Flying brings out the anxiety in all of us, but deciding where to sit on the plane so that you’re comfortable can make it a teeny tiny bit better. Depending on your personal brand of mental illness and (maybe) irrational fears, there are some seats you’ll want to avoid in particular.
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Choosing where to sit on the plane
I don’t want to be dramatic, but deciding where to sit on the plane can make or break your flight experience. Fortunately, you can usually choose in advance! Unfortunately, these days, it usually costs extra. (Especially if you book with a budget airline.) But you can maximize your comfort vibes if you look inward, identify your personal brand of anxiety, and then choose your plane seats accordingly.
The worst places to sit on the plane depending on your type of anxiety
If you identify as one of the following — and you know you do — here’s where you will and won’t want to sit when choosing where to sit on the plane.
If you're a people pleaser
You likely don’t want to inconvenience your seat mates, especially if you’re travelling alone. So a window seat is not for you. Is it a long flight? Will people be sleeping? Can you imagine anything worse than having to tap someone on the shoulder to wake them up so you can crawl across them? And not just one, but two people? And then having to do it all again when you get back to your seat? Absolutely not.
If you know you’re likely going to visit the bathroom more than once, or you’re one of those people who likes to pace up and down the aisles, this is an especially bad choice. You also want to consider whether you plan to get stuff from your carry-on bag in the overhead bin. If you aspire to be the least inconvenient person on the plane (like me), you’ll want to book an aisle seat.
If you have attachment issues
The extra legroom seats may seem like a good idea (especially because the airlines have the audacity to charge more for them) but here’s the downside: You don’t get easy access to your stuff.
With no seat in front of you, all your bags have to go in the overhead bin for takeoff and landing. That includes your water bottle, gum, and snacks. Your cozy sweater for when it gets cold. Those heaven-sent chunky noise cancelling headphones to help you tune out when the babies start crying. Your laptop if you planned on doing any work or watching that movie you downloaded.
Oh, the horror of being so removed from your devices. I’m getting itchy just thinking about it. It’s not worth it.
If you don't trust people
When choosing where to sit on the plane, you won’t want to sit anywhere except the emergency exit row — preferably the window seat. This way, you can be in charge of ripping that emergency door off if need be. You know you’re going to get it done instead of having to rely on someone incompetent who panics or fumbles the latch.
This means you’re also probably the person who pays close attention to the safety demonstration and reads the card in the seat pocket. Maybe you don’t even trust the flight attendants. If you don’t trust the pilot, you should probably fork out for that front row business class seat so you can jump into action if an emergency landing is required. You could probably figure out how to land a plane, right?
If you're a catastrophizer
In this case, there’s only one place to sit. You’ll want to sit in the middle seat in the row at the very back of the plane. If something happens mid-flight, that’s the safest place to be. And I can prove it with *data*. According to Forbes, this area has the lowest fatality rate (28%). Dark, I know, but these are the facts! Keep in mind that’s 28% of the 0.07 deaths per billion passenger miles.
You definitely don’t want to sit near any emergency exit doors that could get ripped off. So settle in to your back seat and put your noise cancelling headphones on, because these seats also tend to be the loudest. Between the engine sounds, bathroom visitors, and flight crew meal prep station, it’s not exactly peaceful back there. But hopefully being in the safest seat will bring you some internal peace.
If you're germaphobic
You’ll want to avoid seats near the bathroom if those rare (yet somehow also too frequent) tales of planes being grounded due to a bad bathroom scenario have really messed you up. There was the person whose poop smelled so bad on a trip from London to Dubai in 2015 that they essentially cancelled the flight mid air and returned to Heathrow.
Then there was the unimaginable event in 2023: A flight from Atlanta to Barcelona turned around when a passenger had diarrhea “all through the airplane.” I didn’t even click into that article, but the headline haunts me. I did not need my questions answered.
And of course, amid all this concerning news about Boeing planes missing screws and falling apart, there was also a bathroom incident just the other day. On a flight from Amsterdam to LA, eight of the nine bathrooms were out of commission, so they — obviously — had to turn back. Safe to say proximity to any of this madness would make the entire debacle worse for any of us. But if you’re a germophobe, this is likely your worst nightmare.
If you're claustrophobic
When choosing where to sit on the plane, the middle middle middle is your worst nightmare. That is, the middle seat in the middle row in the middle of the plane. Way too many people around and you’re literally surrounded from all sides. The only situation in which this seat works for you is when you hit the flight jackpot and get an empty row, but that’s not very likely, is it?
Maybe you’re a frequent pee-er and you know you’ll be getting up more than once on the flight. Being too far away can make it easier to get stuck behind the service carts and other passengers. A respectable aisle seat within a few rows of the bathrooms or the service stations will give you more space to get up and stretch your legs without feeling trapped.
If you have status anxiety
If you want all your Instagram followers to think you’re a first class traveller, you probably fear sitting in the dreaded coach. You know you deserve to be plucked from the peasants and seated where you belong, in business or first class with your peers. Unfortunately, if you can’t afford that kinda high life, you’ll have to sit back here with the rest of us and find creative camera angles that make it look like you’re sitting in 1A when you’re really in 34E. You could always see if there’s a good deal on premium economy!
Read more: What It’s Like to Fly Qatar Bsuiness Class
If you have imposter syndrome
You’ll feel uncomfortable in business or first class even if you paid for the seat fair and square with your own money. Or you finally spend your hard-earned points after years! You deserve to be here, but your imposter syndrome will eat away at you as you drink Champagne and enjoy your separate bathroom with designer hand lotion and a window.
Tips for choosing where to sit on the plane
When the time comes to choose where to sit on the plane, it’s good to know what you like and don’t like. Of course you can always just pick a random seat to begin and go back in and change it later. Just don’t leave it too late because the good seats do sell out sometimes!
Mini rant: Why do we have to pay for seat selection? It’s robbery. Like, will you let me stand? No? Ok, why is it $10 to choose a regular seat? Surely a standard seat should come with cost of the flight and we can pay for upgrades if we want. But life’s not fair. Even some airlines charge business class passengers for seat selection now! Heinous.
Anyway, it’s always a good idea to check a site like SeatGuru to make sure you’re getting the best spot. It’s often worth it to do a bit of research to figure out where you really want to sit, especially for long hauls!
Check Reddit and see if anyone has any good suggestions for which side of the plane to sit on to get the best views. (For example, sit on the right side of the plane when flying from Auckland to Queenstown, New Zealand, to get a great view of Aoraki/Mount Cook. You’re welcome.)
Finally, do a bit of research on the airline. Look for special stuff like premium economy upgrades, or see whether it’s worth splurging for something like premium economy or Qatar’s Q-Suite if you’re going up upgrade.