paradox

I'm getting ready to book my first flight on VY and have been reading comments about the tight seating. SeatGuru has the pitch listed at 29 inches for the A320. Are there any estimates for the seat pitch on XL seating? I've never paid for extra legroom, but in this case the extra 15 euros for a three hour flight might be worth it, depending on how much more legroom there is.

Alternatively, I'm looking at the Excellence seats, which also promise more (but how much more?) legroom. Two Excellence seats would be 52 euros more than two Optima fares + XL seating, or 94 euros more than two Basic fares + XL seating, and would have the benefit of an empty middle seat.

craigthemif

XL seats are the emergency exit rows. I don't know whether there is a European minimum standard, but you will get a few extra inches. Not a lot, but enough to avoid kneeing the seat in front (unless you are 7-feet tall) You also will not be allowed to put any carry-ons underneath the seat in front. (so be prepared to fight for that overhead bin space) Flight attendants are also pretty strict about not letting anybody move into those seats without paying.

Excellence seats on the left hand side of the place should have nothing in front of them. I can't recall the right hand side exactly - you might have a bulkhead or the galley.

For three hours, I would probably pay for XL, especially if you are taller than 6 foot or so.

Koby

Instead of an XL seat, I always book a priority seat on Vueling (rows 2, 3 or 4). On almost all their planes these rows have some extra leg room (which in Vueling-country means that you get what is standard on most airlines instead of their super-tight normal legroom). But occasionally even those are unbearable, if destiny assigns you one of their ex-Clickair planes...

Great_circle

The Mrs. booked us two on Vueling AMS-LIS. Reading all the horror stories about seat pitch I'm glad that I managed to grab 2 XL seats last night. Boarding passes have already been printed and as an extra the XL-seats come with priority boarding, which I didn't know.
This will be my first VY-experience, If there's anything worth mentioning I will share this later.

luftaom

Somewhat OT:

My experience (from >100 2000mi flights on Jetstar A320s (which also seat 180 people) being 6ft and >300 pounds) is that the legroom on the ABC seats is slightly better than the legroom on the DEF seats.

The reason for this is that row 1 of the ABC seats is basically flush up against the forward left hand door but there is a bulkhead on the right hand side (because there is a small galley there and they want a workspace free of feet) and accordingly the DEF seats are set back quite a bit from the corresponding ABC seats of the same row.

As there are the same number of rows on each side of the aisle, this setting back translates to a tighter legroom all the way through the cabin. Even the row 12/13 exit row seats aren't quite in the same place as the corresponding ABC seats.

Chorbs

I seem to remember that row 1 DEF does not exist and it skips straight to row 2 on that side...

Great_circle

We had 14E and 14F and there was ample legroom, enough to read a newspaper in a decent way and I could actually stand up and go to the bathroom while the person in 14D remained seated.
All the other seats: not so much I believe (overheard some loud complaints)

Koby

You are talking about Jetstar (previous post)? Because on Vueling row 1 exists on both sides.

more4less

+1

I try to avoid Vueling as much as possible but still I am using them 10/12 times per year and I have never seen those planes

luftaom

I was talking about Jetstar. The seatmaps on seatguru look exceptionally similar for the Vueling A320s (which was the reason for my post). If you are going to cram 180 seats into an A320 there aren't too many different ways to do that.

WheelsFirst

Looking forward to your feedback!

Great_circle

See post nr 7

Great_circle

I could easily sit in emergency row 14 with my legs/knees crossed (being a little under 6 feet). It was without a doubt well worth the extra 16 euros each way for a three hour flight.

As in any airline. Luckily stuff small enough for underneath a seat will almost always fit in the small portion of overhead space that is left. Too bad that there are no seat pockets in those Recaro seats so a thick book or camera or even bottle of water will be confiscated during take off and will be put in the overhead.

In our A320 The ABC and DEF seats in emergency rows 12 and 14 were identical.

paradox

Thanks to all for your insights. The more I research, the more questions I have.

I will be traveling with two bags, and I'm concerned whether they'll qualify as carry-on luggage. The first is a Timbuk2 20 inch roller bag (size small), which is going to be very close to the 55 x 40 x 22 cm allowance for hand baggage, after accounting for wheels and handles. The second bag is a backpack whose measurements are 20 x 13.5 x 9 inches (51 x 35 x 23cm). Vueling's guidelines for the personal item aren't specific. The backpack fits under the seat, if I don't stuff it full. I usually don't check bags, but will my two bags exceed what Vueling will allow as hand luggage? My choice of seating will depend on whether I can carry everything onboard or not.

craigthemif

Actually, I've been doing a lot of mileage runs in the U.S. and American airlines are not strict at all/have different rules. Only bulkhead seats (i.e. with no seat in front) are required to put everything overhead. This is different from European regulations, where any row that is an emergency row must be completely clear for takeoff and landing.

Since the OP might be American, I wanted to make that clear.

It's also worth pointing out that most European low cost carriers incentivise / train their staff to find ways to charge people for excess baggage. Very rarely do you get the friendly "we're happy to check your luggage at the gate for free"