Who/What to fly to get room on an airplane?

[Kelso]

I am 275 pound man that feels too confined when flying. Now I have confirmation of an exchange to Maui. Is there any way to book a flight where I will have more room? (Not an exit row or first class)

Is there a ranking of which airlines have the most to least room? Or is one type of airplane better than another? Do they give you more room for the longer flights or are all flights just as bad as any other.

I really need help with this information or I may have a real problem making it to Hawaii. Thanks for any help.

Kelso: eek:

[DeniseM]

My husband is 6'3" and weighs about the same as you do. We fly Hawaiian Air to Hawaii every summer and always request exit row or bulk head seats. Unless you are willing to spring for first class, or pay for 2 seats, you are not going to find a huge difference in other seats.

[Dave M]

Originally Posted by DeniseM

...you are not going to find a huge difference in other seats.

That's for sure!

Almost all U.S. airlines have either a 17 or 18-inch width for economy seats. Sometimes the seat width varies a bit from one type of plane to another for a particular airline. Still, that extra inch can make a significant difference when sitting might be a tight fit.

To evaluate your options, check out some possible flights/connections on various airlines at Travelocity, Orbitz or one of the other major airfare search sites. For each itinerary, note the type of aircraft for the specific airline. Then go to www.seatguru.com and click on your chosen airline on the left of the page. Then click on the type of plane. Then note the seat width, shown at the top of the screen.

Also note the "pitch", which is the distance between the back of your seat and the back of the seat in front of you. That will help you to evaluate which planes will have more space for your knees that might otherwise be jammed against the seat in front of you.

Finally, the accompanying seat maps will guide you as to specific seats to avoid and others to try to reserve, if you have the chance to do so.

[ricoba]

I am a good sized guy too and can share your frustration.

But like Denise says, you really don't have too many options that I can think of.

Try seatguru to check out different seating options.

Another option may be for you to break your trip up. Since I see you are in ILL, maybe fly into LAX or SFO and do a layover for a couple hours or even a night, that way you can give your self a break from cramped seating on the planes.

Good luck.

[TUGBrian]

I am not a fan of bulkhead seats as you really cannot ever stretch your legs out.

Spent many many years and many hundreds of thousands of miles on commercial airliners back in my consulting days....and every business traveler will tell you that Exit row seats are where its at =)

[rickandcindy23]

I like the bigger planes that United flies out of the west coast cities. The seats are the same size but we feel less cramped when we get those window seats, generally with only two seats on each side of the plane and 3 or five rows in the middle. It almost feels like first class. Well, not really.

The problem with the three and three is the coziness of the people next to you. I don't like being cozy with strangers, when it is only two of us going. Now with Mom going this past July, no problem. She is tiny and we were all cozy, watching our own movies on the dvd player.

[Jimster]

I am about your same size. I always purchase economy plus seats from United. You get 5 inches more leg space.

[Kelso]

I used the seatguru site to print out all the planes and the spacing for the seats. I made my reservations where there was a bit of extra room. Sometimes there was the smallest size seats and others had the largest available. Also, it was interesting that my flight to Philadelphia from Chicago had more room than the flight from LasVegas to Maui. That makes no sense to me but that is the way it is.

[turkel]

I am not an expert but I avoid Hawaiian Airlines if at all possible. I have flown to Hawaii on Delta, United, and Hawaiian. HA was so cramped it was miserable. You had to be an acrobat to get out of your seat if the person in front was in the semi-recline position. My husband 6'3" 220lbs could not sit with his legs in front of him. It wasn't even a matter of the knees being cramped they just wouldn't fit. He sat next to our daughter then 5 and used her legroom to sit at an angle. Never again.

[johnmfaeth]

Worst case, take an aisle seat, you at least have room to stretch once in a while.

On any flight over two hours, I get up every 30-60 minutes and just take a walk from my seat to the back of the plane, stretch a little and walk back to my seat. This is also very good at reducing the risk of a deep vein thrombosis blod clot (DVT) from sitting for long periods while at a much higher "altitude" air pressure than normal.

It really helps, I'm only 6' and but I know exactly what you mean.

[catman]

Try Delta they fly 767's LAX to HNL. The good thing about the 767 it has a 2-3-2 setup for seating and the 2 seats on the side are bearable if your wife is smaller than you. You take aisle and her the window it can be a cozy flight just the two of you together.