We Tested The Best Seat in Economy Flight Hack

Updated: August 4, 2025

When booking our flights for our recent trip to Korea, I spotted a unique economy seat that came with a huge comfort factor. I decided to book it and test it out to discover – is this really the best seat in economy?

Where did we fly to?

Our flights to Korea were with China Southern, and involved a first leg of 10 hours from London to Beijing. This is where I decided to book this legendary ‘best seat’.

Which seat is the best seat in Economy?

On our China Southern Airbus 350-900 flight, we booked seat 52K. It’s a window seat and known to some as being ‘the best seat in economy’.

Why is it the best seat in Economy?

This seat is unusual because it has no seat in front of it, so you have unlimited room in front of you to stretch out your legs.

Sadly for me in my standard economy seat next to it, it’s just a one off. It’s not for the whole row like it would be in an emergency exit row!

Here’s what my leg room looked like!

Do you have to pay for it?

Unfortunately yes! On our flight to Beijing, China Southern classes it as an ‘Extra Room’ seat in Economy Class and it cost £85.60 on top of the price of the ticket.

You just simply select it when you’re prompted to choose your seat on the plane.

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Why pay extra?

Seeing as it was a night flight, and such a long flight at 10.5 hours, I thought it was worth paying for the best seat in economy for James for the extra comfort factor, and to see whether it was worth the money.

Remember, you can fully stretch out your legs in this seat. And this way you don’t have to fork out for Business Class – those seats cost thousands of pounds!

Is this the best seat in Economy on every airline?

Different airlines use different planes in different configurations, so it won’t be the best seat in Economy for every airline. On our flight, there was one other seat with the same benefit, which was on the opposite side in the same row – seat 52A.

This is the case for both configurations that China Southern have for their A350-900.

We checked some other airlines to see if the same type of seat was available…

Singapore airlines

Plane	Seat	Seat Number	Type
Airbus 350 900	✅	48A and 48K – Window seats	Economy Class Extra legroom seat
Airbus 350 900 Medium Haul	✅	56A and 56K – Window seats	Economy Class Extra legroom seat
Airbus 350 900 Ultra Long Range	❌

Qatar airlines

Plane	Seat	Seat Number	Type
Airbus 350 900	✅	17C and 17 H – Aisle seats	Economy Class Extra leg space seat
Airbus 350 900 Medium Haul	✅	17C and 17 H – Aisle seats	Economy Class Extra leg space seat
Airbus 350 900 Ultra Long Range	✅	17C and 17 H – Aisle seats 31A and 31K – Window seats	Economy Class Extra leg space seat
Airbus 350 900 Ultra Long Range	✅	36A and 36K – Window seats	Economy Class Extra leg space seat

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Lufthansa

Plane	Seat	Seat Number	Type
A350-900 Allegris	❌
A350-900 (224 Economy seats)	✅	18C and 18 H – Aisle seats 28A and 28K – Window seats	Economy class extra legroom
A350-900 (241 Economy seats)	✅	31A and 31K – Window seats	Economy class extra legroom
A350-900 (262 Economy seats)	✅	31A and 31K – Window seats	Economy class extra legroom

Delta Air Lines

Plane	Seat	Seat Number	Type
A350-900 359	✅	41A and 41K – Aisle seats	Economy class preferred seat
A350-900 35H	❌
A350-900 35L	❌

However, remember to always check the seat plan of the plane you’ve booked and note that sometimes planes can get swapped out at the last minute, though if you have paid for extra legroom you should be assigned to a seat that still has this.

Will I have to pay for the best seat in Economy on other airlines?

For the popular airlines we listed above, these seats all carry a fee. Each airline calls these seats something different, and they will be in different locations depending on the aircraft model and how it’s configured. But they are all categorised as a more elevated type of Economy seat and so you do have to pay extra.

The fee will vary depending on which route you are flying, but it’s definitely worth considering these seats as an additional option for a bit more room when you travel.

Can you book two of this seat type together?

For configurations where this seat exists, they don’t appear next to one another. But there are at least two, so if there are two of you travelling you can try booking both of them and enjoy some extra legroom apart! Alternatively, you could book one for each way and take it in turns to sit there.

What was the total cost?

With the flight costing £364 for a return flight to Seoul in economy, here’s what it would cost to ‘upgrade’ to the best seat in economy – though remember, it was just for that first leg between London and Beijing.

Leg	Cost	Total Cost
One way	£85.60	£449.60
Return	£171.20	£535.20

And if you need a little help finding a cheap flight, make sure you give our booking guide a once over before your next trip!

Was it worth the money?

Being the generous housemate that I am, I gave James this seat on our flight, who gave it a big thumbs up. He said he had so much leg room, he even coined the phrase ‘budget business’.

It’s also worth noting that to fly business class on the same route would likely cost you around £2046 return!

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Now, of course you get a fully flat bed and a LOAD of great benefits in Business Class, not just extra leg room, but when you see the prices, £85 extra each way for a full leg room seat looks like an absolute bargain!

And I’d have to agree with James. On such a long flight, it’s so worth it to be able to stretch out and get comfortable, and get a proper night’s sleep! And for much less than the cost of a Business Class seat. So it’s a big YES from us!

Just next time, I might nab the seat instead!!

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About Chelsea Dickenson

Chelsea Dickenson is the founder of Holiday Expert and a UK travel expert known for helping people travel smarter without overspending. Trusted by over 1 million followers across her social platforms, Chelsea’s known for not only sharing helpful travel advice, but testing out travel hacks and those deals that seem too good to be true.

As well as her social content online, you can find Chelsea on the sofa on This Morning as one of their regular travel experts, and writing for the Metro in her monthly column – as well as popping up as a guest expert across other media publications.

She also keeps followers updated with topical articles on Holiday Expert, the best deals on her weekly newsletter and the most interesting travel stories on her podcast, The Holiday Expert Show.

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