To know your airplane is more important then you think. Most airlines have a number of different airplanes in their fleet. Many time the difference is so small that you as a passenger won’t notice it. But other times, it really matters. It is to make one example a big difference flying Turkish Airlines airline B777 with a 2-3-2 configuration compared to their A350 1-2-1 configuration. While the later is more or less industry standard the 2-3-2 is a really bad option. If you fly EasyJet in Europe with a 29 inch seat pitch you get a total different experience then when you fly with AirFrances 32 inch seat pitch IntraEurope.
So how do you know your airplane? It’s actually really simple. Most booking or search sites such as Google Flights do show the flight number and the planned aircraft model. From here you have two choices.
Flight Radar
You do know your airplane. But of course you want a little more information. So copy the flight number and go to FlightRadar24. Then paste the flight number in the search field. Now you will be able to see if this is the common model for that flight. But you will also be able to see if your intended flight are commonly delayed or canceled. If its the common model then continue to SeatGuru.
Seat Guru
You can also continue direct to SeatGuru and put in the airline, date and flight number to get to know your airplane. Now you will see your flight below and you can click on the seat map. You know your plane but want to compare you plane model with others in the same company? The you just click on the link Airline and show the company you are interested in. A list of al their plane modells shows up and you can search the different seat maps.
Know your airplane on long distances
To know your airplane is maybe most important for longer journeys. Its usually here we find the biggest differences among seat and layouts. But I use them many times even for shorter flights to find out if I shall add some extra money for more comfort. If the pitch is really small, it can be worth to add some to get a seat at raw the emergency or even bid for Business Class.
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I personally think AeroLopa has the best and most detailed seat maps of any website, they do not only show pitch and / or recline, but also window alignment and seat models. Despite putting quality in front of quantity, they still have quite a handful of airlines’ seat maps to view
Thanks for a good tips Vincent. Aerolopa looks like a good seat map.