Not all economy seats are created equal. Can you get a good seat experience for decent shut-eye? By doing a little bit of digging you’ll find out enough info to help you make a flight in economy a pleasant flight, instead of an unbearable one. My suggestion is that you should be aware of what one or two inches of leg room can do — it makes the difference between being able to open your laptop all the way or being able to cross my legs comfortably. Seat pitch and width can vary greatly between airline carriers and aircraft type. So, when you’re comparing flights, be sure to check out the comparison chart at the end of the post to help you identify the differences between seat pitch and width on different airlines.

Seat pitch is the distance from any point on one seat to the exact same point on the seat in front or behind it. And while it is not the exact equivalent of “legroom”, it does give a very good approximation of how much seat room you should expect. The Bottom Line: the more seat pitch the better!

Photo: Travis Church

Virgin America – Where JetBlue attempts to woo its patrons with extra leg room and some satellite audio and video content, Virgin has opted for a sensory barrage. Stepping into what is seemingly a “purple palace” in the sky with fully-equipped mood lighting, the brand new fleet of aircrafts at Virgin America provide passengers with some of the latest technology for in-flight entertainment and productivity. The Airbus A320 features comfortable leather seats in coach class, and a comfortable pitch of 32” and width of 19.7”.

Emirates – Emirates is relatively generous to their coach passengers in terms of legroom. Coach passengers flying the A330 can expect their seats to have a pitch of 32”, while flying the B777 aircraft will up the ante to 33”-34”. Seat width remains approximately 17.5” on either type of aircraft.

Singapore Airlines – Singapore Airline were the first airline in the world to put into service the Airbus A380. The A380 has 32“ seat pitch and 19” width. The Singapore Airbus A340-500 used on long haul flight between New York and Singapore is even more spacious than the bigger A380 with 37“ of seat pitch and 20“ seat width.

JetBlue – JetBlue has recently reconfigured their fleet of A320 aircrafts which has helped to increase the seat pitch in coach. Passengers can now expect to have a coach seat with a 34”-36” pitch, and for an additional $10, passengers can request an “Even More Legroom” seat, which increases the pitch to an impressive 38” – these seats are limited, and you must call a JetBlue agent to book one of these seats at 1-800-JETBLUE.

Virgin Atlantic – Flying Virgin Atlantic offers two choices for economy passengers: Economy, and Premium Economy. Economy passengers can expect their seats to have a pitch of about 31”, while Premium Economy customers can expect a tad bit more leg room and a wider seat at 21”, compared to 17.5”. Economy seats also feature seatback TVs, video on-demand, and some seats feature video game consoles with up to 35 different games.

Qantas – Qantas provides ample legroom for economy passengers on both their domestic and international flights. The B747 fleet provides 32” pitch seating, and a width of 17.25”. Qantas recently began offering International Premium Economy seating for select flights, and these seats offer a wider 19.5” seat and footrest. Each seat also has its own personal fold-out 8.4” touch-screen monitor built-in to the armrest for watching movies on-demand.

Cathay Pacific – Cathay’s fleet of B-777s offer a seat pitch of 32”, and a width of 18.5”. Flying coach class aboard their larger A340-600 aircrafts, from Hong Kong to New York nonstop, offers a marginally slimmer seat width at 17.75”. These long flights offer economy passengers an innovative view from the nose of the plane via a nose-wheel cam that broadcasts a signal to the TV screens on-board.

British Airways – On the British Airways Boeing 747-400 the World Traveller (economy) class has 31″ of pitch, and a seat width of 17.5”. Each British Airways aircraft also features 4-5 rows of World Traveler Plus economy seating with larger 38” pitch, 18.5” width, and slightly greater reclining capabilities.

Japan Airlines – Japan Airlines offers both an Economy and a Premium Economy choice for seating. The economy seats offer a spacious 34” of pitch and a 17” width, while the Premium Economy seats offer an increased 38” of pitch and 18.9” width. Premium Economy seating is available on JLA’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft (a total of 46 seats per plane). These seats also offer an incredible 120-degrees of recline.

