Detailed Airline Seat Maps: Find the Best Seat on Your Plane

By looking at a detailed airline seat map, you can determine the best seats on the plane and choose the most suitable option for your flight.

In this guide, we list all the resources you need to find the best seats on the plane, as well as the worst seats to avoid at all costs.

Why you should select your seat with care

When most people think about selecting the best seat on the plane, they naturally focus on securing a window or aisle seat – depending on their personal preference – and avoiding the dreaded middle seat.

Travelling together as a family or group means you’ll obviously be looking at how to place all members as close together as possible.

However, it’s important to remember that not all seats on the plane are equal, and one particular aisle or window seat could be far better than a similar seat a few rows further forward or towards the back of the aircraft.

Example one: Ryanair

The Ryanair Boeing 737-800 is a particularly infamous example of how not all seats on a plane are equal.

If a window seat is what you’re after, you should definitely avoid Seat 11A with Ryanair when flying on their Boeing 737-800!

Although Seat 11A may appear to be like any other window seat, as it’s positioned next to the aircraft fuselage on the port side, the actual window is missing, meaning you’ll be staring at a wall during your flight.

Moreover, there is a difference in seat pitch depending on the row you are seated on board on this type of Ryanair plane.

The seat pitch of the A-B-C seats in rows 2 to 15 is 29 inches (73.66 centimetres), while the seats on the starboard side of the plane (D-E-F) in the same rows have a slightly larger seat pitch of 29.5 inches (74.93 centimetres).

For what it’s worth, the seat pitch in the emergency exit rows 16 and 17 is 35 inches (88.9 centimetres), while all seats in rows 18 to 33 (both A-B-C and D-E-F) have a seat pitch of 29.5 inches (74.93 centimetres) again.

In all fairness, Ryanair’s website is quite good and features a decent seat map that warns Seat 11A lacks a window, though it doesn’t highlight the other minor differences between seats.

Many other airlines have highly basic seat maps that provide little to no information about differences in seat pitch or width, how windows are aligned, or any other noteworthy details that could make a particular seat the best choice on the plane – or the one seat you should avoid at all costs.

This is why it’s always advisable not only to check the airline’s own website but also to consult seat maps published on specialist websites, as it helps you avoid common mistakes and choose your seat accordingly.

The single-best website for airline seat maps

Over the years, many websites have offered airline seat maps, with SeatGuru arguably being the most consulted and well-known tool for identifying the best and worst seats on a plane.

However, SeatGuru hasn’t been updated in recent years, and does not show the latest plane types or airline cabin interiors, and even though it still offers some value for passengers looking up seat information on older planes, it has long been surpassed by a much better seat map website.

I’m of course talking about AeroLOPA, which provides incredibly detailed seat maps for nearly all planes of every commercial airline in the world.

If there’s one website you should consult before selecting your seat during online check-in or paying for a preferred seat, it’s AeroLOPA.

In case you’re wondering about the name, LOPA is an abbreviation used in the airline industry that stands for Layout Of Passenger Accommodations – a fancy term for cabin configuration and seat maps!

AeroLOPA seat maps

AeroLOPA’s seat maps perfectly show the cabin configuration of each plane, as well as the exact arrangement of seats next to the windows, fuselage, and wings, which is especially helpful for those who prefer a window seat over an aisle seat.

In business class, it also provides great detail on how seats are aligned and whether a particular seat is positioned closer to the aisle, window, or centre of the cabin.

Make sure to scroll down and read the fine print below the actual airplane seat map, as this is where you’ll find details about seat pitch, recline, width, and other important aspects of the cabin configuration, such as the type of power sockets or USB charging ports at your seat and the display size of your in-flight entertainment screen.

What to take into account on airplane seat maps

There are plenty of other factors to consider when looking at an airplane seat map to find the best possible seat, as several often overlooked elements can significantly impact whether you choose the best seat or one of the worst on the plane:

Proximity to lavatories: You’ll want to ensure your seat is as far away from a lavatory as possible to avoid noise (or even smell) disturbances, as well as the annoyance of people queuing in the aisle near your row.

Proximity to the galley: On some planes, seats directly behind or in front of the galley may experience noise disturbances or have galley lights shining into the cabin at night while other lights are dimmed.

Bulkhead seats: These seats often offer more legroom and have the benefit that nobody is reclining into your space, but they may be designated as bassinet locations, meaning you could be seated near (crying) babies, especially on widebody planes. In bulkhead rows, all hand luggage must be stored in overhead bins during take-off and landing, so you cannot keep it near your seat.

Emergency exit rows: Although these seats offer more legroom than others, window seats in exit rows may have obstructed legroom due to the airplane door intruding into the space in front of you, which in some cases could result in less space than standard seats. Note that when sitting in an exit row, you must be able-bodied and willing to comply with crew instructions in case of emergencies, and all hand luggage must be stored in overhead bins during take-off and landing.

On some plane types, bulkhead and emergency exit row seats may have in-flight entertainment screens stored in the armrest compartment instead of the seatback in front, which could slightly reduce seat width.

As you can see, whether a bulkhead or emergency exit row seat is a great choice depends on several factors, as it can be among the best on some airlines and plane types, but there are situations where you might regret it.

Front or back of the plane

When it comes to selecting a seat on the plane, there is always a debate about whether it is best to sit up front or at the back.

