Exit row or E+?
 

Do you prefer exit row or E+? I can't make up my mind, and here's why:

When the load is light, the seat next to me is empty, and I can raise the armrest to increase seat width. Many (are all?) exit row armrests are immobile.

Exit row does seem a bit colder.

When I sleep, I lean against the window, and if the middle seat is empty, my legs stretch toward that way. There's more than enough leg room in standard E+.

Exit row is prone to poaching, as well as deadhead crew assignment by GA, even though it's virtually immune from 2P/3, buy-ups, children/family, and POS.

E+ is prone to pax assignment by GA and buy-ups.

It seems a no-brainer to stick with E+ if light is very light, but moderate to moderate-heavy load it's difficult, since often I see blocked seat up until check-in, and when I board, someone gets placed in that middle seat. I've always had an empty middle seat while in exit row.

That said, I'm not so wide that I really need arm rest up. At least in exit row I have a higher chance of securing the middle seat armrest.

Exit row is closer to E-, and often that means closer to crying babies. I also feel bad reclining fully in an exit row, whereas in E+ there's no guilt. This also meant that in exit row I get my seat kicked and grabbed more often, as the poor folks behind me try to stand up or stay comfortable.

Lastly, exit row pax seems to be less friendly for me. In fact, E- ones tend to be most friendly and chatty, followed by E+, then exit row/first. That's both good and bad.

What do you think? I really ought to draw up two columns, Pro and Con of each, and line them up.

I generally prefer E+ to the exit rows, primarily because the armrests don't come up. When I am very tired, I like having an exit row seat (second row), for the same reason. Since the armrests are fixed, I don't have to worry as much about someone "spilling" over into my seat. Also, having the extra leg room to stretch out a little more is nice. I'm 6'2", so the extra couple inches is nice.

Of course, the biggest thing that I hate about exit rows is when the plane changes you are more susceptible to being stuck in E-. Since I am 6'2", going from what should be a really comfortable exit row seat to an E- seat really sucks. You'd think that UA would have a way of making sure that 1Ks in that situation get moved forward into the E+ cabin, but no.

For me, the decision is normally simple... if the flight is usually a full one, definitely exit row. I am 6'4" and I need the leg room. No one can recline on your knees like they do in E+.

However, if the flight looks light then E+ is the way to go... on a light flight poachers will move big time into an exit row. Further, as was previously mentioned, in E+ you can take advantage of no seat-mate by lifting the armrest and stretching out.

Nearly all the flights I have been on are pretty full, and even if there's someone next to me, I prefer the certainty of the exit row, over the possibility I will be in a non-exit row AND having someone next to me.

It also depends on the plane. I'll take 17A on a 777 before I take 30A as an example.

Lets see:
777: 17A (or the first row behind the crew rest on the XI) over 30A
747: Exit Row over anything. Of course it's quite a long wait for food if your at the second exit row
Ted: Exit Row over anything
A320(or A312): 6A is good as long as the cutout exists
etc

Another factor for me is the length of the trip and size of the plane. For me anything that qualifies for the 500 minimum and is on a 737 I will go with E+ over an exit. I have found I would rather be off the plane quicker and it is amazing what 2-4 rows will do to delaying my deplaning. But that is just me.

Hehe, this is probably my most complicated position on anything related to United.

In general, if it's an empty flight I'll take an Economy Plus seat since the middle may be open, which I prefer if that's the case. If it's full I'll usually take the exit row. On redeyes, though, I prefer a non-exit row, but only if it's something like row six on the A320 because I like to lean against a window and don't want to be "locked in." On shorter flights I just want to be last on first off, so I would take an Economy Plus seat close to the front.

Of course the real solution to this is easy. Don't fly coach.;)

I tend to go for the E+ but avoid the bulkhead since I have extremely poor luck catching the A320 that has the cutout. If I can catch a low load 319/320 I'll take an exit row window or aisle.

E+ all the way. So far, every time I'm sitting in an exit row, my window seat doesn't recline. Is this standard, btw? I'll only sit exit if all that's left available in E+ are middles or aisles.

or TED! ;)

The exit rows don't recline if there's another exit row behind it, so it doesn't intrude on that space. Otherwise they should.

Any row in front of an exit row won't recline.

When I'm in coach, I'm a 100% exit row person (except for 777 XC/XI).

Shouldn't that be "won't recline as much"? Some seats in front of an exit row (like row 15 in a 757, IIRC) do recline a bit, just not as much as a regular seat. It probably has something to do with the seat pitch of the row behind, too, as row 16 has lots of room. The limited recline must not get in the way of the emergency exit path.

Here's an interesting situation that happened to me a couple of months ago:

3, 200 lb+ guys in an exit row (me at window) SFO-IAD. FA comes by and says there are empty aisle seats in E (next to empty middle seats). Guy in middle of exit row says "no thanks".

After about 15 minutes of that I moved.

I prefer E+ over Emergency Exit row, because the tray table that comes down from the seatback is easier to use with my laptop than the one coming out of the armrest.