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How to fly tourist class yet get a seat with first class leg-room.

All commercial airlines have a handful of seats that have more space to stretch than others. If you are six foot, 3 inches tall as I am, spending any period of time in a standard size aircraft seat becomes uncomfortable after a period of time. If you are a smoker, your choice of seating would be at the back of the aircraft. Now that so many flights are completely no smoking, I take advantage of the situation . Whilst I can no longer smoke on the aircraft, at least I can get a special seat in which to stretch out in, and get away from the engines which, depending on the design of the aircraft, would be towards the back of the aircraft by the smoking section.

These special seats are usually next to the emergency exit - where aviation authorities insist airlines take out at least one row - and give as much, if not more, leg-room as first-class passengers enjoy.

Passengers can request a specific seat when booking, but those next to the emergency exits will not be confirmed until check-in: airline staff need to ensure that the customer is fit enough to open the door in a hurry.

Below we give the numbers of the seats next to emergency exits on eight airlines. The selection is not comprehensive, but includes a representitive group of large carriers. Airline timetables list which aircraft is used on each route. But it is always worth confirming the type at check-in. Airlines sometimes change seating arrangements depending on routes. The arrangements listed below are correct at the time of going to press for aircraft operating to and from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

British Airways.

747 -100/200: row 26: seats A,B,J,K; row 27: 
seats C & H. 747-400: row 29; seats B,C,H, & J; 
row 30 : seats A & K; row 65 (business class): 
seats A,B,C,H,J & K. 737-400: row 11 (business 
class): seats A,B,C,D,& F. 767-300: row 26: 
seatsD,E, & F; row 27: seats A,B,J, & K. 737-200: 
row 9 (business class);seatsB,C,D, &e; row 10: 
seats A & F. 757: row 26: seats A,B,C,D,E & F; 
row 3 (business class): seat C; row 2 (business 
class): seat D.

Virgin Atlantic

747-200: row 10 or 26 (upper class): seats 
A,B,C,J & K; rows 38 & 49: seats A,B,C,H,J & K. 
747-100: rows 25,38 & 49: seats A,B,C,H,J & K.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

747-400: row 8 (business class): seats A & B; row 
21 (business class): seats A,B,G & K; rows 35,51 
& 77 (business class). 747combi: row 8 (business 
class): seats A & B; rows 21,35 & 77(business 
class). 747-300: rows 8 (business class), 12 51 
77 (business class), 21,51 & 77 (business class). 
DC10: row 21: seats A,B,J & H. A310: row 14: 
seats A,B,K & J. 737-400: row 2: seats D 
(business class); row 12 (business class): seats 
A & F.

Cathay Pacific

747-400: row 15 (business class), seats 34 & 54. 
747-200: rows 30 & 54. 747-300: rows 20 (business 
class), 30 & 54.

Lufthansa

A300-600: row 34. 747-400: row 9 (business 
class): seats A,C,H & K, row 83: seats A,B,C,H,J 
& K. 747-200: row 32. 737-200: row 10: seats A & 
F.

American Airlines

DC10 (Heathrow/Boston): rows1 (business class) 
and 22. DC10 (Gatwick/Dallas): row 24.

When smoking seats at the back of the aircraft were available, in order to get one of these we made a habit of cheeking-in early. You are asked to check-in two hours before take off, but we would turn up as soon as the check-in opened (enquire when this might be). This would give us the seats we were looking for (we would be one of the first to check-in).

Now that smoking has ceased on many flights, do the same as we have done and check-in early. This will give you plenty of time to have breakfast or whatever, and makes aquiring exit seats easy - just ask the check-in personnel for them.