United Airlines – United offers two choices to its economy passengers; Economy and Economy Plus. Economy passengers can expect differing amounts of leg room depending upon the specific aircraft. All aircraft seats have a seat pitch of 31” except for: the A319 (31”-33”), the A320 (31”-33”), the A321 (32”), and the A330-300 (32”-34”). Economy Plus seating adds an additional 4” of legroom, and this seating option is available to Premier or high status members of United’s Mileage Plus frequent flier program, or to full-fare/unrestricted economy passengers.

>Airline Economy Seats Chart

	Seat Pitch	Seat Width	Seat Recline
	32”	19.7“	32”
	32“	17.5”	6”
	32”	19-20”	6-8”
	32“	17.5”	n/a
	31-32”	17.2”	6 degrees
	32”	17.75”	15 degrees
	31“	17.5”	n/a
	34”	17”	32 degrees
	31-35”	17-18”	5”

Footnotes

A tip of the hat goes to SeatGuru for compiling seating charts.

Use your own steam!

Protecting the environment doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive and time consuming. In fact, you can hack your habits to great effect and start making a difference in the morning. You’ll be doing your general fitness and health a favour as well as that of the environment.

1. Where possible, walk: Start with the simplest option first. Don’t drive everywhere, walk those small trips. In stating the obvious, by leaving the car behind and simply walking or riding a bike you are doing both yourself and the environment good. Not only will you save money on fuel and the general upkeep of car but other knock on effects include the improved outdoor air quality and reduction on road congestion.

2. Get on your bike: You’ll not always be able to walk to your destination. Jump on your bike for those trips where you’d normally be jumping into the car without a second thought. You’ll develop your muscles, improve cardiovascular health, reduce congestion and generate zero emissions.

Transport

We might as well face up to the fact that we live in a car culture, and it won’t change overnight. Fortunately there are a multitude of ways in which you can vastly improve the fuel efficiency of a vehicle so it can drive further on less fuel, emit fewer greenhouse gases and save you some money. Here are a few to get you started.

3. Get ready first, then go: How many times have you jumped into the car and realised your laptop or bag is still inside the house, then left the car idling while you fetch it? Plenty of times, it happens to us all. While you’ll never stop this from happening ever again, you can reduce the emissions by making sure you have everything you need before starting the engine.

4. Put your seatbelt on before starting engine: I read some time ago that on average we waste several hundred pounds / dollars (x2) of fuel by starting the engine and then putting on a seatbelt. Optimise your efficiency and maximise savings by securing your seatbelt first.

5. Improve MPG: Most road users don’t have a clue about how to look after their car never mind improving the Miles Per Gallon it can achieve. That sort of knowledge doesn’t need to remain within the car sub-culture. You can easily improve the MPG on any car by keeping tyres inflated to their manufacturer-specified pressure, employ steady acceleration and drive at a steady speed that requires fewer gear changes.

6. Don’t idle the engine: A modern car is designed to work efficiently as soon as it starts, so you don’t need to start the engine and let it warm up before you drive. Not even on cold winter mornings.

7. Smooth gear changes: shift up a gear when you hit 2500rpm for petrol cars and 2000rpm for diesel cars. Research indicates that a car travelling at 37mph in third gear uses 25 per cent more fuel than it would at the same speed in fifth gear.

8. Turn off air con: A car engine generates enough pollution without having to power an onboard air conditioning unit. It might be hot outside, but if you want to be serious about protecting the environment you’ll just have to keep the air conditioning turned off! Need further impetus? You’ll save money by driving for longer because of improved fuel efficiency.

9. Don’t charge electricals off car battery: It might be convenient, but charging your iPod / mobile / laptop / whatever off the car battery greatly increases fuel consumption. Of course you’ll still indirectly generate emissions when charging electrical gadgets at home, but it is still more efficient than doing so in a car.

10. Drive with windows up: This sounds so trivial, but it has been proven to work. If you keep your windows up your car will be subject to less drag, which improves the aerodynamic profile of the vehicle. Therefore, cars driven with the windows up are proven to achieve much higher MPG.

