We are planning trip to Paris next year and my husband is actually thinking about going. Can anyone recommend an airline that flies direct betweem SFO and CDG with adequate leg room for someone 6'6" in economy?

I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Hi kdm, I don't think there is much difference with the various airlines economy seats, but maybe someone else can advise you differently. Any chance you can travel business class? Maybe buy coach seats that qualify with ff miles that would upgrade you to business class. Flying isn't much fun anymore is it.

One one airline flies SFO-CDG non-stop - Air France. And their coach seats have average legroom (32" pitch), which will be very tight for a 6'6" person.

You'll not get adequate legroom in regular coach for any airline. Try a premium economy product from Virgin, British Airways or SAS. Or "Economy +" on United.

no airline fits that criteria. Even economy plus will be cramped for someone that tall.

That's true.

But if one's still interested in premium eceonomy, two other airlines fly between US and Europe with it:

Air NewZealand LAX-LHR
BMI Las Vegas/Chicago to Manchester

No airline fits those criteria, because no carrier offers adequate leg room in economy. seatguru.com can tell you who has what.

Some airlines "allow" you (how generous...) to pay a little more to book a seat in the exit row in coach. I think it might be Virgin? If you can get status on American Air (Gold, Platinum, EXP) you can book these seats for free.

I know some big/tall people prefer lay-overs that allow them to walk around and stretch out after several hours over non-stop flights that force them to sit for 10+ hours.

On my first trip to Europe, on a tour..one of my fellow travelers was 6'6" and big!!!! NOT FAT, but linebacker big. He had flown from Seattle to London, and I asked him if he went economy. He said yes, and he had either an exit row seat or bulkhead which he said made the trip manageable for him. Alas, on the home stretch those seats were not available so I'm sure he was just miserable. Anyway, try for either of those seat areas.

Thank you for your replies....I was just hoping...Being tall has some advantages in life but flying economy in not one of them

I'll check the prices for the premium/business, but I am still in shock on the prices just from 2 years ago for the econmy seats.

But thank you for responses.

KLM seemed a lot more roomy to me than other airlines.....but I am not sure if it would suffice for someone 6 foot 6.

We had an interesting seat assignment on our return from Paris on Icelandair (last month). Our seat numbers were very low, and when I boarded the plane, I had to turn to the left as if for business class. Sure enough, the seats were business class seats! I asked the flight attendant if there were some mistake, but she said they were in fact economy seats, "just in the business section". On closer inspection, I could see that the divider between business and economy had been shifted forward, probably due to lack of reservations. We didn't care that we had none of the other amenities of business class, we were just happy to have the extra space! This was on the first leg, to Rekyjavik; subsequently we were back in "real" economy with everyone else. I'm now wondering if there's some way to request one of those seats for my next trip!

Maybe next time I'll take advantage of Icelandair's fare specials just to get one of those seats.

ggreen is probably on Icelandair's one 757-300 (the rest of their trans-Atlantic fleet are 757-200). It's probably just pure luck he got that.

rkwan, that's so disappointing! I had a feeling it was too good to last... I guess even I can get lucky once in a while...

I think you are right about being lucky, so maybe we can at least get to the airport early enough and try and get the exit row. Unfortunately, I have no clue as to the difficulty on grabing those seats, however I can sit with my daughters so maybe it might be easier if it were just him.

I really do love the challenges of planning a smooth vacation. Thx again to all your posts.

The ability to reserve exit row seats depends on the airline. Sounds like you don't have status with any particular airline so I'd start researching if the airline you're considering will reserve an exit row seat for a small additional charge.

Going to the airport early will be very helpful for airlines like American Air -- exit row seats are reserved for their frequent flyers. However, those frequent flyers might get upgraded to business or first class which would open up an exit row seat for your husband. If I were your husband, I would get there early and very politley request at check-in AND at the gate to please try to accomodate my pleading request for an exit row or bulkhead seat.

If that failed, as a last ditch effort, I would offer someone in the exit row fifty bucks to change seats... I know if I were approached by someone who was 6'6 and they were stuck in coach, that I would switch with them, probably for free if they were very nice about it.

Thx fishee, I love your suggestions, especially your last