Surf Airline Seat-Review Sites to Fly in Comfort
Airline capacity cuts have also boosted the sites' appeal.
Nov. 19, 2011— -- It's a situation many fliers have faced: Your seat, whether you chose it or it was randomly assigned, is the worst on the plane. Perhaps it doesn't recline, or there's no storage for your belongings, or it's right by the lavatory line.
A little online research using airline-seat-review sites could spare you the pain. The popularity of sites such as SeatGuru.com and SeatExpert.com has grown beyond hardcore travelers in recent years as airlines charge for and adopt more stringent policies about selecting seats. Airline capacity cuts — in their pursuit of no-empty-seats aircraft — have also boosted the sites' appeal.
SeatGuru and SeatExpert both feature aircraft seat maps for most major airlines, a color-coded system to identify good and bad seats and detailed descriptions of amenities. Users can find their plane maps by plugging in the flight number or the aircraft type printed on the itinerary.
Many road warriors turn to seat-review sites even before buying a ticket because they prefer one aircraft type over another, or to make sure they have Wi-Fi or power outlets on board. But even for casual travelers, the sites can serve as a steady guide in making sense of the spartan seat maps available on airlines' websites.
In testing SeatGuru and SeatExpert, we discovered that they generally provide much more information than airlines, and we'd recommend them for travel planning. SeatGuru, with thousands more seat maps, was more thorough than SeatExpert.
Because it's difficult to test the accuracy of the maps without exploring the aircraft in person, we sent sample pages to airlines for fact-checking. Rahsaan Johnson, a United Airlines spokesman, says SeatGuru's profile was "largely correct," but pointed out some minor errors: United's 757-200 aircraft carries 12 audio channels, not 19; United's snack boxes range from $6 to $10, not $6 to $7. (SeatExpert doesn't provide those details.)
American Airlines sent back a list of corrections for both SeatGuru and SeatExpert that ranged from the number of lie-flat seats and the location of seats with footrests to the seat count in first class.
Matt Daimler, founder of SeatGuru, says its staff constantly updates information and captures airlines' long-term upgrades.
But he warns fliers that last-minute aircraft changes can affect seat-map research.
SeatGuru
Overview: Has more than 7,000 seat maps from nearly 100 airlines.
Pros: More information than competitors. Ability to sort by airline or flight. Icon-based maps rich in details, such as degree of first-class seat recline, and seats with missing windows. Has mini-reviews for some individual seats. Detailed summary description of aircraft, including destinations flown. Accepts reader comments.
Cons: Some minor errors. May not keep up with some details as airlines remove seats or reassign routes.
Takeaway: Best in the category.
SeatExpert
Overview: Contains 300 seat maps of more than 50 large airlines.
Pros: Ability to sort by airline or flight or search aircraft type by departure date. Detailed summary description of aircraft. Maps are less cluttered than SeatGuru's.
Cons: Some minor errors. May not keep up with some airline changes. Some detailed information, such as food and in-flight entertainment content, is missing. Search box can be balky (finds AirTran but not Air Tran).
Takeaway: Adequate for most. SeatGuru is better.
Is there a product, app or website you'd like the Digital Traveler to review? Send us an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com.
Related Stories
ABC News Live