Which Type B738, B739?
 

Seatguru shows CO with four types of B738 and two B739 types. While the B738 "type 4" is used for the GUM flights, is there any way to determine which type of B738/9 aircraft might be on a particular NA flight we're on, such as perhaps by the sequence of each aircraft's numbers (ie., aircraft numbered 200-230 is type "?"). That way we could see which of the available seats at 24 hour checkin is preferable to others, by using the CO pda website to identify which aircraft type by its number and seatguru to look for better seats, if any are left after all the elites have checked in earlier. Couldn't find the info on the CO FAQ at the top of the forum.

Thanks,

bj-21.

The seating layout on the 739 and 73E are identical so there is no way to tell until the actual aircraft is assigned and you can look it up on the PDA site.

For the 738s you can check the seat maps on your reservation and match it up to the version on the other sites to get an idea of what you're in for.

For the 738s, compare the seat maps (eg first row of coach, position of exit rows, last row) that are shown on CO.com with the ones on SeatGuru.

If you're interested out of curiosity then you should do as sbm12 suggests.

Otherwise, if it's just a matter of getting the best seats, that will not be complicated, since it will essentially boil down to the exit rows seats (and to a lesser extent the bulkhead).

Those you will be able to locate on the seating chart for your flight(s) on the website, either as you are about to purchase your ticket, or once you have bought your ticket, and finally when you do on line check in.

The twelve 20/132 "Mid-Lavs" are ship nos:

261, 264, 266-8, 271-7

Thanks for the replies. Here's what brought up the question. Recent flights on a few 738's and -9's found my wife and I winding up in rows with windowless seats (8A on some -38's). Since she likes to look out the windows (while I'm stuck in the middle seat sometimes) she was disappointed, as I thought we had moved to better seats from way in the back (at least quieter in front of the engines) when I moved us at the 24 hour point. Turns out that I hadn't been able to tell which type of 738 we were on, or I would have grabbed row seven instead. Easy enough to tell on the 752's (no windows row 10-12) but the three types of 738's don't indicate which type you'll be on, on the CO seatmap chart for your flight.

Thanks again.

bj-21.

Understood. That's going to be a tough one to discern from the info available ahead of time.

Since there is nothing better or more comfortable or spacious about these seats, my suggestion is just avoid those rows completely, if possible.

Remember, every seat on a CO 738/39 has the same legroom, except the exit rows and, to some extent, the bulkhead.

Note too that the CO website isn't even up to date (coinsider?????). There are no longer ANY mainline 800's with 141 coach seats. That was when the aft lav was arranged with one in front of the other. Now that they have all been converted to side by side lavs (except 20/132 version), you can ignore the two types on the CO web site that show 141 in coach.

As for seat guru:

Type 1 is right. This is how ALL 737-800's with a mid lav at CO are configured.

Type 2 is right. This is how ALL non-mid-lav 737 800's are configured

Type 3 no longer exists

Type 4 I'm assuming is right for CO MIC. But that type is gone from CO mainline.

All of this is a result of a fleetwide removal of the front closet in order to add 1 ABC and, on the non-mid-lav 800, moving the aft lav from one in front of the other to side-by-side. The latter results in the addition of last row ABC. So as you can see, the mods resulted in 6 extra seats on the plane (3 on the mid-lav version) and all AC have been converted. Not sure why they aren't converting the mid-lav planes to add the extra seats in back (coinsider?).

So now, instead of 4 versions, there are only 2: mid-lav and non-mid-lav.

Seatexpert may be of more use, it looks up by date and presents the plane config you will be on in most cases, barring MX swaps and the like.

I believe the CO Mike 738s still have 14F (missing 1AB) and 141Y (missing 29ABC) and side by side rear lavs. This is "version 4" on SeatGuru.

Just noticed that. I corrected my post.

Thanks again for narrowing it down for me. Having just the two types of NA 738's makes it easier to choose our seats at the 24 hour point. No problem with the 31" pitch as we're both under 6', but I always try to get us as far forward as possible in Y to avoid the engine noise. In the days before the internet, whenever I called to book flights, my standard reply when asked "where would you prefer to sit" would be "left side, as far forward as possible". Usually got good seats. Now with the advent of FF plans and the internet, unless you're elite in a FF plan, most of the better seats are gone before the 24 hour checkin, so I'll just have to grab what is left at the 23:59 point. And now that CO has joined Star with more elites going after fewer seats because of airlines pulling aircraft and flights from their schedules, the choice gets tougher for us riff-raffs (not yet Kettles!!).

bj-21.

Just keep in mind that the front of the economy section is laughably labelled as the "premium" section. It's the same 31" seat pitch as the rest of the back of the bus (except for the exit rows, which are further restricted), so unless you are a Continental elite, you will not have access to any seats in front of the wing on any 738 or 739 up until 24 hours to go.

Are the mid-lav -800s considered a sub-fleet ?? As in being assigned to specific flights (but swappable w/other -800s for operational needs).

I've always assumed this was a mod that was to become the standard on all -800s. That these aircraft were just mixed in and any -800 flight could be on a mid-lav or not.

The answer might lead to a 2nd question:
If a sub-fleet, what about a flight makes it "mid-lav" qualified (trans-con, Intl ??) ?
If a fleetwide mod, has it been canceled ?

I'm surprised to hear it's only 12 aircraft. I thot that when the mid-lav config came out a few years back, all new -800s would have it, but CO was also converting existing aircraft :confused:

Steve

It's not a sub-fleet for operational purposes. You will rarely see this ship on transcons and often on short flights, for whatever reason, although perhaps because there are so many fewer seats on the mid-lav configured ships.

Yes, the mod was cancelled, because the braintrust at HQ deemed it was to expen$ive...