Seat Wars

Thai Airways promises seats that “transform your journey into a moment of sublime relaxation and comfort,” and they aren’t the only ones. Increasingly airlines are competing to see who can offer the most comfortable seating and the best airplane beds in business class.

It started in 2000 when British Airways spent a fortune (£200 million, then worth $300 million) to provide seats which converted into six-foot, fully flat beds.

“It doesn’t take too many of those 16-hour international long-haul flights, after which you’re expected to walk almost immediately into a meeting, to get how important that seat is,” said John Lampl, vice president for communications at British Airways.

Before getting too excited at the prospect of actually getting a good night’s sleep despite being on the red eye, buyers should be aware and beware of a few things.

Airlines advertising “lie-flat seats” and “flat-bed seats” are not, contrary to what it may sound like, promising the same thing.

Vice president of marketing for SeatGuru.com, Susan Daimler, explained: “There’s so much airline marketing-speak that even educated buyers are not sure what their options are.”

So, some seat vocabulary for the next time you fly:

Recliner: this seat can go back up to 160 degrees from the seat base.

Lie-flat seat: contrary to the name, this seat does not, in fact, lie flat. Generally these seats are slightly angled, at around 172 degrees when fully reclined.

Flat-bed seat: is able to go back a full 180 degrees and become fully horizontal. While this may sound great, actually, passengers should be aware that the seat may not be parallel to the floor. Even flat-bed seats generally have some incline to them, leaving your head higher than your feet.

The pitch: a rough way of evaluating leg room on an airplane. It is the distance between one part of the seat and the same part of the seat in front.

Seat width: generally measured as the space between each armrest on the seat.

Flatseats.com has seat pitch information online for about 160 airlines operating across the world. The difference in pitch beween British airways business class seats and their first class is 72 inches in the first case and 78 inches in the second.

SeatGuru.com says the following companies have flat-bed seats in first and business class on some international flights: Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic, South African Airways, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada.

www.thaiair.com