Baggage & seat choice & legroom, oh my! What's important on an overseas flight & what's not!
- Allora Andiamo
- May 4, 2020
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 19, 2020
Aisle seats, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: D & C.
I am a bargain hunter. I think it comes from growing up in a remote community in the Canadian Far East where the few scarce things that were available cost more than you'd expect. Airfare to and from my hometown was - and still is - a prime example of that.
It costs a pretty penny to travel across Canada - if you're a Canadian. Just ask your friendly neighbourhood* Canuck - but be prepared for a diatribe (albeit a polite one). The cost for me to fly to Canada from the USA, where I now live and work? Peanuts, by comparison. Well, maybe the price of a couple of Beavertails from a kiosk on the Rideau Canal during Winterlude. Tops.
Before moving to the USA I had done some traveling overseas, but not that much. The best price/duration ratio flight I was able to score in the early 2000s was a West-then-East, 24h flight to Paris that I got on Air Canada for $800 CDN. That was during a time when checked bags and seat selections were included in the price. But at that time, those sorts of things weren't considered valuable add-ons - just basic allowances you‘d expect from an economy ticket. We live in a much different travel world now. (It will be interesting to watch how things unfold given covid-19.)
But now that I live in the USA, near many Scott's-Cheap-Flights-friendly departure airports, I regularly see flights to Europe from SFO, OAK, SJC, and SMF for well under $500 US return. While I try my darndest to keep my transport costs rock bottom, my trips overseas have taught me that cheapest isn't always best. (Especially if I want to avoid arriving with a rock bottom.) And that there are four factors that ultimately determine quality of airfare for me (aside from the cost). Not all of these are cut and dry; some depend on the destination and the time of year. Here are my four factors:
How Many Legs (Flight Segments)?
How Far Am I from the Airport (Departure and Returning)?
How Long is the Flight (Total Duration) ?
How Easily Can I Move Around the Airplane?
You might be tempted, as am I (constantly), to forgo creature comforts to avoid a $120 add-on fee, especially when your flight is $350. But I've noticed a distinct pattern as to how I feel mid-flight about the extras I wish I had/hadn't paid for.
Here's a TL/DR version of what follows below:
It's always worth it to:
1. Check heavy luggage when I'm sure my bags will make my connections.
2. Limit my time in airports.
3. Limit my time in the air.
4. Limit the duration of my journey (exceptions noted below).
5. Guarantee my seat selection (aisle and a safe distance away from bathrooms).
6. Pay for a cab from the airport to my first hotel (unless I'm really familiar with the place).
It's not worth it to:
1. Pay extra for a special seat section unless leg room is a real concern.
2. Pay extra for meals on domestic carriers (the gourmet meals on European carriers from EU to USA are actually wonderful and they were worth it for me).
I'm asking for trouble if:
1. There are more than 2 legs
2. The duration of the journey is more than 17 hours
3. I cannot select my seats.
Before I get into all of these things, let me be clear about something. Unless you are flying first class, this overseas flight is going to hurt. It doesn't matter how many extras you buy. Spending 8-10 h sitting upright on a plane is brutal on the body, especially if you are prone to swelling or have joint issues like I do. These flights are never pleasant or enjoyable, but they can be endurable if you know yourself well and aren't afraid to spend a little more/do a little driving. And once you get there, you'll soon forget the discomfort. Let's discuss.
1. How Many Legs? 2. How Far Am I from the Airport?
These two factors are intimately connected. So I'm going to talk about both of them at the same time. I have to say that living near the Bay Area of Northern California means I am often spoiled for choice in this regard, but I've settled on a pattern that hasn't really deviated, even for domestic flights.
The fewer legs, the better. Even if it means driving and paying for parking.
Direct is best. Two are passable (even with the drive). Three are unacceptable.
Three hours driving to and from a regional airport is max. 2 is better. 1 is best.
Park and fly the night before the flight is best, followed by shuttled airport parking on the day of the flight as long as I can leave early enough to have a leisurely journey to the airport.
I ran this experiment last November when I stumbled upon a mistake fare from Sacramento (nearest airport to me) to Valencia, Spain. I found a three-legged flight for $530 return (no bags included): SMF-SEA-AMS-VLC on KLM/Delta. I loved the fact that Delta and KLM don't really weigh the bags, they just monitor sizes. I also thought that the bargain was worth the experiment if I purchased a sleep pod in AMS for my 5 hr layover. I figured I'd still be ahead cost-wise and feel rested enough to take in a concert in Valencia on the night of my arrival. None of that worked out for me. Here's what I wished I had done instead.
