If like me, you are over six feet tall, then long haul flights are a right pain — in the legs! In their efforts to squeeze ever more revenue out of flights, airlines have been literally squeezing ever more rows of seats onto their aircraft with the result that the seat pitch (the distance in inches from one seat to the one in front of it) has been shortening in recent years. The usual solution used to be to request a seat at the emergency exit but since such seats can only be allocated at check-in (check-in staff need to make a visual inspection of the passenger in order to satisfy themselves that s/he is physically capable of executing their responsibilities in the case of an emergency), there is always the risk that you might be to late and the seats could already have been allocated. in any event, more and more airlines are now routinely charging for these seats too so there is still a cost consequence.
In more recent times, carriers have begun to introduce a hybrid class that is invariably described as either ‘premium economy’ or (in the case of British Airways) — ‘World Traveller Plus’. These seats, however, are not cheap and so do not represent themselves as a realistic option for the financially challenged! In the case of Virgin Atlantic however, there is a third option which is normally offered at check-in and offers the prospect of those magical few extra inches of leg room without costing a packet. indeed, Virgin just charge £35 per seat, if originating in the UK, or $50 per seat if originating in the USA or Canada. One presumes that similar equivalent prices are levied in other countries in local currency. It’s an eminentlyfair surcharge to pay if you’re any way worried about the statistical possibilities of contracting DVT, whilst enroute!
