# Where do you like to sit on a commercial flight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958 "2010-11-08T21:09:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/81 "2010-11-13T01:35:00Z")
I tend to use the bathroom a lot, so I definitely like having an aisle seat. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/82 "2010-11-13T02:13:32Z")
My personal experience is that frequent travelers tend to prefer an aisle seat. Easier to get up and down, stretch your leg out to beside the seat in front of you. Especially on long flights. There’s often not much to see out the window apart from takeoffs and landings. It is, however, kind of neat to fly into Kathmandu and see the mountains _above_ you. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/83 "2010-11-14T17:57:35Z")
Window, middle of plane–hate being jostled by people in the aisle, and I like seeing the wing. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/84 "2010-11-14T18:10:03Z")
Window, front, next to an attractive younger lady who doesn’t mind conversing about nothing in particular with an older man. I almost always have my camera with me, and have taken some spectacular pictures from inside an airplane. Some of them were out of the window. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/85 "2010-11-14T18:22:55Z")
I prefer the aisle, so I can get up whenever I want (I don’t mind having to accommodate others). And I prefer the front, since they’re the first to exit. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/86 "2010-11-14T19:41:17Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > Oh yes. I don’t really get how people can just sit there reading the paper or whatever while we’re about to hurtle ourselves into the sky at 600 miles an hour. It’s really a bit of a shame that air travel has managed to turn itself into something people loathe (often even me, but not during “action” time). I know! I fly all the time, and I still love looking out the window. If I don’t get the window seat, and the guy who does is obviously going to leave the blind down and not watch, I’ll ask to swap every time. We’re flying! Look at the buildings, cars, fields, lakes, ocean! Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/87 "2010-11-14T21:36:15Z")
In coach (where I usually sit), I’d rather have an aisle seat toward the front of the plane. I have long legs, and like to be able to stretch them into the aisle during the flight; getting off the plane quickly after it lands is important too. Especially on a crowded flight… I was on a huge Airbus in July and it was crammed full - after touchdown, I was stuck in the back of the plane and got to feeling awfully claustrophobic. After that flight though, I had my first experience flying first class. If I’m flying up there, I don’t care what seat I’m in. I want to only fly first class from now on. I’m not sure it’s worth the ridiculous difference in price, but it sure felt like it. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/88 "2010-11-14T22:06:35Z")
Don’t care which seat in the row, prefer the front of the plane so I have to wait for as few people getting their carry-ons down as possible. I generally fly Southwest and I’ll take the first seat I see. The only thing that bugs me, like some earlier posters, is people oozing over from the adjacent seats into mine. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/89 "2010-11-15T13:36:17Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] My personal experience is that frequent travelers tend to prefer an aisle seat. [/QUOTE] I should ask my BIL about this - he’s got Gold-Pressed Latinum with Emeralds and Rubies - level status from all the miles he travels. Knowing him “Inside the airplane” is his preference. I just prefer the window as I hate having bev carts slammed into my shoulders, and 9 times out out 10, if someone wants to retrieve their bag from the overhead, it’s over my head, and they drop something on me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/90 "2010-11-15T13:41:30Z")
Either window or aisle, but not in between two people, not in the central bunch if the plane has two aisles, and in any case please please please not next to someone whose bulk or elbows take three seats (one of the two times I’ve flown first class, I had such a neighbor… I would have been more comfortable on the floor). I prefer front or middle and love the exit aisle (if my short legs feel cramped on a regular seat, what do basketball players feel like after a flight?), but not on those crappy easyjet planes where the doors aren’t well-insulated. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/91 "2010-11-15T15:13:36Z")
So proud of this site to see that I was not the only knucklehead that could not resist selecting that option! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/92 "2010-11-15T15:15:04Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > So proud of this site to see that I was not the only knucklehead that could not resist selecting that option! So you prefer to sit toward the front of the plane too? ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/93 "2010-11-15T15:59:50Z")
I am a knucklehead who likes window seats towards the front of the plane. Window so I can lean my head against the wall and try to sleep, front so I can get the hell off asap. I hate flying. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/94 "2010-11-16T10:18:09Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Wait, you actually pick your seat based on how easy it would be for you to fight off mid-air hijackers? That’s like choosing what car to drive based on … how easy it would be to fight off mid-air hijackers (as you seem to acknowledge). Dude, I fly all the time. It’s part of my job description. I have the opportunity to stare out of windows at my leisure. Therefore the window has no allure for me. So given a choice, I choose a seat where if needs be I can affect my own safety. It’s somewhat of a default position given my otherwise indifferent stance on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/95 "2010-11-16T16:11:20Z")
My preference is window just in front of the wings, but I rarely get that. To keep my wife comfortable, I volunteer to take the middle seat. The last time I got a window seat was on a flight back home from Ireland, but the lights running above the windows stayed on the whole time and destroyed any chance I had of possibly sleeping. (I _never_ can sleep on planes.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/96 "2010-11-17T04:04:46Z")
I wonder if there has ever been any other poll with this many choices and this many voters but one serious choice remaining zero. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/97 "2010-11-17T05:15:29Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I wonder if there has ever been any other poll with this many choices and this many voters but one serious choice remaining zero. “Sandwiched” is a loaded word. Choosing it is akin to calling yourself an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/98 "2010-11-17T05:17:46Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Get on the plane? Fuck you, I’m getting \*IN \*the plane. Let Evel Kenievel get \*ON \*the plane. I never thought that was George’s best work. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/99 "2010-11-17T05:20:21Z")
I know guys who enjoy being “sandwiched” in Thailand, but it’s a bit different meaning, hehehe. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/100 "2010-11-17T05:24:26Z")
In Thailand I thought guys liked to go for the [manwich](http://ocanada.com.au/shop/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/H/u/HuntsManwichSloppyJoe_Lge.png) as well . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958.md?page=6)