If legroom is a concern, Seatguru has solutions

FRIDAY, OCT. 26: I’m not a big guy.

The gene pool was not kind to me as far as height was concerned, which might be a given when three of your uncles are nicknamed ‘Shorty’.

But even I feel cramped on some airlines when they try to jam pack extra seats to make a few dollars more.

If you happen to be a bigger person than I, which is probably many of you, you’ll find seatguru.com very useful if room is a big concern.

You can click on a flight and find out how much pitch (fancy airline talk for legroom) and width a specific seat has on a flight.

Which is all the more important when many airlines are charging you to purchase a specific seat.

At least now you can make a more informed decision.

Below are Bermuda’s flights and how Seatguru ranks them on the Toronto flights:

Air Canada’s Toronto flight to Bermuda operates both the Airbus A319 and A320.

Both flights have 14 first class seats. What you need to know on the A319 flights is the executive class seats (D and F) on the right side of the plane have 38 inches of legroom compared to 39 inches on the seats (A and C) on the left.

Some consider the best executive class seats to be 2 A and C which has even more than the standard 39” pitch.

Personally, I never like seats facing the bulkhead as there is no storage room and you are forced to put your carry-ons in the overhead bins.

The same holds true for seats 1 D and F.

On both sets of these seats, those people with shorter reach may be bothered by trying to change the channels on the personal TVs.

The width on all first class seats is 21 inches.

There also is no bulkhead between executive and economy and some people may not prefer row 4.

Which also goes to say, the first row of executive class, row 12 (yes, it skips rows 5 to 11) isn’t that hot because the executive class seats have extra recline to them, which means they will be into your personal space. As an added disincentive, the armrests on Row 12 do not come up, creating problems getting in and out.

To sit in rows 12 to 14, you’ll pay extra for, just because you are closer to the front of the plane. There is no extra legroom.

For row 14, you need to be aware that seats A, B, D and E have limited reclining ability due to the exit row being behind it.

Row 16 only has four seats and it brings with it a coveted 35 inches of legroom.

Seats 17 A and F have nearly unlimited legroom as there are no chairs in front of them.

You’ll have to pay extra to get one of these as they are designated preferred by Air Canada.

Rows 18 to 22 are standard economy seats on this flight and you’ll get 32 inches of pitch compared to 31 inches of legroom on rows 23 to 29.

Row 29, the last row, is generally considered the worst on the plane because besides less legroom, the seats also do not recline as much.

The width is 18 inches on all economy class seats.

For those of you looking for power ports in economy class to plug in your portable device, you’ll want a seat designated A, B, D or E. There are also USB ports on every seat.

On the Airbus 320, 17 and 18 are in the exit row with many people considering row 18 the best in economy class — unfortunately, that means you’ll pay extra to sit here.

Row 16 is one to avoid as they do not recline because the exit row is behind them.

WestJet operates a Boeing 737-700 to Bermuda on Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays.

There is no first class and all seats come standard with 32 inches of legroom and 17 inches of width. Seats with extra legroom are 1 D-F, 2 A-C, 6 C, 7 C and 12 A-C, F.

All B and E seats have limited storage capacity underneath them.

Row 24. The last row, does not recline.

There are now power ports so tech junkies will have to wait until the plane lands to plug in.

Next week: A comparison of the New York flights.

*The title of this article was originally misspelled and has been corrected.