I sat in the front and back of economy for a round-trip, long-haul flight. I'm still partial to the back.

27.06.2024 - 18:49 / insider.com

It's a hot take, but I love the back of a plane — especially on a long-haul flight.

But after a handful of long-haul flights tucked away in the rear of economy, I decided to see if my preference remained strong.

On a recent round-trip, long-haul Lufthansa flight between Denver and Germany, I decided to compare the two areas of economy. For my outbound flight, I sat in row 42, the third to last economy row. For my return trip, I was seated in row 11, the first economy row.

Each seat had its perks, but I'm sticking with the back of the plane.

A few hours into my return flight to Denver, flight attendants came around with carts full of meals. Each passenger was asked a simple question: chicken or pasta?

This wasn't the case when I was seated in the back. When flight attendants reached the second-to-last row of economy, they had run out of options. Each passenger was handed a tray of beef and mashed potatoes.

This isn't the first time that's happened to me while seated in the back. Last year, a similar situation occurred on a flight to Tokyo.

If I was a picky eater, this reason alone could sway me to opt for a front-row seat. Instead, I typically request a vegetarian meal for long-haul flights, so my meal is already picked before boarding the plane.

When I'm cramped in a tight space, the last thing I want to worry about is a bathroom smell wafting around me for more than 10 hours.

So, my No. 1 priority when picking a long-haul seat is sitting far from the bathrooms. On many larger aircraft, the economy bathrooms are stationed in the middle of the cabin.

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For my 10-hour flight to Germany, I was in the back of economy, and there wasn't a bathroom directly behind me. Instead, a galley was just a few feet away, ideal for a quick stretch break.

I also didn't have a bathroom nearby for my return flight at the front. If I opt for the front on a future flight, I'll double-check that the premium economy cabin has no bathrooms in the back.

I've been lucky enough to have one or two long-haul flights without a middle-seat passenger. I've celebrated every bit of extra room and tried hard to recreate that luck.

I'm convinced your best chance of having an empty seat is if you're in the back of a cabin. Since most people avoid the rear, those seats are chosen last, or hopefully not chosen at all.

A few days before each flight, I checked the seat map and noticed my theory was correct. The majority of the empty seats remaining were toward the back of economy.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case when I boarded the plane. Both flights were fully booked, meaning I would've been sitting next to someone no matter where I was on the plane.

One of the main arguments for sitting in the front of economy is that you