I’m writing a series of posts about some of the tools and services I most use for managing my travel and points. While I often mention these websites and services in passing, I’ve never written dedicated posts about them, so that’s what I’m trying to do now.
In this post I wanted to talk about aeroLOPA, which I consider to be the best website for reviewing airline seat maps and picking the best seats. In separate posts I talked about Google Flights, ExpertFlyer, AwardWallet, point.me, Seats.aero, MaxMyPoint, and more.
In this post:
The sad decline of SeatGuru
If you’ve traveled by plane with any frequency, you probably know that not all airplane seats are created equal, even within the same cabin. Everyone has different preferences, and when it comes to airplane seating arrangements, knowledge is power.
Historically SeatGuru was basically a household name, and was a website that many people referenced when choosing seats. The website has seat maps for hundreds of aircraft belonging to dozens of airlines, and these pages share details like seat pitch, and which seats should be chosen and which should be avoided.
Unfortunately SeatGuru has gone downhill in recent years. At this point SeatGuru has actually just stopped updating seat maps. So you won’t see seat maps for new aircraft, and you also won’t see old aircraft seat maps removed. So while the website is still up and historical seat maps are there, nothing is actively being done with it.
I’m not sure why exactly SeatGuru seems to no longer be updated. The website is owned by TripAdvisor. You’d think this would be a valuable marketing tool, though maybe it’s just not a priority, and/or they couldn’t figure out a way to monetize it correctly? I don’t know…
aeroLOPA is a useful tool for airline seat maps
The good news is that aeroLOPA is a website that’s essentially the new SeatGuru, only better. For those curious about the name, LOPA is an airline industry term that means “layout of passenger accommodations.” In other words, it’s a description of how an airplane cabin is configured. For those working in the industry, it’s common to use the term “LOPA,” though admittedly it probably hasn’t caught on as much with the general public.
Not only is aeroLOPA a more modern and cleaner looking website than SeatGuru, but honestly, it’s just generally a more useful website than SeatGuru was:
- aeroLOPA shows the exact location of windows in the cabin, which SeatGuru never did; that’s great for those of us who like to choose seats with well aligned windows
- aeroLOPA doesn’t make a judgment call as to which seats are “good” or “bad” (as SeatGuru did), but rather just gives you all the information about where galleys and lavatories are, so that you can make your own selection
- aeroLOPA shows exact details of seats that SeatGuru never showed, so it’s much more detailed
- aeroLOPA does an excellent job updating the seat maps for new aircraft, and removing the seat maps for planes that airlines no longer fly
- aeroLOPA has all kinds of useful information about inflight entertainment, Wi-Fi, charging capabilities, and more, when you scroll down
Bottom line
If you’re not using aeroLOPA to pick the best seats for upcoming flights, you’re missing out. For years, SeatGuru was widely known as the best resource for this, but at this point it’s no longer being updated. Fortunately we now have aeroLOPA, which is not only being updated, but is even more useful than SeatGuru ever was (at least in my opinion).
Do you use aeroLOPA? Also, does anyone know the real story of why TripAdvisor more or less shut down SeatGuru?
will be on a Delta 737-900ER next week. Have chosen Comfort+ seats 11D/E. Now Im concerned that these bulkhead seats (behind closet) may have restricted leg room due to the bulkhead versus seats acrodd the isle 10 B/C (first row of comfort-non-bulkhead). AeroLPOA shows 11D/E with extra legroom. Can anyone confirm?
Thank you
E. Wolf ([email protected])
i use aeroLOPA & now, thanks to Igthus, i also have seatmaps bookmarked. doing quick research (less than 5 min) i noticed that if the airline is not on aerLOPA example: Binter Canarias then they usually are on seatmaps and vice versa.
I have two suggestions for Aerolopa that would make it even better:
1. Sometimes, there are power boxes under some seats, which make it difficult to extend one's feet under them. This can even happen in business class.
2. I have found the comments written by travelers in SeatGuru to be informative. Of course, it is important to ensure that the comment applies to the specific model of plane where the comment appears. But overall,...
I have two suggestions for Aerolopa that would make it even better:
1. Sometimes, there are power boxes under some seats, which make it difficult to extend one's feet under them. This can even happen in business class.
2. I have found the comments written by travelers in SeatGuru to be informative. Of course, it is important to ensure that the comment applies to the specific model of plane where the comment appears. But overall, the comments have been useful, especially when others repeat them and they therefore can be more trustworthy.
I can’t seem to find out if Aerolapo matches the flight number with the equipment for that flight.
It describes all of the equipment but how do we know which version is used for a specific flight
It seems that one needs to look at all the configurations for that aircraft on that airline, and then see which one matches the one shown on the airline's website for that specific flight number.
