- The back row of an airplane has a bad reputation, but I actually prefer it on long-haul flights.
- Some long-haul planes don’t have bathrooms in the back, so it’s the quietest spot.
- Plus, it’s close to the galley for stretching, and it’s my best chance at sitting by an empty seat.
Picking a seat for a long-haul flight is daunting.
It’s a tiny space I’ll call home for eight-plus hours, and every seat has its pros and cons.
Do I want a window seat where I can rest my head against the plane’s wall? Maybe, but then I’ll have to bother strangers when I need to use the restroom.
Do I splurge for a higher cabin class? Probably not. While business class is a luxury, I’d rather spend money on the trip — not on the flight.
The one decision I don’t struggle with is picking the row I want to be in. For that, I head all the way to the back of the plane.
I’ve discovered the last rows are the quietest spots
On shorter flights, the bathroom is one of the biggest gripes about the back row of a plane. Constant flushing, concerning noises, and unwelcome smells often accompany the last row of a domestic flight.
For flights with a bathroom in the back, that’s the last place I want to be. But on recent long-haul carriers, the bathrooms haven’t been in the back of the plane.
For example, on a flight from Denver to Tokyo, I boarded a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with three bathrooms for economy-class passengers, all located at the front of economy.
This means every passenger walks to the front of the cabin instead of the back to use the bathroom.
Since I was sitting toward the back half of the cabin, only a few passengers disrupted me by walking through the aisle for the 12-hour flight.
I realized it would’ve been even quieter if I had been farther back since the only people heading to the back of the aircraft were flight attendants and passengers stretching their legs.
There are other perks of the back row, including more storage
Through experience, I’ve learned that my best chance of getting accessible overhead storage is if I’m in the back of a plane because I get to pass every potential opening for my carry-on bag.
On the flip side, I’ve been on a few flights where all the overhead storage was filled near my seat. This meant my bag had to go behind me, and when the plane landed, I had to wait for other passengers to disembark before grabbing my bag.
I didn’t even experience the major perk of sitting in the front — quick disembarkation.
It’s a minor inconvenience, but I’d rather chill in the back of the plane and wait for everyone to deplane without getting frustrated about when I can access my bag.
Empty middle seats in the back are a win in my mind
Another perk of the back of the plane is galley access. For long-haul flights, I stretch my legs every few hours. It helps my body adjust to cramped quarters and keeps me from feeling claustrophobic.
Typically, I do light stretches in the plane’s galley (as long as the flight attendants don’t mind). Sitting in the back lets me know when the galley is packed and empty, and I can assess the best time to stretch.
If I’m in the front, I might not realize the galley is crowded and head back there anyway.
Finally, the back of the plane is my best chance of sitting next to empty seats.
From experience, it seems like airlines typically fill seats from front to back. If there are any open seats, they’re usually in the last rows of the plane.
This was the case on my latest flight from Denver to Germany. The front half of the plane was much more crowded than the back half. Luckily, I snagged a row with an empty middle seat and enjoyed a bit of extra legroom for the 10-hour flight.
The same thing happened on both long-haul flights to and from Tanzania. I was one of the lucky passengers to have empty middle seats, and I attribute that to being in the back of both aircraft. That extra space was a major luxury during the longest journeys of my life.
That potential alone is worth sitting in the back for every long-haul flight.
So, while plenty of people are eager to be at the front, you’ll almost always find me in the back of a plane.
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