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What's it like sitting in the front row bulkhead seats?

byrdbrain591
Adventurer C

What's it like sitting in the front row bulkhead seats? I have never gotten lucky enough to get an early enough number to sit there? Is it a smoother take off in the front of the plane? Better seats?

3 REPLIES 3

Re: What's it like sitting in the front row bulkhead seats?

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A
Solution

Without a seat directly in front of you there's more room for your knees. To me that's the only positive difference between the bulkhead seats and every other seat.

 

Personally, I really dislike sitting in the first row for a few reasons:

-There's no tray table in front of you, it comes out of the arm rest which I find gets in the way. 

-No space to store a bag under the seat in front of you. Everything must go in the overheard bin which may not be accessible during the flight. 

-Less legroom. Sounds odd, but I prefer to stretch my legs straight out under the seat in front of me. If I try to stretch out in the first row I hit the wall and can't fully extend. 

-Highly unlikely you'll have an empty middle seat (unless you love the middle seat as I do). You're almost guaranteed to have a full row as people seem to sacrifice personal space to get a spot in the first row. Go back a few rows and you may have a whole row to yourself, or at least an empty middle seat. 

-Less shoulder space. Many people don't realize the cabin actually narrows inward in the first few rows of the plane. Since the aisle width remains constant throughout the plane that means the shoulder space on the window seats in those front rows is actually less than seats further back. You can see this curve of the plane if you are further back. 

-More traffic. While there's no forming a line for the bathroom in the front, there's still lots of people walking by and lots of noise in the galley. If you're trying to sleep it's more difficult up front. 

 

So, in my opinion you're not missing anything.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: What's it like sitting in the front row bulkhead seats?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@TheMiddleSeat wrote:

Without a seat directly in front of you there's more room for your knees. To me that's the only positive difference between the bulkhead seats and every other seat.

 

Personally, I really dislike sitting in the first row for a few reasons:

-There's no tray table in front of you, it comes out of the arm rest which I find gets in the way. 

-No space to store a bag under the seat in front of you. Everything must go in the overheard bin which may not be accessible during the flight. 

-Less legroom. Sounds odd, but I prefer to stretch my legs straight out under the seat in front of me. If I try to stretch out in the first row I hit the wall and can't fully extend. 

-Highly unlikely you'll have an empty middle seat (unless you love the middle seat as I do). You're almost guaranteed to have a full row as people seem to sacrifice personal space to get a spot in the first row. Go back a few rows and you may have a whole row to yourself, or at least an empty middle seat. 

-Less shoulder space. Many people don't realize the cabin actually narrows inward in the first few rows of the plane. Since the aisle width remains constant throughout the plane that means the shoulder space on the window seats in those front rows is actually less than seats further back. You can see this curve of the plane if you are further back. 

-More traffic. While there's no forming a line for the bathroom in the front, there's still lots of people walking by and lots of noise in the galley. If you're trying to sleep it's more difficult up front. 

 

So, in my opinion you're not missing anything.

 

--TheMiddleSeat


ditto

 

Plus the overhead bins at rows 1 and 2 are a tad smaller than those further back in the plane. Also they hold some emergency equipment, so in general there is less overhead bin space above rows 1 and 2.. 

Thus, bags that fit in most overhead compartments might not fit in the overhead bins up front.

 

I never try for a seat in row 1.

 

The smoothest ride is found in the middle of the plane. The plane's center of gravity is the middle of the plane -- basically above the landing gear.. Way up front and way in back get more motion than the center. Personally, I've never noticed that much of a difference.

Re: What's it like sitting in the front row bulkhead seats?

jksobonya
Aviator A

I had to search through my tweets, as I normally tweet something when I get an especially good seat on a flight .... and I've had front row twice. While it's nice to be at the VERY front of the plane, I do find the lack of overhead bin space and the inability to have anything in front of your seat (because there are no seats in front of you lol) a drawback. It's still great to say you had "front row" on a Southwest flight ... as close to first class as you're going to get, lol. 

 

--Jessica