# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/101 "2010-11-17T06:01:50Z")
aisle / other It’s all about leg room for me. I’m rather tall. “Other” here means exit row or, if necessary and on certain aircraft, bulkhead. Fortunately, my frequent flying allows me to get exit row seats pretty much on every flight. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/102 "2010-11-17T16:46:55Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > “Sandwiched” is a loaded word. Choosing it is akin to calling yourself an idiot. Plenty of folks have called themselves knuckleheads – I don’t see the big deal. 🙂 ETA: While I agree with you that the connotation of “sandwiched” isn’t necessarily a good one, I wasn’t consciously trying to create bias among the choices. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/103 "2010-11-17T16:51:44Z")
Where do I prefer? As near the exit as possible. Where do I actually sit? At whatever seat is available, as near the exit as possible. Or, if I can score an empty row, I’ll sit there. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/104 "2010-11-17T17:29:59Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Most of my flights are long haul from the US West Coast to the Middle East. I prefer a window on the right side going to the Gulf since the flight path for a night arrival gives a great view of Bahrain and Qatar on the way into Dubai. Have the pilot honk the horn and I’ll wave! Window, wing, not that it matters. Flying sucks. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/105 "2010-11-17T17:45:49Z")
We geologists dig maps and that’s what a window seat provides, a big, unquestionably accurate map. Plus, having studied much of a continent’s evolution and visited a lot of field sites it’s way cool to track where you are, watch the gradation into other landforms, observe in large scale structures and stratigraphy, see how the geology has affected the positioning of population centers, migration routes, etc. ---
**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, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/106 "2010-11-17T20:48:02Z")
When am I gonna get to sit next to an attractive woman that I can captivate with my knowledge of center-pivot irrigation (those circle-shaped fields)? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/107 "2010-11-17T22:40:33Z")
Dating someone 800 miles away, I’ve been spending a lot of time on planes lately. I’ve answered this assuming that the flight is at least an hour or two and I’m flying coach, not business class. While window seats are excellent for the view, the ability to control the shade, and a wall to sleep against, the aisle wins for me because I can stretch my legs out more and don’t have to climb over anyone else to get to the bathroom. I think \*\*Giles \*\*pegged it when he said that the best flights are the ones where you can simultaneously have an aisle and window seat, but unfortunately I only tend to get those on puddlejumpers (e.g., MKE to GRR). I also prefer to be as far forward as possible, so that I don’t have to stand in the aisle with my thumb up my ass getting progressively more annoyed at idiots in front of me who wait until seven seconds after the person in front of them has started moving to finally start pulling their big carryons down from the overhead bins. I am firmly disappointed that we only have 11.86% knuckleheads. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/108 "2010-11-17T22:57:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Dating someone 800 miles away, I’ve been spending a lot of time on planes lately. Pfft. 800 miles. Is that all you got? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/109 "2010-11-17T23:18:07Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > We geologists dig maps and that’s what a window seat provides, a big, unquestionably accurate map. There are always a few inaccuracies, to catch the people who make copies. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958/110 "2010-11-18T15:55:45Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Pfft. 800 miles. Is that all you got? Sorry, I could try shoving Baltimore farther away the next time I’m out there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-like-to-sit-on-a-commercial-flight/559958.md?page=5)