Flying Is Hard for Tall Travelers. Use These 7 Tips to Make It More Comfortable

09.01.2024 - 22:30 / afar.com

Any tall person who has flown in a regional or commercial jet has had to come to terms with the fact that the world is simply not designed for us. As a six-foot-five-inch man, in order to enjoy the wonders of travel by airplane, I’ve had to fold myself into a pretzel shape on all manner of aircraft many times. What I’ve learned is that there are plenty of tips and tricks that us taller folk can use to make flying less painful. I hope these seven hacks will make air travel more tolerable for my fellow height-endowed travelers.

The days of sweet-talking the ticket or gate agent into an upgrade to business class or first class are long gone. (I’ve successfully done it all of once, back in 2007 on an American Airlines flight from New York to Buenos Aires.) That said, there are certain things the tall traveler can do to score the holy grail of economy-class airline travel: a seat in the emergency exit row. Getting the best seat can be the key to cracking the long-standing question of “how do I sleep on an airplane as a tall person?”Even the middle seat in the emergency exit row is better than a regular seat. A certain number of exit-row seats are often held by the airline until check-in closes. The extra legroom represents ancillary revenue for the airline, so the company will want to hold on to them as long as they can.

When it comes to getting an exit row seat, it never hurts to ask (and ask, and ask again).

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To score the exit row, it’s all about asking—politely—at three possible opportunities during your check-in process.

First, when you check in, ask the ticket agent directly. Typically, the agent will let you know if a seat is available but then ask you to pay a fee (in my experience, you’ll get a free upgrade 20 percent of the time). Skip paying for now; you’re after a free upgrade here. Even if you don’t get the seat, you’ll at least have a good sense of how full the flight will be.

Your next option is to ask the agent at the gate. Explain that 1) you are tall, and 2) if possible (and convenient for the agent), you would appreciate if he or she would check availability for an exit-row seat. I also offer to leave my boarding pass with them if that helps. (Of course, it doesn’t really help them, but it can serve as a gentle reminder.) Pick your agent and timing wisely. If the agent is dealing with five unhappy passengers or seems stressed and busy, wait until a more convenient time. The “ask nicely” approach works for me approximately 40 percent of the time, leading to a free upgrade to a better seat.

If neither of those work, you can wait until the very end of the boarding process and cross your fingers that some unlucky traveler has not arrived at the gate in time, or that