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This Is the Most Coveted Seat on a Flight, According to a New Survey

Apparently, travelers prefer the aerial views and lower chance of being disturbed in the window seat over the aisle seat’s slightly increased legroom.

Most travelers prefer the window seat.
Most travelers prefer the window seat. | Alexander Spatari/Moment/Getty Images

Window versus aisle is the perpetual debate in airplane seat selection, pitting aerial views and a low chance of being woken up from a nap against slightly more legroom and easy(ish) bathroom access. Upgraded Points, a consumer news website for credit card perks, has delved further into the issues of seat preference and attitudes about passenger etiquette. The site surveyed 3142 people to gauge attitudes about airplane real estate and other aspects of air travel. One result was a ranking of the most desirable seats.

The surveyors showed respondents a Boeing 737-800 seat map and asked them to pick their ideal seat. The top vote getter was 1A, a front window seat in business class. It is one of the first to exit the plane, is a few steps from the restroom, and faces a bulkhead instead of another seat. 

Coming in at number two and three, respectively, were 7A and 7F, the two frontmost window seats in coach, which have similar advantages to 1A. Interestingly, many passengers skipped business class entirely, maybe out of class solidarity or fear they would never be able to readjust to coach—as Jerry forewarned to Elaine in that Seinfeld episode—or they just aren’t used to perusing the expensive seats when making this selection.

An infographic showing survey responses about which airplane seats are more desirable
Middle seats: undesirable. | Upgraded Points

Also in the top 10 were 20A and 20F, the seats next to the emergency exits: 41 percent of respondents said they would accept the responsibility of sitting in an exit row for the extra legroom and to be near an exit in case of an emergency.

The same percentage also said perceptions of safety factor into their choice (maybe the researchers stirred that in the respondents by showing them a Boeing model) and 66 percent believed the middle of the plane experiences the least turbulence. There is some truth to that, in cases of mild turbulence, experts say; the area next to the wings is the center of gravity, so it will shake less.

Other insights from the survey include:

  • 21 percent of respondents said they never use the bathroom on a flight
  • 41 percent think it is rude to recline a seat
  • 45 percent have picked an airline based on seat comfort and Delta is considered the most comfortable
  • 54 percent said that other passengers often infringe on their personal space
  • 54 percent think passengers should be able to remove their shoes mid-flight

And for aisle versus window? Two thirds, or 66.6 percent, prefer a window seat, 31.7 percent prefer an aisle seat and—because maybe they didn’t understand the question—1.7 percent said they want the middle seat.

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