How to avoid ending up in the worst seat on a plane: ‘I’d be super salty’
Hint: It’s not the middle.
Thought being seated in the back row was bad? Try sitting in a window seat — without a window.
Many beleaguered travelers have flocked to social media to share their experiences sitting in a portal-less sky chair, which many have deemed the worst seat on the plane.
“I’ve never been on a flight where the window seat has no window!” griped one victim on Reddit about the claustrophobic arrangement. “If my job wasn’t paying for this I’d be super salty about paying for a non-existent view.”
An accompanying photo showed the traveler sitting in a window seat without sunlight.
Meanwhile, in 2020, a RyanAir passenger claimed they actually wound up paying more for this portal-less accommodation than they would have otherwise, labeling it a #travelfail.
While a windowless window seat may seem paradoxical, there are several reasons why planes might have a view to nil.
Many seats don’t have windows because the wall harbors hidden hardware such as ducts, wiring or the intersection between two parts of the fuselage, Lonely Planet explained.
Meanwhile, Nick Kelvin, head of the UK branch of flight blog The Points Guy, explained that “frequently, emergency exit window seats don’t include a window view as design dictates window placement on the emergency exit door, which often results in an obscured view.”
Fortunately, travelers can avoid ending up in this airplane purgatory by using SeatGuru, a digital tool that allows passengers to see the seating configuration on their upcoming flight.
To use, simply input the airline and flight number and the tool will pull up a map of the seats with potentially undesirable ones denoted in red.
Hovering over said seats with a cursor reveals the reason behind the designation, including if they don’t have a window.
Passengers should probably also double-check the layout to see if they’re sitting face-to-face with fellow flyers — another candidate for the worst seating arrangement ever.