11. Remove rook racks: If you have roof racks installed on your car, remove them. If you surf / ski / snowboard, stow the boards inside the car. Roof racks increase the car’s weight and reduce aerodynamic efficiency, which increases the amount of fuel burnt to power the car.

12. Service regularly: This one can’t be overstated enough. If you want to make sure that your car performs at peak efficiency then you’ll have to get it serviced on a regular basis. Get the oil checked, swap out the brakes, check the exhaust etc. The idea is that a well-kept car will consume less fuel, pump out fewer greenhouse gases and also last longer, which in the longterm helps the environment and your bank balance.

14. Alternative forms of fuel: Refuel your car with an alternative form of fuel such as biodiesel instead of diesel. It can be quite expensive in the short term but it is possible to refit your vehicle to run on gas, ethanol or used fats and vegetable oils. This tactic is especially good if the fuels are locally produced.

15. Use premium fuel: If it is not possible to change the type of fuel your car can run on to bio, purchase the more expensive but environmentally friendly premium petrols. While these are still produced from oil, they are more efficient and much cleaner.

16. Carpool: Organised carpooling with your co-workers has quite a few advantages. You actively reduce air pollution, increase outdoor air quality by having 1 car on the road instead of 4. Also, carpooling saves you money and everybody can do it – you might even form some new friendships. You can use a variety of tools online to arrange or find carpooling opportunities – especially on Facebook

17. Hybrid Options: Opt for a hybrid hire car on your next holiday. Not only will you be reducing emissions while you drive, but you will be sending a positive message to the car hire industry by your endorsement of the ‘green’ car. Plus, you get to test drive a hybrid and put it through the motions! Make a more substantial commitment and consider a new hybrid vehicle such as the Toyota Prius or get one of the ultra efficient small cars such as Citroen C4.

Public Transport

It’s widely considered to be the holy grail of environmentalism, but it’s sadly not quite there yet. Governments take big back handers from the car lobbyists, so we shouldn’t expect the world’s public transport networks to get massively better any time. Of course, there are cities around the world where the local government has invested heavily in public transport infrastructure – but you probably don’t live near one. Here are a few ways to maximise the positive environmental impact of what public transport is available to you.

18. Bus: Public transport is rarely as good as it could be, but (where possible) using public bus transport is great way of getting about. Most towns and cities have adequate bus coverage. Furthermore, you won’t get lost just as easy when the driver knows where they’re going!

19. Tram: Many European cities such as Manchester, Dublin, Athens, Rome, Lisbon and Paris have extensive tram networks. In North America there are many cities with tram networks including San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Toronto. Count yourself lucky if you live in one these cities, trams are a great way of getting around.

20. Trains instead of planes: Many haven’t realised this yet but those good old trains emit much less pollution and can carry more passengers than aircraft. Using the train network is a viable option, especially if journeying city-to-city within Europe and places like Japan where the infrastructure is good and the trains are reliable. Also, there’s a saving on hassle because train travel can allow you to use your time to travel instead of standing in a queue at checkin or customs.

21. Subway: The list of cities in the Americas and Europe with mass rapid transport systems (both over and underground) is extensive. In most inner cities it is futile to try and drive anywhere so you might as well use public transport to get around. It just so happens that this is much more green. And it’s good to be green™.

Air Travel

It’s a fact of life that there are some trips where air travel is the only feasible way to get there, without taking up a large chunk of your precious time. However convenient air travel undoubtedly is, you should remember that during your trip hundreds of tons of damaging greenhouse gases are pumped out into the atmosphere. Scientific evidence suggests that the effects of distributing gases at 30,000ft+ are considerable. Here are a few tips to fly as green as possible.

22. Online instead of face to face: There are so many different online meeting solutions that let you chat, video conference, share and edit documents with presenters and delegates. These are so good that you can conduct business from your desk instead of flying. Of course there will be times when you simply must go and meet the person, but if every business could replace some flights with an online meeting things will start looking up for our shared environment.

