Wexflyer

I have a flight to HNL coming up and wonder whether to go for row 6 (bulkhead) or 17 (exit). Seatguru shows both rows as good (green), but is one better than the other? Also, I saw a comment somewhere about expecting to be kicked in row 17 - what is that about?

Thanks

missamo80

More likely to have kids behind you in row 17 than row 6, I expect, due to more elites up front and fewer in the back.

I always prefer bulkhead, especially when so many of the planes don't have a solid wall there anymore.

Neil

Wexflyer

Interesting comment about the kids. But I think the HNL flights are almost-elite free, as rows 6, 16 and 17 are pretty empty on both flights there and back.

CDKing

On the newly reconfigured 738, it seems to me the exit row seat has a shorter cushion, i actually gave up exit row assignment for a regular coach seat on my last trip. technically I switched back when i found out it was the old config. For the short time I spend on the new config in a normal Y seat, I have to say legroom is not too bad.

Row 6 is good as well but they do use that row for handicap seating so there may be some risk of getting booted. Exit row wont have that problem.

Wexflyer

Two points - first the HNL flights are NOT short!!
Second, seat map seems to indicate use of non-updated 737-8 - is that reliable?

AKLifetimeFlyer

After about 10 Kona Longboards, who cares where you are sitting!?

PWMTrav

I like Row 6 a lot on the 738. Half-curtain divider with under seat storage and lots of leg room. For me, it's the best mainline coach seat of any US domestic (for those that know me from other forums, my favorite coach seat in the sky is the US Airways Express E75 bulkhead - same deal as AS, but a generally newer plane, wider seat and no middle).

My MVP status is expiring on 12/31 but I just booked two early 2015 trips now so that I could still reserve Row 6. It's excellent if you have kids as well - there's some room to let them roam without entering the aisle, and it's also really hard to bother the people in the F seats in front.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

17C/D for me. Like the legroom, no recline into you, and if you luck out with no one next to you...oh boy

Plus you're not tempted by F service.

Row 6 does get you off the plane quicker, but I don't really like the tray table setup.

Putzy

Your chances of being on a non updated interior are very slim, only three ETOPS -800's are still in the old configuration.

On the updated (Recaro) interiors, all the exit row seat bottoms are .7" lower. This is accomplished by using a seat pan, cushion and cover. The rest of the seats including row 6, use fabric stretched over a aluminum frame with a padded cover over that. So, due to the differing designs you can't assume one is more comfortable than the other. This is not the case with the older seats. They have lower seat bottoms at A/F exit row seats. This is attained by having a thinner cushion, so it can be reasonably assumed they are less comfortable than the rest of the seats.

Another difference is the airbag seat belts at row 6, some people don't like the extra bulk.

jsguyrus

I always go for row six, however if you are a bit larger, row 17 may be better. The tray tables are housed in between the seats in the arm rest in row 6 so you have a bit less room in the seat. For me it is made up for with great leg room and getting off the plane much faster. Another plus is row 6 has two windows with a view that is not obstructed by engines or wing.

jrl767

all my "6 >> 17" reasons have appeared already: soft (curtain) bulkhead that allows a carry-on bag to go under the last row of F seats, closer to the front for quicker deplaning, extra window

VWTim

The new curtain at row 6 is a pain. When not tucked into the F seatback, it floats about where your laptop screen would be if you had one out. Until they fix that (think velcro) I'm a row 17 guy.

Eujeanie

We always pick 17, but I've got a question about 16 vs. 17...same legroom? Can 15 recline into you?

I like the exit rows vs. 6 for some totally different reasons. We have our trips down to a science...right after the carts go by, we get up and use the washroom - we're back just before they get to our row for service. In 6, you are trapped up there until all the service is done - and IF they say it's ok to use the F lav, I really don't like to do that, because when I'm in F I don't care for all the people traipsing back and forth, so I won't do it when the shoe is on the other foot (except in case of an emergency).

Bay Area Blue

16 & 17 are same pitch, 16 doesn't recline. 15 does not recline either.

Eujeanie

Good to know - sometimes 17 is not available, but it's still our first choice.