Thursday, May 15, 2008

More Leg Room?

On a recent Jet Blue flight, I elected for their "More Leg Room" option, which the airline details here:
We all need Lots of Legroom™. And sometimes, we need Even More. If it's extra space you seek, you've come to the right place! We've made another slight reconfiguration to our Airbus A320 fleet to create Even More Legroom–super-spacious seats at the front of the aircraft* and at the emergency exit rows that provide even more of that much-lusted-after in-flight space. Treat yourself to an Even More Legroom seat and get 38" of comfortable seat pitch in which to stretch out, relax, watch TV, sample our complimentary snacks and enjoy the award-winning Jet Blue experience!
Jet Blue advertises the upgrade for as little as $10, though I believe I paid a bit more.

The extra leg room was enjoyable, akin to (leg-centric) first-class flying. But, the the seat width is exactly the same. It made me hungry for more butt room, more shoulder room, more room on the arm divider so that my neighbor and I wouldn't be forced into a game of passive-aggressive elbow war the entire flight. Oh, and I should note, that I had the window seat, he the middle, and about 30 minutes into the flight, he reached over me, closed the window shade, and returned to his business, without so much as a glance in my direction. Sorry, just had to air that one.

Have you tried the extra leg room option? Would you prefer extra seat width instead? How would you like your space?

13 comments:

PTC said...

Um, he reached over and closed the shade?! I would have decked him! Hello, that's YOUR space.

I just had to throw this in there, I'm watching Regis and the "PLUS SIZED" girl who won Top Model is on. I did a double take because there's nothing "plus sized" about her. She just said she's between an 8-10. How the hell is that PLUS sized????? This world is messed up.

Sorry for my rant, just seemed appropriate that I throw that in there since it came on while I was commenting here.

Anonymous said...

I hope you gave him a dirty look and re-opened the damn shade! What the hell is that about!?! Don't ever let anyone pretend that you're not there!

Nan said...

I'm only 5'3" so leg room has never been a big issue for me. What I'd love to see are wider seats. Not going to happen, though, when airlines are intent on packing more and more bodies into their flying cattle cars.

Anonymous said...

First off, ditto what palmtreechick said! Sorry to hear that you were subjected to someone so rude. Hell, when I'm in the WINDOW seat, I'll usually ask the person next to me if it's okay if I open or close the window. If he wanted to close it, he should have ASKED you. It's freaking common courtesy.

I've never had a problem with seat width on airplanes -- there's always plenty of room for my butt. However, what I'd really like is more ARM room. I have been in MANY a situation where I wanted to use the arm rest, and the men (never women, always men) around me have taken them for themselves, so I have to scrunch my shoulders to make sure my arms don't dare wander out of the confined space of the seat. It would be nice to have two full arm rests for each seat.

Unknown said...

If I could, I would choose both! But I'm 5'11'', so leg room is way more important for me than butt room (although I'd need the butt room, too). But during my last flight I had an idiot in front of me who insisted on leaning his seat waaaay back, so that I had to do advanced yoga to go to the bathroom. :-( ARGH

TropicalChrome said...

I'm short so leg room isn't really a problem for me. But I'd kill for more shoulder room - I've got shoulders like a linebacker and nothing short of bone removal is going to make them any narrower.

As for the guy who had the nerve to touch YOUR shade...yes, that's a deckable offense. I like to think I would have smiled sweetly, raised the shade, and said something like "I'm using that light". (Which I often do since I read on planes and those teensy little lights are often not bright enough.)

archdiva said...

I have short legs and always sit on the aisle, so leg room isn't as much of an issue as:

1. stomach room -- I can't stand it when the person in front of me slams their seat back, forcing my tray table into my gut at full speed. A couple inches would make a huge difference here. Even if the front edge of the trays were concave, it would solve the problem.

2. shoulder/hip room -- I always end up with sore shoulders from trying to stay within "my" alloted space. It would be nice to relax a bit. Wider arm rests that TWO can use would actually address this nicely.

But if they put these niceties into the design and they get to charge us more since there will end up being one less row of seats on the plane. Gods forbid that should ever happen....

azusmom said...

I fully expect the airlines to re-design the interior of their planes to look like subway cars. Some will be lucky enough to get a seat, but the rest of us will be left standing, holding on to the straps.

I just wish they would make human adult-sized seats. I'm 5'9" and need leg room, elbow room, everything everyone has already mentioned.

Rhiannon said...

I haven't flown in years, and truthfully I'm a little nervous of getting on a plane again now, though I haven't gained any weight in years as well.

On another note, has wnyone been watching ANTM? Whitney is not plus-sized! She barely even passes as average; she apparently hovers between an 8 and a 10!!! This is ridiculous!

Kelly said...

What? I hope you opened the shade back up.

Carrie Arnold said...

Leg room. Hands (feet?) down. I'm average height, but my legs are really short, so that didn't used to be an issue. But I busted up my ankle, and swelling is a MAJOR issue with me, so leg room is a huge plus. For a long flight, the extra money you'd have to pay at Jet Blue seems fairly reasonable. I'd pay it.

That, too, would hopefully help allieviate the seat tray in your boobs issue.

Anonymous said...

Bleah, I can't believe he just closed the shade like that. I would have promptly opened it up and not permitted anything else as an option (what the hell good is getting a window seat if you can't see all the cool clouds, or just look out at whatever)?

HillaryGayle said...

Wow. What a jerk with that window shade deal. *glare* My FIL is a business traveler, and he hates that people like that give the rest of 'em a bad name.

I, too, would like wider seats. I have hips, but like another commenter, what I'd really be getting is SHOULDER ROOM. I have quite broad shoulders for a woman, and though I do so love the hourglass figure that blesses me with, people get all offended if my arm touches theirs in a public seating setting. e_e