23. Think about where you are going: Sure, you need a break on the beach. But do you have to fly to Egypt when you can catch a train to somewhere in France or Spain? For our American friends, why not vacation in Florida or North / South Carolina instead of the Caribbean? If you can choose a destination closer to home you might not need to fly at all and take the train instead.

24. Combine work and play: If you just have to attend a meeting somewhere overseas, why not book a few days off after the meeting and stay there for a week or so? That way you get the best of both worlds and you don’t have to fly as much, which will massively reduce your carbon footprint.

25. Carbon offset flights: Many airlines are waking up to carbon offsetting and passing some of the expense on to their passengers. If you are so inclined (and can afford it) you can pay a little extra for your flight and the airline will take your extra money and invest it directly into planting trees. Companies such as Treeflights exist in the UK to do just that, planting trees in Wales and Peru.

26. Travelling to the airport: Most hub and regional airports have good public transport links, which means you can catch the bus or train instead of driving to the airport and adding to your carbon footprint even more.

27. Pack light: Your luggage is weighed at checkin so that the amount of fuel needed for the flight can be calculated. Rudimentary mathematics suggests that when it comes to luggage and emissions, less is more.

28. Air travel ticketing: Simple, choose an electronic ticket rather than a paper ticket and thereby reduce the need for paper to be wasted.

Accommodation

When you are done travelling and you’ve arrived, keep up with your green habits. One of the biggest contributors to global warming is sloppy environmental practices at home, so you need to continue turning off lights and being good to the environment. This is especially important in poorer countries with underdeveloped infrastructure. You should remember that while your hotel has no shortage of water and electricity, the villagers nearby aren’t so fortunate.

29. Hotel: During your hotel stay, try not to waste energy unnecessarily by continuing what you perhaps already practice at home. You can do this by turning off the tv, switching all the lights off and turning the A/C or heat down where you go out. Also, you could opt for short showers and use your own toiletries instead of the small and usually over-packaged small hotel toiletries.

30. Stay green: There are lots of green hotels around the world. Why not stay somewhere that actively promotes the green lifestyle when you’re away?

31. Taking home memories: Avoid disposable cameras and bring your own digital camera. Like any other modern device which takes loads of energy to make and only get used once before being dumped, disposable cameras are rather wasteful.

Okay it’s a song, but I just had to tell you about my backpack bicycle that I carry around when I travel. It weighs only twelve pounds and I can fold it to a volume of only one cubic foot. When I want to use it, it takes me just ten seconds to unfold the entire bicycle. The foldable bicycle has some really quick release clamps for that fast unfolding of the bike. It’s an automotive miracle!

It won’t only help you get to where you want to go, it will also keep you healthy. To me, wealth is all about great health, and traveling can be stressful sometimes. I ride this foldable bike everyday, which is part of my daily routine, wherever I may be. I cycle each and every day for thirty minutes to keep my cardiovascular system healthy.

If you’ll get one yourself, you don’t have to worry if it would last for a long time because it is very durable. Its dual-chain drive transmission can make the bike propel up to fifteen meters per hour. Its level of impact resistance is like the aircraft-grade aluminum.

For a quick stop, the backpack bicycle has some pneumatic brakes. When you are riding rough or riding through a rough road, your trouser cuffs will not get dirty because the chains of the backpack bicycle are entirely closed.

This is not only for travelers, like you and I but also for everybody with different bike needs. But for a traveler like myself, I like the idea that it is portable so I can carry it around wherever I am at. Whether I will just stay at home, or travel around the world, I can have my ultimate exercise everyday.

I also ride across town with style and confidence, because of its uniqueness and fascinating design. I just love this backpack bike, and I’m sure you will love it too, as it is already an improvised bike. Its portability is everything to me. So always travel with this bike in your luggage or backpack to make sure that your heart pumps two thousand gallons of blood, and beats a hundred thousand times each day.

If you always find yourself unable to get some decent shut eye when you’re jetsetting, you might want to try what I use.