I just checked Aerolopa out but it doesn’t show you which configuration on specific flights. We fly BA from PHX-LHR regularly and Aerolopa shows several configurations for a 777-200ER but how do I know which one our flight is?
AeroLOPA still doesn’t show details of many planes in several airlines, but it’s still better than SeatGuru which is still showing Alitalia as a valid airline !
Sometimes aerolopa and seatmaps.com have information contrary to each other and I can't really tell who's right. For example BA Cityflyer E-190s have 33 inch pitch on the former and 32 inch pitch on the latter.
I just took a look at seat map.com for a flight on Delta this coming Sunday (17 Sep) - it doesn't even show the flight - so seems kinda worthless then.
BenBob, do you mean seatmaps.com ? Which route?
What is missing is the individual seat reviews by users - the most useful feature of SeatGuru, IMHO.
That is what I liked about Seatguru. Without the reviews and opinions, it is just descriptive data about the amenities themselves. I want to know how people feel about the seat, the aircraft, the service, and everything on board.
I agree with these comments and disagree with Ben about including reviews of "good", "poor" or "bad" seats.
One thing that currently none of the seat plans indicate is the "superior" or "preferred" seats (eg. Singapore Airlines business class bulkhead seats have more leg space in bed mode on ULR flights)
Just looked at aeroLopa and it doesn't have the WestJet equipment I'm on this week (turboprop). Second largest airline in Canada and the listing isn't complete?
Major issue with aeroLOPA in relation to Aer Lingus
The 2 A330 aircraft that the company has leased from Qatar Airways have been problematic since delivered. The WiFi / has does not work, the IFE does not work in about 95% of the "Y" seats and in "J" it is hit & miss. Although listed as being available on all seats, power does not work in all of the "Y" cabin and in only about...
Major issue with aeroLOPA in relation to Aer Lingus
The 2 A330 aircraft that the company has leased from Qatar Airways have been problematic since delivered. The WiFi / has does not work, the IFE does not work in about 95% of the "Y" seats and in "J" it is hit & miss. Although listed as being available on all seats, power does not work in all of the "Y" cabin and in only about 95% of the "J" cabin
These 2 aircraft are registered EI-EIK & EI-EIL and probably should be listed in the listing for 30/287 config A330
Yes, as a window seat lover AeroLOPA is incredibly helpful.
However, it did not direct the right seat on the Starlux A350 business class. The airline's website shows some seats windowless while AeroLOPA doesn't, and figured out they are not windowless per se but the misalignment of seat between two windows.
So it's better to crosscheck with other sources as well to be on the safer side.
I’m not sure I agree with this post - aerolopa seems fine, but seems to really offer very generalized information rather than the details you suggest for most of the aircraft I searched (admittedly anecdotal but nevertheless). The design of the site is bland and it doesn’t seem to offer photos of the actual seats, where seatguru allowed those to be posted. I don’t see aerolopa as a viable replacement yet. It seems the same...
I’m not sure I agree with this post - aerolopa seems fine, but seems to really offer very generalized information rather than the details you suggest for most of the aircraft I searched (admittedly anecdotal but nevertheless). The design of the site is bland and it doesn’t seem to offer photos of the actual seats, where seatguru allowed those to be posted. I don’t see aerolopa as a viable replacement yet. It seems the same as a handful of other “seatmap” posting websites that don’t provide pros/cons to any sort of seat. Disappointing.
aeroLOPA sadly does not appear up-to-date, either:
The Austrian/OS 767 I am going to fly next week features *5* rows of premium economy (30 seats), whereas aeroLOPA, like SeatGuru, only has the *3* rows (18 seats) configuration.
seatmaps.com has this right.
AeroLOPA looks great. Thank you very much for sharing it.
I started using aeroLOPA a while ago, because I was disappointed with seatguru. They often did not show any planes for flights I had booked far out. I like that it shows the windows, because that's a 'must' for me. I was surprised to see, that you mentioned 'details' when scrolling down. I guess, that's just for major airlines, I did not find anything on the Condor A330-900 NEO.
This stumped me - which airline is the thumbnail image from?
But it is right there to the left of the nose: American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Type 788. When you click on American Airlines in the left drop-down, you get choices of all their planes. To the left of the seat circles you see the Type, 788, or 788T
No, not that one – the one with the beige-ish blue premium economy seats in the post thumbnail. It's unrelated to the post.
Lol, nevermind – I see the ITA Airways logo on the seats now
The one feature that SeatGuru has had, yet to appear on AeroLOPA, is which version of a particular aircraft is being used for a specific route on a specific day -- a key piece of information in making an informed advance seat selection.
