TravelCommentator

Tagged: empty seats

Air Travel / Opinion / Tips & Advice

The Worst Becomes the Best Seat in the House

Can the worst seat in Economy Class actually become the best? You may ask, “how can that be so?” Well this happened to a female passenger on my return flight from Rome (FCO) to Singapore (SIN) in late January this year. The exact same seat that I labelled the worst seat ever (see my article “The Worst Seat Imaginable”) about a year ago when I flew in the opposite direction SIN-FCO. On that flight I took a gamble. I moved from the seat I had previously chosen, way back in the middle tail section, to the forward section. At the time when selecting this seat, around 48 hours before flight departure, the row was empty. I chose the aisle seat just in case. As...

Air Travel / Opinion

Snippets: Lying Down Across Economy Seats Not Recommended

Don’t lie down across empty economy seats… In a letter response to an article mentioning passengers appropriating themselves empty seats and lying down across them in rows of three or four, an aeronautical engineer made his concerns known that it was dangerous to do so as passengers could not restrain themselves properly and in turbulence could be launched from their seats. He also wrote passengers should not switch seats without the FAs being informed as they could upset the aircraft’s trim. Name of letter writer witheld…says there’s no way one can be restrained properly lying across three or four seats. Depends what is meant by properly. I’ve done it by attaching the straps closest to each other from two seats. The strap with the...

Air Travel / Opinion

Snippets: Economy Pax Upgrade Forces Flight Turn Back

Flight turns back after economy passengers upgrade themselves… A couple of Economy Class passengers decided to move into Business Class. A standoff ensued with cabin crew and the captain was forced to return the flight to its departure point where those passengers were subsequently arrested by police. The writer goes on asking, “Who even thinks they can self-upgrade?” He then makes some fair comments about the self-righteous and then asks, “Who does get upgraded?” Explaining that airlines don’t upgrade economy passengers just because there are empty seats, it’s the frequent flyers with status that do or you pay at check-in. No sweet deals. “What if economy class is full but not business?” Here he’s spot on explaining the rules with upgrades with platinum or...