Tips For Inflight Comfort

Virgin America's Main Cabin

Look at the seating chart on the airline’s website and double check that information with the Seat Guru website. Exit rows provide more legroom and comfort, but some exit row seats don’t recline and some have fixed arms that make the seat slightly narrower. I usually learn everything I can online and then call the carrier to confirm.

Trust me, if you wait and do seat selection at the airport or let the airline choose your seat, you’ll end up in the center of a row where you have neither a view out the window nor easy access to the aisle.

Other Tips For Inflight Comfort:

It’s really important to stay hydrated in the air and the little thimblefuls of water provided during the “beverage service” just don’t do it for me. Instead, I carry an empty water bottle through the TSA inspection and fill it at a water fountain near my gate. Drinking lots of water is healthy – and so is the exercise you get walking back and forth to the restroom.

I also think it isn’t a good idea to rely on the airline for food. Airports are full of overpriced (often unhealthy) options that you can take on board, but I prefer to carry a sandwich I made at home and a ziplock bag of organic grapes.

The truly self-sufficient will also bring their own in-flight entertainment. I keep it simple and just tuck in a book and my iPod with ear buds. Music stored on the iPod helps to drown out the Chatty Cathys around me so I can read. Other folks think ahead and download a movie onto their laptop or iPad.

I would also never board a flight without a pashmina or jacket in my carry-on. It seems to me that the pilots (or whoever sets the cabin temperature) think everyone on board is having hot flashes.

One last thing about inflight comfort: I recommend bringing anti-bacterial wipes and using them to clean your tray table and anything else you might touch.

Bon voyage.

Tags: advice, air travel, airline, aisle seat, dehydration, exit row, flying, food, healthy, in-flight comfort, inflight comfort, restroom, seat selection, seating chart, tips, travel, water bottles

Category: dealing with illness and discomfort