I usually do not get enough sleep when traveling and I just don’t know why. Maybe it’s because of the many things that I think of like the time my flight will be, the things that I will do in my destination, the necessary things that I should never forget to pack, the excitement of meeting new people and discovering more cultures, and oh so many more.

Luckily, I have the ultimate gadget that I couldn’t start traveling without. The Dreamate sleep inducer helps me get enough sleep before I travel. I don’t want to have jet lags and feel groggy on the first day of traveling, so I always use the Dreamate sleep inducer one day ahead. When I arrive at my destination, I feel so lively and perked up, saying goodbye to eye bags.

It is so easy to use. Just wear it around your wrist 30 minutes before the bedtime that you want and try to relax. The Dreamate sleep inducer works by massaging the “sleeping golden triangle”, which is a set of acupressure points on your wrist, making you fall asleep and relax naturally. It automatically turns off after 30 minutes or sleeping. It does not react with any medication that you’re taking, and it is non-addictive, as well.

You can also use it if you want to sleep on the plane because the destination that you are heading to has a different time zone. So even if it’s daytime in Europe and you’re on a plane bound to Asia, the Dreamate sleep inducer will induce you to fall asleep on the plane. So when you wake up, you don’t have a jet lag even if it’s still daytime when you arrive in Asia.

It helped me a lot by making me get excellent mental focus and a very good outlook in life. I had become very productive in my work and travel and I know that I am healthy because I am getting the enough sleep that I should have. I also don’t feel stressed out when traveling and I always find myself smiling everyday.

I am pretty sure that you will agree with me when I throw you the cliche health is wealth. I always carry around my SteriPen water purifier whenever I travel to ensure that I will not be rushed to the hospital due to amoebiasis or other sickness.

Wherever I go, I drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration, and since that I can’t be too sure if I’m always served with clean water, then I just dip my SteriPen into the glass of water to make sure that it is safe to drink. It is especially important when you travel with your baby or children, since children are very prone to sickness.

Do not be too lax or confident that you can not get sick from just drinking non-purified water. Always carry a SteriPen with you especially when you travel. It is so easy and fun to use. You just have to push the button twice then dip the SteriPen to a half a liter of clear water until the indicator turns green. It automatically kills bacteria, protozoa like Cryptosporidium and Giardia, and viruses in just 48 seconds.

For 1 liter of water, it usually takes up to a minute, compared to other water purifiers like the chemical chlorine that purifies water for a very long 4 hours. The chemical iodine also takes so long to purify water, but the SteriPen purifies water so fast that you can drink the water almost immediately. It has also been tried and tested by several laboratories such as the University of Maine, University of Oregon, University of Arizona, and etc.

It is very suitable for traveling because it is very lightweight. It weighs less than 225 grams including the batteries already. Pump filters can purify water as well but one pump filter weighs a pound or two.

The SteriPen is very portable and handy. To purify clear water, it uses UV or ultraviolet light. The SteriPen determines the duration of exposure with its integrated microprocessor and temperature sensor. Compared to test strips or timers with ungtangling hoses and balancing bottles with pump filters or chemicals.

Now, you can type on your notebook or laptop even during a power failure or when someone beside you is already sleeping. The USB computer light from Lewis N Clark is a very useful device while traveling and chronicling your experiences.

It illuminates your notebook keyboard in dark areas or in dimly lit places.  It has a clip that fastens onto your laptop frame so that wherever you place your laptop the light stays. You can also pivot the USB computer light to provide illumination wherever you need it. It does not require an external power source. You simply connect the USB connector to any available USB port on your laptop.

The Lewis N Clark computer light includes two very bright LED lights and promises to last for hours. And though this is commonly used with laptops, you can also use this for your desktops, as well, or even on any other activity that would necessitate private light in dark areas. So the next time the lights are turned off on the plane and you desperately want to continue with your work or read a book, just clip it on, hassle-free.

With the SELPHY ES1 from Canon, printing your photos while jetsetting is no longer a problem. You can unload your digicam immediately for fresh set of photos and have something to leave with new friends as a remembrance.

