Whenever we travel by plane, we try to get seats in the first row because it has a lot of legroom. Particularly in our favorite airline - Cebu Pacific Air - the legroom is so cramped that sometimes we develop cramps in our legs. Although there is a minimal charge for that front row seat, it is okay to pay for it. At least we get to sit right in front of the flight attendants. Hahahaaa.
I used to work as a travel agent and the front row (called the bulkhead) was always a very popular choice and often hard to get! A lot of the airlines used to reserve the first several rows of seats for frequent fliers with a certain amount of miles. Exit rows are another option, they tend to have a bit more leg room than the rest of the rows, but you have to be willing (and able) to help out with evacuations in the event of an emergency.
Just last night, we had booked a trip to Vietnam in September via the online promo of Cebu Pacific Airline. We bought 2 round trip tickets (me and my husband) for the price of 1. Not bad eh? And since we wanted the bulkhead seats, i.e. the first row, we paid an additional $40 to reserve 2 seats for us - round trip.
Wow! That's great! $40 isn't bad for the extra leg room, especially considering you got two for the price of one! Last year my husband and I were lucky enough to upgrade to first class on an Air Mexico flight to Cancun for just $50 when we got to the airport to check in. We couldn't pass that deal up!
I don't usually care where I sit because even if you sit in the front, you may have to deal with knowing how to work the door in case of an emergency. If you sit in the back, you're super cramped. I do prefer the aisle seat though because of the room for my legs, and because I use the bathroom a lot when I fly so it's just less awkward to ask people to move every time I need to go use the bathroom
On our first shot at the bulkhead, we got the seat near the emergency door. So we were given some briefing by the flight attendant so we would know what to do in case of emergency. On our next flight, we chose the other side of the bulkhead, the seats that are far from the emergency door, hahahaaa. At least we were comfortable although what's in front of us is the divider wall that covers the pantry of the plane. Nevertheless, the leg room is very spacious.
Haha, consider yourself lucky there, because I saw a report that airlines want to lower the place you have in a plane, by inserting 7 chairs in a line. Applicable to the extra economy class if I'm right. So that minuscule fee will be practically void, haha. But, again... $40?
