The Worst Seat Imaginable
Yes, I finally had the opportunity to score the worst seat on a long haul flight.
How did this happen? I took a gamble by switching seats before my recent long haul flight from Singapore to Rome with Singapore Airlines. Why did I do this? Well, because I thought if I scored three seats I could lie down and get sleep during the 12.5 hour flight. Knowing those seats were bad also should’ve worked to my advantage. I thought no one with a sound mind would ever select them.
I originally was located midway down the tail of the Airbus A350-900. In the aisle seat of the middle row of three. When I booked a couple of months earlier there were a lot of empty seats available. I checked a month later and many still were. The prospects seemed good I thought.
It ended up not being that way just before the 48 hours check-in. Many of those seats got taken up including the two next to me. I was comfortable with the aisle seat I had chosen but when the others were taken I had second thoughts. So when it came to check-in 48 hours before the flight I decided I’d move to the forward section. The seats located here became available. Before that they are reserved only for status holders and anyone paying extra. They normally cost $AUD59 to select if you are on a lower Economy Class fare (Lite, Value and Standard). If you have KrisFlyer Elite Gold, Star Alliance Gold or paid the Economy Flexi fare they are complimentary.
In my search I found an empty row of three that backed onto one of the toilets. Across the aisle there was another toilet. It was risky and I knew they weren’t the best seats. I really took a gamble. When I boarded I saw a lady was sitting in the window seat. This automatically told me I was going to have a rough flight. No fault of hers of course. I found out she was allocated the seat at check-in.
What makes the seat I had bad if not the worst on the plane was of course its location. First; it doesn’t line up with the toilet cubicle behind it. Secondly; there is a storage cabinet across the aisle. The FAs access this cabinet for toiletries and other stuff they use to clean the lavatories and when the door is opened it lights up.
So with the seat not being flush with the toilet wall behind, the seat (armrest and headrest) stuck out into the passageway and the spill light, this meant I was at risk of being bumped, the headrest grabbed and shone upon by stray light.
The only people that knew I was there were the FAs but even they couldn’t avoid opening and closing the curtain that was drawn across there after the lights were dimmed. The curtain separates the forward Economy section from the toilets. It did help alleviate some stray light but the opening and closing can be annoying.
The overhead bins too were not aligned properly. Above me the normal sized overhead bin was split in two and the portion above my head was for spare belts and extensions and probably other stuff used for safety purposes. The other part, forward of me had room for two bags. In our case two backpacks; one belonging to the lady at the window seat and mine that fitted snuggly against hers. A third person would not have had room for their carry-on(s).
Other seats to watch out for are those at the tail end that are similar to what I had. In some respects they actually are worse as the galley is also there right behind the last row of seats. Besides having the FAs walking past you’ll also hear whatever noise and chatter they make.
So what is the moral of this story? You can’t gamble like I did and expect to win a whole row even if they are the worst seats on the plane. At check-in if you aren’t knowledgeable about the layout of the plane you are flying, you may end up assigned one of these. If you don’t have status, buy an Economy Flexi ticket (which gives you the opportunity of choosing any seat except those in the exit row) or pay extra when on a lower Economy fare, then choose any other seat away from where you’ll be disturbed often. Seat layouts can be checked when booking or on websites like SeatGuru, SeatMaps, aeroLOPA and seatmaestro.
A bit of advice. Wear an eye mask and ear plugs or headphones to help get some sleep. I say some as this won’t guarantee a good rest. You won’t get any stray light or noise but the seat can get bumped. All I can say is good luck.
Note: On my return flight from Rome Fiumicino to Singapore I spoke to a fellow who got the same seat. He agreed with me in every aspect. I made sure when passing him I kept my distance not to disturb him. On this flight there’s one advantage compared to mine. You don’t need to actually sleep or I should say it is very hard to get to sleep because the body will still be running on Rome time. Departure at 10:50 from Rome and arrival 05:40 in Singapore (22:00 Rome time) will not force the body to sleep unless you’ve been going to sleep early and waking early while in Rome (or anywhere else in Central Europe).
