Why bulkhead seats are the WORST on the plane...
 

I could never understand the believe that "bulkhead" seats are so coveted and supposedly diserable... I think they are the WORST seats on the entire plane because:

1. in the middle section, you're likely to be seated around MULTIPLE babies hanging on the bulkhead wall, which is noisy, smelly, crowded, etc.

2. the armrests are usually used for the meal trays, so you can't lift them up.

3. the seat cushions are always a thinner different type, and sometimes they are as hard as a rock.

4. you are almost always right next to a busy toilet with people lining up.

5. You are almost always next to a busy galley where there is constant activity and talking.

6. Sometimes other passengers use the bulkhead row as an aisle to walk across, which is disturbing.

7. If you're on the side bulkhead seats, next to a door, people tend to congregate, stretch, talk there.

8. If you're on a side window bulkhead seat on some aircraft, like a 747, there is a big raft in the door, giving you very little room for your legs/feet.

9. If you're in the middle section, right behind a wall, sometimes that wall goes all the way down to the floor, which means you actually have LESS foot/leg space than a regular seat.

10. there is never any storage under a seat in front of you... I like to have my backpack handy and accessible.

11. you probably can't see the movie screen, or you have to look straight up in the air to see it.

12. Since the armrests won't go up, there is never any possibility of being able to lie down.

and lastly and most importantly:

13. Because these seats are so coveted, you can be SURE you will always have people sitting all around you.

I generally prefer bulkheads that offer extra legroom for just the reason, even if I have to live with all the things you posted above. Note that a lot of what you have typed includes "sometimes" "mostly" or "probably" and I usually don't have a problem with the movie screen, people walking in front of you (unless seated in J class) etc and I can usually get a bulkhead seat away from toilets / galleys.

If the plane is so empty that others can lie down, I think that you would be able to move somewhere else in order to be more comfortable. I have also flown when the bulkhead row has been full, but after takeoff many people move to emptier parts of the plane, leaving the bulkhead row almost empty :)

Cheers

It depends on the plane, of course. On the AA MD80's I usually find myself on, there's no movie screen anywhere to miss, and no bathroom or galley in front of the coach blukhead. If I'm travelling solo, I don't want to raise the armrest. And they've been filling the planes lately, so there are few empty seats next to anywhere.

I deliberately chose bulkheads seats in Business Elite on Delta on my recent trip to Japan. A bulkhead window in this class seat easily allows me to get out into the aisle, even if the person with the aisle seat is fully reclined and asleep. Tougher to do that in the non-bulkhead rows because the seat in the row in front of you can be in the way if reclined.

In coach it's a matter of having extra legroom and no one in front of you versus some of the downsides you mentioned. On a full flight, it would be a toss-up for me between an aisle seat in any row, or any seat in a bulkhead row. Legroom means a lot to me.

I could have been more clear in the original post... naturally, i was referring to coach bulkhead seats. it may be a completely different story in business or first... but in economy, taking a bulkhead seat is gambling, and I think the odds are against the gambler... in a big way.

if i was over 6'2", i probably would want, on a widebody, the aisle seat on either outside section... but i wouldn't take a chance on any other bulkhead seat.

i read, i think it was Northwest, is going to charge like $15 for exit row seats which are more spacious... now that might really be worth it... i'll bet some of you would pay up to $100 for those on a long flight.

I like bulkhead aisle seats because I prefer having the table in the seat as opposed to in front of me, enjoy the extra legroom and on SQ have the AVOD screen popping up just like in old-style C. It's also handy to be next to the bathroom so that I can go when there's no queue and I can usually stow stuff under my own seat.

Yes, you'd want anything that offers a bit more legroom.

Some exit seats are worth a lot. I'm 6'5", and I'd happily pay for, e.g., seats 10A/J on the 333 or 29A/J on the 332 on long international routes. My willingness to pay for an exit on domestic 757 or 737 flights is not very high, though.

not to mention: no-one reclining into you ^

Possibly, but not on some narrow-body domestic flights within the U.S. For example, row 1 (first class) on UA's 737s and 757s actually has less leg room than an economy seat. It defies credibility that they could have built such a paradox into their design. Even on some international flights, you have to be wary of bulkhead seats in business class, though this is less a problem now as airlines fit their aircraft with the latest generation of business-class seats.

In fact, for a reason that you haven't cited, I always ask explicitly not to have a bulkhead seat. Call it an idiosyncrasy, but I just prefer to have a seat in front of me rather than a wall. My favorite section is actually the last row within a business-class section.

I like the bulkhead window, because they usually keep the middle seat open on a UA flight and I don't like to have someone in front of me reclined. I'm 6'3" and feel it's often a bit of privacy on the flight.

Even though I can choose bulkhead seats on UA flights, I choose not to on long-haul 747s because of its proximity to the toilet/gallery.

The economy configuration that UA traditionally used on the US-AU route had two bulkhead/exit rows, 35 and 46, adjacent to the front toilets and to the galley respectively. I found that the leg room iin those rows (at least in the B/C/H/J seats) more than compensated for any inconvenience of location, but I also actually liked to be close to the bathroom for the quick preemptive assault when it was needed.

I guess it really depends on the height of the passenger. I recently did a US-AU trip on UA and chose E+ seats rather than a bulkhead.

Is Row 46 still restricted to 1P or above? I think on the map it is part of the non-E+ section.

The last time I flew economy on that route I don't think they had an E+ section, which I presume is forward of row 35. Anyone could request 35/46 A/B/C/H/J/K at check-in, but only Premier Exec and above could actually reserve it in advance.

Doesnt the space under your own seat "belong" to the passenger behind you :)