American-Airlines’-New-A321-Planes-009-610x343Best Seats on American’s New A321
I just flew L.A. to Miami on one of AA’s brand-spanking-new A321 planes, which are so new that SeatGuru.com and SeatExpert.com don’t even have them listed yet. As I wrote in this post, it’s a beautiful plane but American put one (or three) too many rows in it, so even Main Cabin Extra feels really tight—especially when the passenger in front of you reclines (see above). If you plan on getting some work done, and so need the space, my tip is to either not fly on the A321 or, if you do, choose seats in row 8, 11 or 24. Or seats 12F, 25A or 25F, since none of these have a seat in front of them. Unfortunately, if you don’t have elite status (Platinum or higher) they’ll cost you an extra $78 to $90.

 

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4 Comments On "Travel Tip of the Day: Best Seats on American's New A321"
  1. Penelope|

    That’s the kind of information I need! Thanks.

  2. Dennis Dauben|

    A few years ago I flew Delta, ATL to SAN. I am a very active 6’2″, 206 lbs., and found myself seated in their new economy section in the rear of the aircraft. The last seat in the row did not recline, positioned flat against the rear wall. I was 62 years old, and never had experienced claustrophobia, before or since. The distance between my forehead and reclined seat measured precisely the distance between the tips of my outstretched thumb and small finger!

    That was my last Delta flight.

    It is unclear how a passenger in an emergency could quickly evacuate the aircraft under these conditions.

    Why would the FAA ignore compressed passenger seating and flight safety?

  3. Iver|

    Johnny’s advice is sound – just check the AA’s (or other airline’s) seat map for whether you can expect more space due to a bulkhead or nonseat space in front of you or being in an exit row; SeatGuru is fairly (but not completely) accurate on whether the seat you’re in reclines. Not all AA 321s are configured like the one Johnny took. I frequently take Flight 16 SFO-JFK which has only 22 rows. Bulkhead Economy row is 13 and I don’t believe there IS an exit row in Economy because it’s a three-class plane. So 321s are probably differently-configured.

    1. Iver|

      Slight correction in the interest of accuracy! AA Flight 16’s bulkhead economy row is 11.

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