X-post: Airline miles for tall flyer

[TammyS]

I posted this in the College Board, but thought I'd bring it to you folks, too.

 

So I've been looking at airlines and possibilities for accumulating miles for my son's travel cross country.  He's 6'9" and will be flying from MD to CA, so having reasonable legroom for him is important to me.  I've found that Jet Blue has 34" seat pitches minimum, with the possibility of upgrading to 38".  I'm thinking of getting their airline card to accumulate miles for his flights for the next 4 years.  Not being a frequent flyer (by which I mean, I haven't flown anywhere since before I got married), though, I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas or if there are things I don't know that might work better.

 

We aren't generally extravagant people, but I do feel for such a long flight for someone with a 40" inseam, having some more legroom would be kind of a big deal.

[EKS]

I had a boyfriend who was 6'10".  He always tried to get either bulkhead or exit row seats.  This was 25 years ago, but I seem to remember that he would call the airline and explain his situation, and they would try to get him those particular seats.

 

We are on the west coast.  My son goes to school on the east coast, and he always tries to fly on Jet Blue.  I've seen that they have the extra leg room seats, but we have never gotten them.

[Rachel]

Is first class an option? My husband is 6'5" and flying is miserable for him. He chooses an exit row aisle seat when possible, it does cost more. A few times he has been upgraded to first class and says it's a lot better.

 

I think I would figure out all the airline options between MD and CA and then figure out who has the most legroom. If it's Jet Blue, get the airline card with Jet Blue. If he's facing a 6ish hour flight paying more for the ticket would probably be worth it.

 

Good luck!

[J-rap]

For my tall ds, he always gets an aisle seat.  If he can get a bulkhead seat, even better.  Sometimes a "preferred" seat (for example, around $35 extra on Delta) gets him a bulkhead seat with a little extra room.  Delta also has a Delta Comfort or something like that, which always includes extra leg room.  It's a little more than the preferred, but depending on the flight, is sometimes still in the affordable range.

 

 

 

[StephanieZ]

FWIW, just tonight, I was confirming a bunch of flights for tomorrow on American, and they had quite a few options to upgrade (for a price) to various "premium" seats. 

 

We have two flights tomorrow. On the 90 min flight, upgrades were 12-$36 or so. On the 4 hr (international) flight the same upgrades were about twice the price, not sure if they do it by miles or by domestic/int'l.

 

In any event, the upgrades would be a very reasonable expense in your son's position. :) Our tallest family member is our 6'1" son, so I didn't splurge, but if he were much taller (especially if the aisle seats hadn't been available for him already), I'd have upgraded him. 

 

I have bought a LOT of cross-country flights in recent years, and, in general, it seems that the best flights/prices/times vary a lot . . . I wouldn't want to be roped into a single airline, for sure. I'd want to be able to get my ideal flights for each trip . . . So, if I were you, I'd do just what you are doing (researching seat sizes and options), so that when you need to book a flight, you know what you're dealing with. Then, I'd just expect to spend $50-100 extra each travel day, depending on flights, etc. 

 

And, for SURE always book him an aisle seat. My brother is 6'4, and he has always *had* to have aisle seats. Being able to angle his knees towards the aisle and stretch his legs into the aisle a bit makes a huge difference. When he traveled internationally a lot for work, fortunately his company routinely booked business class for international flights, but domestically, in coach, he's always survived (very uncomfortably) in coach in aisle seats. I really feel for the tall (and/or heavy) folks on flights. I think you're very sweet to be looking out for your boy. And, even though I've never paid for an upgraded seat in my hundreds of flights, I'd pay a bit to upgrade my son on a really long flight, and 6'1 is a LOT shorter than 6'9! 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by StephanieZ