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It’s hard to believe I’ve been knee-deep in this miles and points travel hobby for over a decade now. And by knee-deep, I don’t mean just dabbling in collecting miles and points for award travel. I’m talking about reading multiple blogs and forums, learning new tips and tricks and staying on top of ongoing changes.
As I’ve improved my award travel skills over the years, I realized that there’s one big thing I never paid attention to prior to diving into this hobby: airplane layout.
Airplane Layout
Yes, airplane layout can make a huge difference in your flight experience! Not all airplane layouts are created equal, even within the same airline and plane model. Looking at a plane’s layout can tell you:
- How many seats are crammed in a row and in what configuration (i.e. 3-3-3 or 2-4-2)
- Which seats have direct aisle access
- Which window seats don’t actually have a window
- The bulkhead rows (cabin divider directly in front of seat)
- How big or small each cabin is
- Proximity of a seat to the lavatory and galley
- Seat width and seat pitch (i.e. legroom) by cabin
You can view airplane layouts in several places, including:
- Airline websites
- Seatguru.com (although this site is not well maintained)
- aeroLOPA.com
- seatmaestro.com
- seatmaps.com
Decisions I’ve Made Based on Airplane Layouts
In 2019, I saved up enough AA miles to fly my family to Australia. When it came time to book award flights, both AA and Qantas flights were available using AA miles. Based on the different airplane layouts (and online reviews of service), I chose to buy the Qantas award flights. I was able to choose a seat for my husband that had extra legroom due to an emergency trap door in front of it.
Then last summer, I had many choices for flying home from Europe. I found a great deal on a KLM economy flight from Amsterdam to Houston, but the airplane layout was what really sold me. My daughter and I could reserve a row of 2 seats by the window and not deal with falling asleep on a stranger:
I really like the 2-4-2 economy seat layout for long international flights, but that layout is getting harder and harder to find.
On the other hand, after I experienced flying in Business Class on British Airways from London to Dallas, I vowed to never book that class again unless the plane has been renovated. The layout was terrible. The middle seats faced backwards, and passengers had to climb over others to get out:
I actually enjoy researching airplane layouts and reading reviews/watching videos of flight experiences. Of course, it’s possible to overanalyze an airplane’s layout and become too picky. After all, flying to Europe in a “bad” seat is still better than not flying to Europe at all, right?
Do you pay attention to airplane layout before you book flights?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Yes, I do look into that. First, because I care a lot about legroom. Second, because I learned that some configurations are way better than others while others you may dislike, for various reasons.
For example, Japan Airlines uses certain 787 business class seats with a 1-2-1 layout, which resemble international first class configurations. Very comfortable. Another example is Emirates business class, which sometimes has a 2-3-2 layout, which looks weird and awkward for the passenger in the middle seat. Another one would be the Airbus 350s that Turkish Airlines got from Aeroflot’s allotment, IIRC. A lot of reviewers love the business class seats that have a closing door at each business class seat. I found it claustrophobic, on my one hour flight (yes, Turkish does fly wide bodies on some short routes!).