As a rule, I generally avoid bulkhead seating. But I’ll make an exception going forward on United’s 757-300s.
While bulkhead seats in any class of service generally provide two advantages, namely more knee room and no one reclining into you, I tend to avoid them. That’s because legroom is generally restricted by the bulkhead wall. Not only am I on the taller side, but I have long legs…stretching under the seat in front of me is essential for me to be comfortable.
United’s old 757-200s used to have what I considered to be the absolute worst bulkhead seats in row one of first class. There was no cutout, there was no extra legroom, just the closet wall that made getting comfortable practically impossible for me.
But the 757-300s, once part of the Continental fleet, are much different. And I really had no idea until I noticed them on my recent flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. I did not assign a row one seat (I prefer row six on the 757-300), but when using the lavatory prior to departure I took a look at seats 1A/B and did a double take…
Look at all this legroom. There’s enough room to slide a whole large carry-on in and still have plenty of room to stretch your legs.
CONCLUSION
Anyway, perhaps this will be useful to some of you. For all the flying I do on United, this was the first time I had noticed the legroom on these seats. Also note the cutout is only on the A/B side and not the E/F side.
“the cutout is much deeper on the A/B side than the E/F side”
Unless I’m missing something, there is no cutout on the E/F side. I seem to recall that the 738’s and 739’s when first delivered had a closet on the port side and row 2 (2A/2B) was the first row. They began to reconfig in 2007 or 2008 but I may be wrong on that; I seem to recall that there was a cutout in front of 2A, but I could be wrong and thinking about the 733s.
What if they do a last minute aircraft swap? Then you’re stuck with the crappy seats.
I remember I got upgraded to “business” on air Canada rouge going from yyz to dub. I was elatted, until I got to my seat in 1D. Then I wished I was still in economy.
Argosy is correct, there is no cutout on the right side. The left side only has it.
It is spectacular. I flew 1A last year on the 757-300 from DEN to SFO, and it was awesome. 1A and 1B are the best seats in the fleet (non international planes only).
Good to know
What causes these anomalies? The one that always surprises me is the A319 (or is it A320) in the first row. Gratuitous space, it’s great, but you wonder can’t some of it be better used in economy.
Point of clarification – these first/biz class seats are in the new seat design with the space for laptops on the side – so they can’t be the “old” CO planes.
Not all the 757-300’s have been outfitted with the new seats…
How does the cutout make this the most comfortable seat on the plane? What if one is not tall? What about recline, window access, space between seats, engine noise, seat padding and God knows what 50 other factors that make a seat comfortable? I found this article to be clickbait. Unsubscribe.
Bye!
1A is the best seat on the 753. Period.
(and Matthew, what took you so long? 😉 )