What is a Bulkhead Seat on an Airplane?

Bulhead Seating

Bulkhead seating is a term that refers to the seats that are immediately behind the bulkheads (or walls) of an airplane that separate different classes. You may have walked by a wall and/or curtain that separates first or business class on your way into the economy class.

What are the disadvantages of bulkhead seats?

Typically, this row of seats has physical limits stretching your leg because of the physical barrier of the wall in front of you.

What are the advantages of bulkhead seats?

But airlines have increased that space lost to serve two purposes, increase legroom in the aisle between your feet and the wall to accommodate restless legs and those traveling with an infant.

That benefit generally will be reserved for families who might be traveling with a baby.

The wall generally has holes that allow a portable bassinet to be hooked into these holes to provide a sturdy platform to put your baby in so you do not need to carry him or her on your lap on the entire flight.

Another benefit, you don't have to worry about any passenger in front of you reclining all the way back while you are watching or movie or eating.

Some passengers find these rows as a great travel deal compared to other seats throughout the cabin because without an extra passenger in front of you, the overhead bin tends to be clear for your bags.

The chances of for another passenger in the row in front of the bulkhead seating to place their bags in your row is lower than other seats in the cabin where a passenger might bring on board multiple carry on bags.

How can you book bulkhead seats for your flight?

If you have the option to choose seats, you can use a tool like seatguru.com to identify where the bulkhead seats are on a flight.

All you need is the date of departure, airline, and flight number to lookup on the plane's seat configuration.

Seatguru.com has nice additional information whether if there are display panels for watching a movie installed on the bulkhead or swings out from the arm bar rests.

Additionally, you may want to check if there are AC plugs or USB to charge your laptop or portable devices like your phone.