Originally Posted by
yyznomad
Perhaps you could explicitly and specifically lay out all of you and your cohort's seating requirements, leaving no stone unturned... that way you can get the most accurate answer out of us
This includes stuff that seems to have zero relevance but still may assist in decision making for you based on our ample experiences, like not liking loud noises, crying babies, food allergies, sound of lav doors opening and closing, people waiting and pooling around for lav time, getting hit in the knees with the food trolley on its way down the more narrow coach aisles, recline angle, seat pitch, leg room, power outlets, video monitors that don't swing out of the armrest but are rather always in front of you, like to be first to deplane, like to be near emergency exit, like to be served food first, want air vents above you, want luggage bin directly above you, etc.
Sounds good. According to your above described situations, I sleep ever so lightly so definitely don't like loud noises especially crying babies. Congregating passengers around a lavatory area annoys me. I don't "manspread" so much, so I'm not worried about trolleys hitting me. I'd love my seat to recline as much as possible in order to facilitate sleeping (which I already mentioned, is difficult for me). I don't care about the position of the personal entertainment TV, as long as I have one and can watch a few movies on the way. Power outlet seems to be a must, since our phones need to be fully charged when we deplane. I can suppose being one of the first to deplane is an advantage, as we'll be quickly on our way to visit Sydney. I don't mind emergency exits as long as the seats recline and I can have power outlets. I don't care if I'm served food first or last. Definitely want access to an air vent in case I get hot. As for storage bins, as long as I can store my carry-on above or nearby, that's fine.
Unfortunately, I don't fly so frequently as to get many perks that most of you do... (flying in J or getting preferred seating for free). I recently became a travel agent but the perks (75% off full Y or full J) is more expensive than just buying regular tickets straight from the airline or off travel websites.
Bottom line: if it really makes a difference in terms of comfort, I'm willing to do preferred. But if it just buys me an inch or two... I don't think I'll suffer too much from a regular seat. But in that case, what's my best choice according to what's available (see seat map)?
PS. Our flight is March 25th; should this help you in determining whether it'll be a busy flight or not.
Thanks for your help, dear experienced flyers!