@Lucky -- My biggest complaint with aeroLOPA has already been mentioned. Contrary to what you suggest, detailed information on the seats (width, pitch, etc.) is completely absent on any number of planes. At best, this makes the information of little value; at worst, completely useless. At least SeatGuru had that for every aircraft, the lack of updates notwithstanding. Once aeroLOPA has that info for every layout, it will be extremely valuable. Until then, at least...
@Lucky -- My biggest complaint with aeroLOPA has already been mentioned. Contrary to what you suggest, detailed information on the seats (width, pitch, etc.) is completely absent on any number of planes. At best, this makes the information of little value; at worst, completely useless. At least SeatGuru had that for every aircraft, the lack of updates notwithstanding. Once aeroLOPA has that info for every layout, it will be extremely valuable. Until then, at least for me, it's "hit or miss."
I can't believe I never stumbled across this! Thank you for sharing. Seat Guru has been so frustrating the past several years, especially with so many airlines rolling out new products. Trying to figure out if it was new Polaris/DL One/any airline with an inconsistent fleet was so brutal - having to check it against Expertflyer, the airline's own site, equipment tracking codes, etc. Very excited to start using this.
Very helpful post. I had noticed SeatGuru was frequently wrong but didnt realize there is now a better alternative. Guess TripAdvisor couldn’t figure out a way to monetize SeatGuru
Its a sleeker presentation but still mostly useless as they just report what the airline publishes . It would be very helpful if they would at least provide the actual size of the lay-flat beds . Instead of a description and pitch size . A little extra effort would be great
I'd love an alternative to SeatGuru, which I agree continues to go downhill. However, it seems aeroLOPA can be a bit hit or miss for what info they have.
As already noted in the comments, many airlines/planes don't seem to have seat pitch, width, etc info. They don't even have that for United's 757s, for example.
Also, for many airlines, aeroLOPA doesn't always tell you which specific seats have limited recline, limited legroom, etc....
I'd love an alternative to SeatGuru, which I agree continues to go downhill. However, it seems aeroLOPA can be a bit hit or miss for what info they have.
As already noted in the comments, many airlines/planes don't seem to have seat pitch, width, etc info. They don't even have that for United's 757s, for example.
Also, for many airlines, aeroLOPA doesn't always tell you which specific seats have limited recline, limited legroom, etc. While they have don't even have that for JetBlue, for example.
I’m relying on LOPA for United’s B787-8 and United’s picture of the outside of the plane to pick 3L with two windows. Not just one window as United shows on its 3D 360 view of the cabin
Thanks, Ben! I've long been disappointed in SeatGuru (and Tripadvisor generally, but that's another story) but until now didn't know a better alternative.
I don’t care. Just give me an aisle seat with floor storage for my handbag, and overhead storage for my roller, and no smells from the bathroom, and no loud noises from galley chitchat, and no frigid temperatures from being next to the emergency exit.
Maybe they could add that. I’m sitting on an alaska flight and the first cabin reeks of urine.
You're on a US based airline, what did you expect LOL.... I'm surprised it's not full of shit....
But I don’t find any dear details such as pitch, width, recliner or lie flat, etc.
This seems to vary. I'm looking at Singapore it lists that info on the 787 but not on the a350
You can't search by Route & Date, can you?
No you can't, but Seat"guru"s search option is absolutely rubbish, it literally shows congratulations no longer in operation and very rarely show the correct seat congratulations for a specific flight. Unlike Ben's assertions that is it recently seatguru went down hill, it is probably getting close to 10 years since it was worth anything.
it's expensive to have a real-time schedule, however, looks like seatmaps.com does it better
Ben, LOPA is Layout of Passenger Accommodations. You have it down as "Location", which is incorrect. Otherwise, great to see aeroLOPA getting the love it deserves. I swear by the site and mention it in my posts at every opportunity. They had me at the windows!
It’s definitely best for *new* configurations, but for old configurations seatguru still has better individual seat info.
Worth mentioning explicitly that the aerolopa plans are drawn to scale, unless otherwise indicated. So unlike seat guru you're seeing the actual pitch of each seat relative to others.
Because the eye squinting difference between 30” and 31” to scale on a website is more useful than just reading the numbers?
Because seing if wide body business class seats in the same row number are significantly offset or not is helpful when planning.
And yes, it is marginally noticeable when viewing pitch on narrow bodies as well.
SeatGuru was purchased by TripAdvisor (then owned by Expedia) in 2007.
But Expedia *spun off* TripAdvisor (including SeatGuru) back in 2011. TripAdvisor is now a public company, partially owned by Liberty Media.
If you can’t find the airline on AeroLOPA another decent website to use is www.seatmaps.com
I'd recommend www.seatmaps.com over either of the other two any day. Quick, accurate pop-up info on each individual seat. Sweet!
I agree! Seatmaps has plenty more airlines and, on aerolopa, I tried two airlines (SV and TK) and couldn't find seat information on either.