It would be really very convenient if you can print your photos on the go. There are times when you will meet a very friendly person beside you on the plane and you just have to take both of your pictures. With the Selphy ES1 as a great icebreaker, making friends on your travels is possible.

The printer is packed with a 2.5 inches color screen, wireless printing capabilities, 50-sheet capacity, media cassettes and all-in-one ink cassettes as well, optional battery pack, one-touch operation for unparalleled ease of use, and built-in enhancement and effects tools.

It is a compact photo printer that combines ink and paper in one cartridge, in which you just have to place the cartridge into the printer to print documents and photos easily. It is also fantastic because it enables you to print up to 50 glossy and smooth photos at once, allowing you to produce a full photo album without you overseeing the entire printing process.

There are seven packs to choose from, ranging from credit card to postcard sizes. It also prints in black and white and sepia for that artistic or aged effect.

The ES1 produces superior quality prints and enables you to start up the printer instantaneously and lets you to operate the printer faster than other printer models. It uses dye-sublimation technology and each dot has up to 256 intensity levels color after color. It also features a protective coating to prevent fingerprints, spills, and splashes.

It gives you more creative and playback options in which you can print directly from memory cards. You can also tilt the printer up and the 2.5” color LCD features viewing angle for more convenient image preview and selection. The new enhanced and improved LCD playback options feature thumbnail views, full screen display, Auto Rotated images, and slideshows.

You can trim or crop photos as well.  There’s a Creative Print button that enables you to have an instant access to a wide range of selection of design layouts, such as speech bubble templates, calendar, and albums. If you ask me, this is something I’d want to take with me when I’m on the go. The Selphy ES1 retails for around £115.

It is the first CDMA Blackberry smartphone that is capable of global roaming on GPRS/GSM networks so you can travel across the globe with a full data coverage and mobile voice without changing smartphones, email addresses or phone numbers.

Mobile At Its Finest

While traveling, the BlackBerry 8830 enables you to check your email, browse the internet, send text and instant messages, organize your travel, organize your life, and enables you to call anyone.  It has a built-in MP3 or media player for your music and video clips.  It has an expandable storage or memory to make sure you’ve got plenty of room to store your media files.

Its features include voice-activated dialing or VAD, advanced phone features, blackberry maps, tethered modem, high capacity battery, setup wizard, a trackball, and etc. The BlackBerry Maps is the feature that is totally made and included for travelers.  You can check the maps and have turn-by-turn directions from your smart phone more effectively and efficiently wherever you travel.

Just paste, click an address in your address book, or type in the address into your 8830 to launch the maps.  If you need to download or upload large files while traveling, you can use your smartphone as a high-speed, wireless modem for your laptop. You can exchange files browse the web at broadband speeds.

Hassle-Free File Handling

Transferring files to and from your smartphone and computer is really easy. You can use Bluetooth, or USB cable to move your files. Its trackball navigation system makes it easier for you to select items or icons by just using your thumb to scroll and click.  It has an innovative and high-capacity battery to make sure that you’ll have the power to make the most of it all. With the VAD or Voice-Activated Dialing on your smartphone, you can just simply make a call by telling your smartphone who you want to speak to.

The BlackBerry 8830 has an integrated address book wherein you can just place a call or send an email from your contacts list. You can input tasks and check them off as soon as you have completed them and you will be able to keep your appointments and meetings straight and you can update them while traveling.

The Traveller’s Ultimate Buddy

You can keep track of the time of your flights and the things you need to do, buy, and accomplish on your trips.  Find answers quickly by browsing the internet virtually whenever and wherever you choose

You can also make your smartphone really your own by customising your BlackBerry 8830 to match your traveling life.  You can download ringtones, games and applications, and wallpapers for fun and day to day productivity.  There are also perfect accessories for your 8830 which you can choose.

Your hectic traveling life will be a lot less hectic if you only have this smartphone. Enjoy your travels by not worrying about the ones you left behind because you can always reach them with the BlackBerry 8830.