 747 exit rows, at least where I've sat. Edited to add that I like an aircraft cold so haven't noted any particular chills in exit rows, and I fly them all the time. Ask the FA for an extra blanket and you'll be set, if you're sensitive to the cold. FWIW, they (seatguru) said the same thing about the last two rows of lower C-class on UA's 744's, but I didn't find the air vent noisy or cold on the last two flights I was on in lower deck.

For PatH, I may not make 1K this year either, more for lack of money than lack of will. Give me a couple more mistake fares though   I'll maintain 1P for the soft landing and hopefully get a status match to SkyTeam and burn up a bunch of UA miles (already burned up about 350K so far). We'll see...

Pat


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 29, 2007)

We got exit rows on ATA on the way to Hawaii, but when we asked about that on the way back the attendant asked if we could both lift 75 pounds! No way, I had back surgery and have crappy upper body strength, can barely cart around my 25 pound suitcase. I thought you just had to lift up on the door handle. She said, no you have to actually LIFT the whole door!
Liz


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