A. Flown the day before. B. Paid for checked luggage (bulkheads are far too high on Delta long haul jets for me to lift my packed-to-the-brim carry on over my head and into the bin. It was a nightmare dealing with it on 4 /6 of the legs I traveled.) C. Driven to SFO and paid for parking.
Turns out, the act of ascending and descending wreaks havoc on my eardrums, especially if I'm sniffly. It also tests the limit of my compression socks. There's only so much spandex can endure, my friends. By the time I got to Valencia I was so exhausted and in so much pain that I didn't see the sign that told me to pick up my luggage before exiting the secure area (I finally gate checked it in AMS), and had to wait an hour to get the luggage from a secured room. Not ideal.
Bottom line: I have neither regretted paying for a checked bag nor wished I had an extra leg to my flight. Ever. I would much rather drive and pay for parking than extend my time on air crafts/ in airports. YMMV, but this is what works well for me.
How Long is the Flight (Total Duration)?
Even with fewer legs, it's generally best to keep your journey time to a minimum - even if you are otherwise tempted to hack it by buying a few hours in a sleep pod. On the other hand, if you are not flying direct, you still need to leave ample time for your connection. I know that in the USA we should get to the airport much sooner for international flights as opposed to domestic ones. But that doesn't mean you need 5 hours to get through customs in Europe, either. Two hours is plenty of time to make most connections. I always do research/have a map of each connecting airport abroad. Tip: I've heard much anecdotal evidence about the difficultly of making connections in Frankfurt. So be extra careful about your timing there.
I choose to skip it altogether. (I know I have good weather bias here - for those of more northerly persuasions who are traveling over the winter, I'd probably add an extra hour to my two.)
There is one exception to my rule of keeping my flight duration as short as possible: using long layovers to take advantage of side trips on the way back. I don't recommend doing this on the way to Europe. Unless you are made of steel or impervious to West-East jet lag (same diff, but few are), you'll be too tired, zonked, and fed up with flying to truly appreciate a side trip. But on the way back... another story.
Both Swiss Air and TAP offer compellingly long layovers (others? let me know!). Swiss Air offers up to 30 h layovers in Zurich on some flights (major hub), and TAP offers layovers for up to 3 days in gorgeous places like Porto and Lisbon. On my first trip to Florence, Italy (read about it here and here) I stopped in Zurich for 20 hours on New Years Eve, got a small hotel for one night, and was able to watch the fireworks over Lake Zurich before heading out the next day for the next leg of my flight - no extra charge! Some photos:
Bottom Line: Any flight over 17 hours in duration, and I start to regret my choice of flight. Unless I'm stopping over somewhere fabulous on the way back. And now for most important factor:
How Easily Can I Move Around the Airplane?
On my first flight to Italy, I made a grave error. I chose the wrong seat. Choosing the wrong seat on a domestic flight is annoying. Doing so on a 10 h flight? It will make you miserable enough to curse the day you got your passport. Now, I expect there to be two camps. Some folks will be fine with a window seat because they are the lucky people who sleep on airplanes, don't have to take frequent trips to the facilities, or don't suffer from swelling while flying. I am not that person. I always pay for seat selection. It is always an aisle seat.
My single seat of error was a window seat in economy on Swiss Air. I had stowed my carry-on and personal item under the seat in front of me before I sat down and realized just what I had gotten myself into. I thought that sleeping would be possible. I thought I could connect one of those leg slings to the tray table without disturbing anyone. I thought that I'd have more space and be more comfortable. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I was trapped next to a young man who did not know the benefits of tissues when it comes to obsessive nasal prodding, and I couldn't even stand up to get a break because the person on the end was asleep. This is not a situation I will ever get into again. If you read about my arrival state in my last post, this is why I was so grumpy when I first arrived in Florence.
When it comes to sleeping on planes, I've pretty much dropped any expectation. But I did find a contraption that has helped me finally get a few winks. It's a brilliant invention and is so light and portable you can stick it in your jeans pocket. I loved it so much, I wrote a post about it. But getting up and moving about is really the best way for me to care for my body during the flight. That's why an aisle seat is as luxe as I can get on an economy flight.
That's all folks! Do you have any pearls of wisdom to share about booking overseas flights? Send me a line! allora.andiamo.blog@gmail.com.
P.S.*American readers: Although I am able to misspell most words by muscle memory now, I cannot write neighbour without the u. It just feels wrong. Many apologies. :)
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