There is no simple answer to whether a seat in the front, middle, or back of the plane is better, as this depends on the aircraft type, the airline’s configuration, and your own preferences and needs.

Seats at the front of the plane usually offer slightly more legroom and the obvious advantage of being among the first to disembark if boarding and deplaning are done through the front doors only.

If you’re on a tight connection or want to be among the first at immigration to avoid a long wait at passport control, it certainly makes sense to select a seat as far forward as possible.

With most airlines conducting their in-flight service from front to back, you have the advantage of being among the first to choose your preferred meal, reducing the risk of certain options running out.

Seats in the middle section of the plane generally experience the least amount of turbulence, as they are closest to the centre of gravity, making them a good choice for nervous flyers.

On the other hand, seats at the back of the plane are often less popular, which can provide a quieter environment.

Moreover, due to the curvature of aircraft, wide-body planes often have a better seat configuration at the rear of the cabin, where the space is narrower.

Take the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 as an example, where economy class has a 3+3+3 seating configuration, but the back of the plane features a 2+3+2 layout.

If you’re flying as a couple, those two-abreast seats are an excellent choice, as you won’t have a stranger sitting next to you!

Empty seats and rows

If you’re flying economy and hoping for an empty seat next to you – or even an entirely empty row – it’s hard to say whether you’ll have the best chance up front or at the back of the cabin, as this depends largely on the airline you fly with and whether you’re on a narrow-body or wide-body plane.

Low-cost airlines with automatic seat assignment for passengers who don’t prebook their seat typically give away the best seats last, so if your plane isn’t full, you stand a better chance of getting an empty seat next to you up front or in emergency exit rows with extra space, as these seats usually command a premium and are only assigned freely to passengers if the flight is not full.

Full-service airlines often allow passengers to select seats for free during online check-in, apart from up-front or exit row seats, which either come with a fee or are only given free to frequent flyers, so these are your best bets if you’re hoping to score an empty seat next to you.

However, on long-haul flights operated by widebody planes, this might be different, as passengers typically choose seats in rows that still appear empty when they check in online, with most preferring seats as far up front as possible.

Passengers who don’t pick a seat themselves and have no preferences, instead getting one assigned at check-in at the airport, are often randomly distributed throughout the plane to ensure balance.

This can (but does not always) result in rows that are slightly more empty towards the back of the plane, so it could be worth choosing if you hope for an empty seat next to you.

How to determine the plane type you are on

Of course, to determine the best seats on your flight, it’s crucial to know which type of aircraft will be operating your route.

You might even discover that the airline you wish to fly with on a particular route operates two daily flights, each with a different aircraft type and configuration, allowing you to choose the flight offering the best seat.

The type of aircraft operating your flight is often clearly displayed at the time of booking, but the challenge is that many airlines use different configurations for the same plane, and it’s not always clear which one you’ll get, even though this can significantly impact passenger comfort.

Take for example Qatar Airways, which operates eight different configurations on its Boeing 777 fleet, with some featuring its top-quality Qsuites business class product, while others have less premium (but still highly comfortable and competitive) business class seats.

Although the differences in seat type and configuration between subtypes of each plane are most noticeable in business class, they can also impact economy class.

So how can you find out the exact type of plane operating your flight?

A good starting point is to examine the seat map while making your flight booking or by creating a dummy booking.

Pay attention to details such as seat configuration, emergency exit row locations, and the total number of seats in each cabin to identify which of AeroLOPA’s seat maps matches your plane.

For example, when I flew in Air France business class to Singapore on the Boeing 777, I knew exactly which of the four possible configurations I would get because first class seats were sold for my flight, and only one of the four configurations has a first class cabin.

If you’re flying a Turkish Airlines Airbus A321 in economy class, a good starting point is to identify the number of business class seats and at which row the economy class cabin begins, as this varies across different configurations.

Equipment changes

Airlines often make last-minute equipment switches, so while your flight may originally be operated by an Airbus A350, it could be switched to a Boeing 777 a few days before departure, meaning the seat you preselected might no longer be as ideal.

It’s always advisable to regularly check the airline’s seat maps to ensure your assigned seat is still showing correctly and to see if there have been any changes to the plane type.

Some airlines are more notorious for equipment changes than others, and if you’re flying with an airline that operates different models of the same plane with highly varied configurations, it’s especially important to pay close attention.

A good way to check whether your flight is reliably operated by the same plane type is by searching your flight number on the FlightRadar24 website, which shows the plane type for all of last week’s flights, as well as the exact tail number.

If you Google the tail number of the plane, you can quickly find more details about its configuration, allowing you to compare how this particular aircraft is set up and determine whether other flights operated that week by different aircraft have a similar configuration or not.

Conclusion

Selecting the best seat on a plane goes beyond simply choosing between a window or aisle seat, as it requires expert knowledge and reliable resources to accurately interpret a seat map and pinpoint the best and worst options.

Seats on a plane can vary significantly in seat pitch and width, the likelihood of having an empty seat next to you, and their proximity to potential nuisances like crying babies or lavatories.

Especially when flying business class, it’s important to check in advance which aircraft will operate your flight, as the quality of the product and the best seats in the cabin can vary significantly between different plane types.

In addition to checking the airline’s website during booking, it’s a good idea to consult seat maps on AeroLOPA, as they are often more detailed than those on the airline’s website and provide a clearer picture of the exact seat configuration and layout.