Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com
30/05/2008-Weekly Roundup: 100th Post For 2008; Baggage Security; Visa?; Southwest's Humour; Legroom; Airport Etiquette
This is it, the 100th post on Flying With Fish for 2008. I'm not sure if this is just another post, a milestone, or anything else, but a few readers have been asking what I had planned for the 100th post. Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't know I needed to do something. I didn't plan anything. Do I need to give a speech?
I guess this being the 100th post for 2008 is a semi-milestone for Flying With Fish. Last year, 2007, the first 'real year' Flying With Fish existed I only made 53 entries. This year I am trying to keep Flying With Fish going, not really sure where it's going, but like most US based travel, I'm sure Flying With Fish will make connections in Atlanta (ATL) and Chicago (ORD)......no wait, it's already made connection flights in ATL and ORD :0)
Prior to Flying With Fish hitting 100 posts for 2008 the message of the site has been spreading more than I had ever imagined. From being written up on sites such as David Hobby's "Strobist" (www.strobist.com), Scott Kelby's Blog (www.scottkelby.com), being written up on Popular Photography Online (www.popphoto.com) and being asked to answer reader mail for Pop Photo. Flying With Fish has also had the good fortune to have been written up in News Photographer Magazine and Popular Photography and allowed me to be a guest on two well respected photo radio shows, Photo Talk Radio and Inside Digital Photo and had me appear as an 'expert' on Good Morning America.
Where do I take all this from here? Who knows? I was however interviewed yesterday by The New York Times (www.nyt.com) for an upcoming story on the TSA's new "Self Select" Security Lanes.
When it comes to the new Self Select Security Lane I have a mixed opinion. I think it is a great idea, I think it can speed up security lines significantly, however I think flyers need more education before they get to the TSA checkpoint to determine which lane they are going to get in........but I've discussed this at the start of this month here: 8/05/2008 - New TSA "Self Select" Security Lanes - The Good & The Bad
..........I've rambled enough, so onto The Weekly Round Up
My first post of the week was written early Saturday morning, while sitting at a client's kitchen table in Hong Kong, as I pondered the idea of how checked baggage can be made more secure. You can read my jet lagged ideas here: 24/05/2008 - Security Of Checked Baggage: Is There A Better Way?
It is not often I get humour from passing an immigrations checkpoint. On Sunday I faced a very frustrating situation that in hindsight is really quite funny. What was this situation? I was asked for my "work visa" upon entering the country of my birth, country of residence and country that issued my passport. Interesting in scratching your head, while also laughing, then you should certainly read this entry: 26/05/2008 - Do You Have A Visa To Work Here? Ummm....I Live Here (Humour From Real Life)
Adding to my humour of the week, if you feel like laughing at mockery of the airline industry, you should watch Southwest Airline's ad mocking the 'nickel-and-dime' airlines. I'm not sure if the ad is as funny for people who don't follow the airline industry, but it had me laughing for quite a while. Click here to view the Southwest Airlines' commercial: 27/05/2008 - Southwest Airlines Addresses The Airline "Nickel & Dime" Game
Raise your hand if you want more legroom? OK, put your hands down, no one can see you raising your hand via my blog and if you're at work your co-workers might wonder why your hand is extended into the air over the cubicle wall. Finding legroom on flights can be challenging. While I don't have the definitive answer to this question, I have some basic tips that might help you stretch out and extend your personal space. Click think entry for legroom tips: 28/05/2008 - Airline Passenger Legroom: We All Want It...Is There A Way To Get It?
I ended Flying With Fish's week visiting an old topic.....etiquette. This entry on etiquette deals with wandering 'LPTs" (loud phone talkers). If these people bother you.......or if you are one of these people, you should read: 29/05/2008 - Airport Etiquette : Doing Laps With Your Mobile Phone
That's it for this week.
Happy Flying!
Showing posts with label airplane legroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airplane legroom. Show all posts
30 May 2008
28 May 2008
Airline Passenger Legroom : We All Want It...Is There A Way To Get It?
Web: www.fishfotoworldwide.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com
28/05/2008 - Airline Passenger Legroom : We All Want It...Is There A Way To Get It?
One of the top five complaints I hear from flyers is legroom. Everyone wants legroom, but more legroom equals less space for rows of seats on planes; less rows of seats equals less seats to sell; less seats to sell equals less revenue; less revenue....... well you get the point.
The first thing you need to know is this, not all planes are comfortable. Not all planes have any spacious seats (many regional jets have no good seats), heck there are some airlines that have first class seats I can't stand (US Airways A319 & A320 from the former America West fleet), but with some planning, some homework, some legwork, you can find yourself with a few more precious inches of legroom. Sometimes you may need to give up a movable armrest, or an armrest against the wall in a window seat, or in some cases you need to have a wall with no window, but legroom can make a long flight more tolerable.
What is the secret? Usually it is the emergency exit row. Some airlines reserve the emergency exit row for their premium passengers, ie: frequent flyers, but some don't! On Southwest Airlines (WN) if you check-in online far enough in advance (24hrs ahead of time) for an "A" boarding pass you can try and get a jockey in the line to be among the first on and snag an emergency exit row.
