Saw your thread about your flight with the U-turn over Baffin Island - ugh, that's a long schlepp. Seems like they could have saved a lot of time and discomfort by going back to someplace a little closer to where you were rather than DTW (Goose Bay, Labrador comes to mind - is that a NW hub? - well, maybe Boston).

I'll be on that DTW - AMS flight, and hope we don't fly it 1 1/2 times as yours went. As for the seats, I don't think that any of the exit row seats are an option for us - we're not 1k, plat, elite, or anything - just commoners, and I believe the exit rows are marked for E only.

I'm not too worried about that area for carry-on space - we're towards the back of the plane (by choice) and since we board before most of the coach cabin, I expect we'll be able to get our carry on bags up in the overheads, and only have a small personal item or two at our feet. I'm just hoping that "the metal "box" doesn't require one of us to remain twisted around to be be comfortable. It's an overnight flight, so we'll probably be slouched against each other attempting in vain to get some sleep, in case that helps avoid "the metal box."