1. GETTING THE BEST SEAT ON THE PLANE Why do airlines only reserve seats for you if you remember to ask? By the time you remember, the good ones are gone. To get the better coach seats, you want to avoid the restrooms and galleys because they're busy with lots of traffic. The seats in the last row and in front of exits often don't recline, Middle seats are cramped. Bulkheads have less leg room, but no one reclines into your lap, Window seats have a view but less head room or aisle access. Show up when the counter opens to get the desirable exit row. Each airline configures its aircraft differently, so check out www.seatguru.com before your next flight for the scoop on which seats to ask for.
2. THE ARMREST SKIRMISH IN COACH When too many people are packed in coach. it's claustrophobic and uncomfortable. So who gets the middle-seats armrests? The aisle person argues that he's the largest and needs it because aisle traffic bumps his arm. The window person says the fuselage curves inward cheating his head space and window elbow room. Middle seat person figures he has people on either side with no personal space and needs to mark his territory by the armrests. I say communicate. Ask seatmates if their arms are more comfortable to the back of front, sharing the armrests. It’s that or “finders keepers” every time someone shifts their position.
3. PLANE ETIQUETTE Believe it or not, there is an unwritten code of polite behavior for sharing tight airplane space. We all know there are more elbows than arm rests, so whose space is it? The aisle seat gets the outer one, and the window seat gets the one under the window. That leaves the middle passenger, who gets his choice of one or both! Let him choose, then claim the leftovers. As far as storage space goes, you are entitled to the space under the seat in front of you, not under you. Storage bins above the seat are unofficially open storage for whoever gets there first.
