Taking a peek at Seatguru, I’m guessing that “exit row” / “wouldn’t be able to stow a bag under the seat” means something like a 777.
Given those choices, I’d probably go for Comfort+, especially on an international flight. If you aren’t able to stow underseat, that probably means trays are built into the armrests, and armrests that can’t be raised, which will cost you some seat width (especially if you’re sitting next to someone who doesn’t mind there not being an armrest between you). Also, depending on where the exit row emergency seat is with respect to the emergency exit, you could lose some additional shoulder room.
On top of that, depending on how you’re planning to stay occupied during the flight, having easy access to your distractions is very useful. It’s easier to access your distractions if they’re under the seat than if they’re in an overhead bin, especially if you didn’t score space in the bin directly over your seat (I forget where in Delta’s boarding process emergency exit rows get called) or if you’re wanting to access your gear during turbulence.
If we were talking about a domestic flight of just a couple of hours, I’d lean towards the emergency exit, especially if the passenger in question were narrow in frame. But for a longer, international flight…pay the extra bucks.
As far as distractions, mine will mainly be electronic so accessing them won’t be much of an issue. Video screen with TV/movies will be less convenient to access than if it were in the seat in front of me, but it will occupy a good chunk of my time. Also Delta now gives free wifi to Skymiles members so lots of choices there. Always possible I’ll grab a book or two, option will be there as I’ll be getting up anyway a few times during the flight.
For short flights I’m totally fine with a regular economy seat. Wife and I aren’t tall so they are comfortable enough.
My father was a big fan of the exit row seats, but now at his age and physical condition he’d definitely be a liability.
Part of my concern is the freedom of being able to walk around without disturbing the people next to me. Even with extra legroom that’s a concern. I don’t mind getting up for other people, though several years ago there was a kid next to me who made so many trips to the bathroom that his mother asked that I take the window seat. Turned out to be ok, in fact I even enjoyed a beautiful view of the Mediterranean in the last couple hours of the flight.
On the way back was another redeye, had the aisle seat, passengers next to me pretty much slept through the night and never had to ask me to get up.
My oldest daughter flew Economy Plus (transatlantic) a month ago and she said it wasn’t much better than Economy. Exit row would be as spacious.
How much extra would Premium Economy be on your flight as that makes a huge difference from a comfort perspective? I am happy to pay $500 more for Premium Economy on a 12 hour flight (which I am doing next month on my Vancouver to Taipei flight leg).
3 inches I believe, along with being able to stow the bag underneath it’s almost worthwhile. Delta also has a “main cabin preferred,” which if it’s not an exit row it just means that you get something that’s closer to the front and therefore get to board and deplane more quickly. I can’t imagine that many people would pay for those seats.
I think it varies by carrier, but on long haul flights I thought Economy Plus often gets you 1-3" of extra width in addition to leg room. I need to figure this out, we’ve always flown Economy but I’m considering bumping it up this summer.
I am not familiar with all the US economy seat dimensions but I have started booking the exit row on Canadian airlines when I fly economy on shorter routes and quite enjoy the extra leg room. The extra width is not as much of a factor for me as I am slim. My wife and I book aisle seats across from each other on short domestic flights so that, combined with being in the exit row, is pretty comfortable. However when I hit 70 only Premium Economy would do for long haul flights.
I’ve never seen that. They’re usually the exact same seats, with the same number of seats per row, they’re just further from the seat in front of them. In order to accomplish extra width they’d have to have fewer seats in each row.
I guess it’s called premium economy instead of economy plus. I haven’t figured it out, it varies. I do see one cabin configuration where economy seating is 3/3/3 and premium economy is 2/4/2. So a couple inches more hip room, I guess.
We decided to do the exit row for now. Less money, and easier to get up and walk around which I’ll probably be doing a few times on both flights. If we change our minds we should be able to upgrade.
I have no plans to ever visit Florida but it sounds as if the five year old Brightline train system is a good alternative to car travel in southern Florida. The train sounds enjoyable and is well-used.
I guess I have to go a few more times. I have friends with a place down there, so it’s a cheap vacation in February (accomodations are free, but the tradeoff is higher alcohol costs). And, I want to visit the keys. I dunno why, but I want to visit them. Gotta make that trip sometime.
Otherwise, yeah, florida would be a no from me dawg.
Hawaii is not much further than Florida for me and has better flight options. If I want to visit a warm US spot I would prefer Kauai to Miami or Orlando. The only area in Florida I really liked was the Sanibel/Captiva Island area.
Well that was timely - will be traveling between Boca and Miami this weekend and I was looking at the train as an option for traveling between cities. I’ll be flying in/out of FLL, one of the rare times I’ll be taking Spirit since even with the $133 check bag/seat selection charge it’s the best deal of all the airlines.
I’m surprised as well, seems that the high number of European tourists created a market for it that you wouldn’t get if it were predominantly Americans.