qwerty94

Hello,
I'm flying in 3 days for first time abroad with Aegean to London from Athens, with Airbus A321 and would like to ask a few questions.
Because we will be five people who will travel together, would you propose to choose to sit in the front or in the back? Besides the emergency exits , which rows have better legroom?
Moreover check-in opens 48 hours before the flight, right? It's a good idea to check in immediately after the online check in opens in order to reserve a good seat ,or is it possible some good seats to be released after some hours of the online checkin opening?

Thanks for your help!

Knobbgb

In my experience, there isn't a huge rush for the OLCI so if you do it 48hrs before the flight, pretty much as soon as it opens you'll find almost all the seats still available.

There is some disagreement as to which rows have better legroom and I think not all aircraft are the same. I'm sure I have been on A321s where ALL the rows between the first and second set of exit doors have the extra room, but others have stated here that it's just the first 5 or 6 rows. It doesn't make so much difference to be honest - Aegean are reasonably generous with legroom.

One thing I always avoid is booking the row directly behind business class, just in case they decide to expand it at a later time. They shouldn't of course, not that soon before departure, but I've heard of it happening on other airlines. A321s to Heathrow usually have 3, 4 or maybe 5 rows of business so I'd go for row 6 or 7 or thereabouts as soon as checking opens.

blackball

I agree with you - I could have sworn I've been on A3 planes where there was loads of room for much more than 5 or 6 rows (I don't remember when and where, and it contradicts what most people report here :P).

The exit rows are also a good option. In either A320s or A321s, I go for the second of the two successive exit rows (I believe 11 and 12 are exit rows in the A320s), since the front exit row seats never recline.

Btw, I disagree about Aegean having generous legroom. Apart from the front and exit rows, I have been on flights where it was pretty bad. Last time I flew to Brussels I was 'stuck' in a normal seat and it was pretty cramped. It just so happened that I got surveyed by an A3 marketing person, and I mentioned this. She actually stated that most others she talked to about the same flight complained as well.

KLouis

Now you hear this is indeed true for A3 as well: happened to me 3 times (frequency <1%).

NWIFlyer

qwerty94, welcome to FT and the A3 forum, and thank you for choosing such an easy username to type on a UK keyboard .

To answer the last part of your query, which I don't think has been addressed - all seats are opened at T-48, so there is no advantage in waiting.

As others have said, there should be enough seats to get five together if you get in quickly - these are less likely to be at the front of Y or in exit rows, however, because they will have been open to A3 elites for pre-reservation.

If you're happy to be three-quarters of the way to the back, at worst, I'd think you'd be fine.

qwerty94

Thank you very much for your precious answers.