Anyone who has flown with a commercial airline will probably have experienced the downside of flight accommodation. Cramped seats, zero legroom, if only you had known when you checked in that the seat three rows in front offered so much more comfort. Well, now you can.Seat Guru is the home of this brilliant resource, where you can check out the seat plan for many of the main airlines' fleets.
You will need to know the type of plane you are flying in, which you can find out by calling the airline or your travel agent. You then select the airline from the panel on the left, and select the plane from the pop-up menu.
Here you will see the full layout of the plane, with the pros and cons of each seat clearly stated.
Hover your mouse over the plan to read the pop-up info. This guide notes everything from extra legroom, to proximity to noisy areas, such as the toilets.
You can even find out what entertainment is going to be available on your flight by clicking the links in the boxes that appear when you hover your mouse over Video or Audio.
Armed with this knowledge you can now ask the check-in staff to place you in a seat you know is going to be comfortable, but make sure you get to the airport nice and early to avoid disappointment.
SeatGuru has information about American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways, Northwest, British Airways, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue airplanes.