Anybody happen to know if the exit rows in Y on the A330s NW uses ex-PDX have the fixed plastic armrest or the normal ones that can be raised if you have no seatmate?

Thanks

Exit row seats on the 330s have the tray table in the arm rests, so they can not be raised if you have no seat mate. I can't really imagine a scenario where you have no seat mate on an 330 though.

I'm on PDX-AMS thurs, and AMS-SEA on the 10th, and both are very lightly loaded so far. Some rows totally empty on AMS-SEA. Guess I'll go for legroom over sprawl room.

Even on light loads the exit rows get sucked up at check-in if not much earlier. I have never had an empty seat next to me in row 10. That said, my last trip from AMS(three weeks ago) I had a seat mate when we boarded but he saw an empty row behind us and moved after the meal service...that was sweet.

>>>>>I can't really imagine a scenario where you have no [exit row] seat mate on an 330 though...

I think I had it like once. But I actually HOPE that my seatmate in the seat next to me in the exit row is taken well in advance. That's because when it is taken well in advance, then it is taken by a well-travelled elite member, who knows all kinds of minute detail about travel etiquette, and might actually be somewhat normally-sized.

When the seat gets taken on day of departure, it is more-often-then-not taken by somebody huge. Huge LONG is one thing, and is no problem, but huge WIDE is another. On two occasions when I wound up with a seatmate who was huge WIDE, I managed to dig the elbows out of my ribs while trying to sleep, and then place the straying elbows (attached to the wide person who was snoring) back in the assigned seat, and then raise the tray table into a straight upright position, then jam some material (sometimes part of a jacket) into the armrest below the upraised tray table so that the tray table could not go back down (even by an FA who tried again and again to force the tray table down).

When the tray table is jammed into a raised position like that, it benefits both sleeping passengers, actually.

Gee Spinz...not much of a people person? (just kidding)

I don't do the tray-table thing...but I sure do like the Row 10 fixed armrests for just that reason. It's kind of like that imaginary line we drew in the back seat of the station wagon to prevent fighting amongst us kids...except this is a nice, hard, fixed line.

I dread the day when a widebody in 14F asks me to raise the armrest...or perhaps he should dread sitting next to me because I will tell him 'no'.

That's a novel idea. Kinda like a homespun canopy seat.