Some airlines won't assign the emergency exit row until the day or travel at the airport. You can call your airlines for this information. Before a recent flight, I found out that Air China (CA) does no advance seat selection, before flying 36hrs, within 70hrs, and I wanted the exit rows! Air China's 13.5 hr flight (plus 45min in the seat before the door closes, so 14hrs 15min in the seat) from JFK to PEK is a 747-400. Most 747-400 exit rows have the window seat against the bulge in the door for the emergency raft. This seat provides endless legroom, and it is a great leg rest to lean back and sleep! Since check in is "democratic" on Air China based on the order you get to the counter, I was the 2nd in line when the counter opened at JFK and the first in HKG (my connecting flight to the PEK-JFK return leg)
I cheated with Air China and checked in at the Business Class counter as a Star Alliance 'Star Gold' flyer, but the other five people I spoke to in the exit rows were all non-frequent flyers who just asked for the seats!
If you can find out your aircraft for your airline start looking up exit row seating. The second row of the exit row, on planes that have two rows next to each other, such as an Airbus A320 or A319, is almost always more comfortable (the front exit row often has no reclining seats). By asking for a specific seat row you, rather than asking for the exit row, I have at times been able to get my seats assigned by an airline when they should have technically been blocked until the day of the flight. It's not as common as I'd like, but it works.
There are some websites that detail legroom on planes, seat pitch, seat width and seat layouts, the most popular site online is SeatGuru (www.seatguru.com), although in the past year or two the information has not always been so accurate (such as SeatGuru listing in-seat power on Asiana's 747-400 fleet and I have yet to set foot on an Asiana 747-400 with any in-seat power), but it is the most detailed site out there at this time.
So, kick back, do some homework, and get ready to stretch your legs!
Below are a few photos of my recent legroom. The first photo is on a United Airline's 777-200, in International First Class, between Tokyo (NRT) and Chicago (ORD); the second photo is my endless legroom on an Air China 747-400 in economy class between New York (JFK) and Beijing (PEK); the third photo is of me stretched out in economy class on an Air China 737-800 between Hong Kong (HKG) and Beijing (PEK).
Happy Flying!
--Click Images To Enlarge Them--
28/05/2008 - Airline Passenger Legroom : We All Want It...Is There A Way To Get It?
One of the top five complaints I hear from flyers is legroom. Everyone wants legroom, but more legroom equals less space for rows of seats on planes; less rows of seats equals less seats to sell; less seats to sell equals less revenue; less revenue....... well you get the point.
The first thing you need to know is this, not all planes are comfortable. Not all planes have any spacious seats (many regional jets have no good seats), heck there are some airlines that have first class seats I can't stand (US Airways A319 & A320 from the former America West fleet), but with some planning, some homework, some legwork, you can find yourself with a few more precious inches of legroom. Sometimes you may need to give up a movable armrest, or an armrest against the wall in a window seat, or in some cases you need to have a wall with no window, but legroom can make a long flight more tolerable.
What is the secret? Usually it is the emergency exit row. Some airlines reserve the emergency exit row for their premium passengers, ie: frequent flyers, but some don't! On Southwest Airlines (WN) if you check-in online far enough in advance (24hrs ahead of time) for an "A" boarding pass you can try and get a jockey in the line to be among the first on and snag an emergency exit row.
Some airlines won't assign the emergency exit row until the day or travel at the airport. You can call your airlines for this information. Before a recent flight, I found out that Air China (CA) does no advance seat selection, before flying 36hrs, within 70hrs, and I wanted the exit rows! Air China's 13.5 hr flight (plus 45min in the seat before the door closes, so 14hrs 15min in the seat) from JFK to PEK is a 747-400. Most 747-400 exit rows have the window seat against the bulge in the door for the emergency raft. This seat provides endless legroom, and it is a great leg rest to lean back and sleep! Since check in is "democratic" on Air China based on the order you get to the counter, I was the 2nd in line when the counter opened at JFK and the first in HKG (my connecting flight to the PEK-JFK return leg)
I cheated with Air China and checked in at the Business Class counter as a Star Alliance 'Star Gold' flyer, but the other five people I spoke to in the exit rows were all non-frequent flyers who just asked for the seats!
If you can find out your aircraft for your airline start looking up exit row seating. The second row of the exit row, on planes that have two rows next to each other, such as an Airbus A320 or A319, is almost always more comfortable (the front exit row often has no reclining seats). By asking for a specific seat row you, rather than asking for the exit row, I have at times been able to get my seats assigned by an airline when they should have technically been blocked until the day of the flight. It's not as common as I'd like, but it works.
There are some websites that detail legroom on planes, seat pitch, seat width and seat layouts, the most popular site online is SeatGuru (www.seatguru.com), although in the past year or two the information has not always been so accurate (such as SeatGuru listing in-seat power on Asiana's 747-400 fleet and I have yet to set foot on an Asiana 747-400 with any in-seat power), but it is the most detailed site out there at this time.
So, kick back, do some homework, and get ready to stretch your legs!
Below are a few photos of my recent legroom. The first photo is on a United Airline's 777-200, in International First Class, between Tokyo (NRT) and Chicago (ORD); the second photo is my endless legroom on an Air China 747-400 in economy class between New York (JFK) and Beijing (PEK); the third photo is of me stretched out in economy class on an Air China 737-800 between Hong Kong (HKG) and Beijing (PEK).
Happy Flying!
--Click Images To Enlarge Them--
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