Want to know a little secret air travel hack?
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With just a few clicks, you can get a glimpse of the exact seat map of your next flight. All you need to know is the airline, date of the flight, and flight number to get an accurate map of the plane.
Why would anyone bother, you might ask?
First, having a solid overview of a plane’s seating arrangement empowers you to find a great seat—and possibly even land a whole row to yourself. Second, it lets you target the right seats for your needs—like catching some Zs on a red-eye.
If you’re a nervous flyer, it might simply give you a little psychological boost before the flight. The more you know, after all.
Regardless of why you want an accurate overview of a plane’s seat map, I’m happy to announce that TripAdvisor’s SeatGuru has a winning formula. Here’s what you need to know about the platform, including how to explore its seat maps and how to leverage the site’s data to the fullest.
Accurate seat maps
As discussed above, SeatGuru has become a prime resource for travelers who want an accurate seat map of their upcoming flight.
SeatGuru offers coverage of 175 airlines and over 1,200 aircraft. Just fill out the short form about the date, airline, and flight number, then get a map of the airplane’s layout.
One feature I like is that flyers can comment on the maps, which makes them highly reliable. Crowdsourced travel information is usually the most impactful for users.
In the case of SeatGuru, those comments can help you identify precise features like where every window is placed and which rows have more legroom. This can directly inform how you strategize to get some extra space or even a whole row.
After all, one of the best ways to become a savvy flyer is simply to start digging into the details, from knowing which rows you find most comfortable to knowing what sorts of seats you want to avoid at all costs.
Comparison charts
Another unique feature of SeatGuru is its comparison charts. These let you comb through the world’s biggest airlines to figure out who has the largest seats, along with what types of features they come with—like video entertainment or laptop chargers.
Once again, this type of information is invaluable for those who want to strategize how to make their flight more comfortable. It gives you a leg up, in other words. And all for free, too.
SeatGuru covers these features on its comparison charts page:
- Seat pitch
- Seat width
- Video entertainment
- Laptop power
- Type of power
- Wi-Fi
- Seat type
Best of all, SeatGuru segments these comparison charts based on the type of flight. You can explore comparison charts for these types of flights:
- Short-haul economy
- Short-haul first/business class
- Long-haul economy
- Long-haul premium economy
- Long-haul business class
- Long-haul first class
