Hi all,

I used to be very obsessed with getting seats at the first row available (of the cabin I am at),or the emergency exit row. At the end of 2014 I adopted a new strategy:I am now selecting seats in the last row,or the row before the last.

I am always told not to take these seats because:

On many longhaul a/c this is not the case:eg:CX 333/RJ 788 (are BA 788/789 the same?) and there are no toilets at the back and virtually zero traffic.

IB A319,All RJ a/c,most if not all CX a/c seats in the last row recline.On MH 738 I just take the row before the last,as on these frames last row does not recline indeed.
3-7 minutes for an average 321 in my experience.Again,on many airlines (S7/UL for instance) you can disembark from door L4 on 320/321 /L3 on 319
Not sure about BA,but on many airlines the food carts are rolled from both end of the aircraft and those at the last row will get served at the same time as those in the first row. This is more common on LH fleet than on SH though.

I have also noticed that I am much more likely to have a seat or even two seats empty at the back (on those airlines,such as BA that don't block seats for elites).

I also never had a problem with finding space for my hand baggage and I can take as much time as I need to sort out my stuff,as I am not blocking my way (try doing that when you boarded among the first using priority boarding and sitting towards the front. I can also recline as much as I wish without disturbing others.

I have been doing that for over a year now and it just feels more relaxed at the back of the cabin.I even tend to select the last row in J in rare cases I am ticketed to fly there. Am I alone in thinking this way?Check in/ boarding/ lounge agents always seem to be puzzled when I request these seats/they see these seats on my BP and based on the threads here people are really trying hard to secure a seat in the front of the cabin (by no means am I blaming them).

Regards
Rami