Anybody have any input on what it is like to fly (on a long flight too) sitting in the last one or two rows of the plane?

Is it bumpier, nosier, or anything else more annoying than midplane area?

If it matters, my question is in reference to a Boeing 767.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

If you go to www.seatguru.com you can check out comments on each particular seat for your specific airline and plane. Pretty cool!

I've found last rows to generally be noisier and have limited recline, or rather even more limited than the average seat.

You might also have people grabbing the back of your seat or jostling against you if you're in the aisle seat as they stand in line for the lav. You might also have some odors wafting your way from the lav.

Your closer it the bathroom!!

I recall flight attendants standing there complaining about customers and gossiping about one another. I found it entertaining but others might find it annoying.

1. The bathrooms can smell bad.

2. Families with children are often seated in the back.

It's not bumpier or noisier.

We ended up at the last row of a flight coming back from Hawaii one year (we had our kids with us, maybe that's why ... I do notice all the kids are usually at the back), and the worst part was all the traffic headed to the bathroom. It made it impossible to doze and it was quite a bit noisier back there. (Coupled with the family whose nanny was having a heck of a time keeping rein on one of the kids crawling, and I mean that literally, all over the people in the aisle seats). It was the flight from hell.

You are the last person off the plane.

It could be a problem if you have a short connection window.

Bathroom stench and people standing next to your seat talking about the bathroom and waiting to smell it up more, like you don't exist.

Okay, you asked.

It's bumpier, noisier, more crowded, last off - all of those things.

Bumpier because the center of gravity is under the wings, so the "lever arm" - i.e., the distance the plane travels up and down - the pitch - is greatest at the ends. Think teeter totter. Also it moves side to side (called "yaw") more for the same reason, and if the two motions combine (pitch and yaw being the two of the three movements, roll being the third) the chances of urpy sensations are higher.

Noisier because you are aft of the engine exhausts (where the jet noise comes from) and because the tail assembly (above and behind you) creates more drag, hence more wind noise.

More crowded because the loos are aft, and people have nowhere else to walk if they want to avoid "economy class syndrome" or DVT. On a 767 on long hauls (you don't say which airline) the crowds will pretty much be constant, peaking just before and after the meal and beverage services.

Last off for obvious reasons.

Sit there if you must. Use the loo early and often. Buy a pair of noise-canceling headphones (that use a battery to physically cancel the jet noise by creating an opposite-phase noise that neutralizes the incoming noise - they really work.)

Or try to sit farther forward.

Sorry for sharing

Horrible for long flights! We flew Lufthansa from Atlanta to Munich and got stuck in the last row where the seats not only did not recline, they were actually narrower than the rest of the seats. Doesn't seem possible to actually be MORE crowded than usual, but it was. My husband, who weighs 200 and is 5'10" could hardly get up out of the seat once he got in. Fortunately, somebody did not show up and the attendant moved us to an aisle pair of seats farther up.

Vera

Gardyloo,

"Urpy"!

love
roxy

I like the back because you're closer to the bathroom and drink cart

I like being near the airplane gossip and you can talk with the flight attendants easier if you are in the back if you need anything or have questions. I also like being near the bathroom because I take dramamine and the stuff makes you go every 15-30 min. The only downfall is the noise from the motor.

While I did not check the seat configurations for a Boeing 767 before posting, some planes offer more side leg room in the row that tapers down from 3 to 2 seats at the back of the plane. The Lufthansa flight that we booked from Chicago to Munich did not have bathroom facilities in the tail section, just the galley so the only odors we experienced were pleasant. Of course one could list that as another con as you will be last served and may not have a choice of meals. I was sitting on the aisle and had fallen asleep on that flight, when a flight attendent tripped while coming out of the galley with a full tray of ice water. Falling asleep knowing that you were over 'the pond' and waking to ice water in your face is an experience that I will never forget!

I once almost got trapped because the seats in the last row didn't recline -- but of course the ones in front of them do! Very uncomfortable.

Once on a flight from Chicago to North Dakota I sat in the last row...for some reason there was no window and the noise was super, super loud.

While that was probably a fluke (I was flying to North Dakota for goodness sake) I have purposely avoided the back of the plane.

Seems like there's engine noise and fuel smell that you don't notice farther up. I once was in the second-to-last row and ended up alone in my row. Being able to sprawl made up for any inconvenience!

Not fun. See if you can get yourself re-seated. I spent a seven hour flight from Hawaii to Denver with an unobstructed view of the head of the individual seated in front of me. And whose seat - unlike my own - could recline.

Yes, you are close to the rear loos. But I'm not sure I would count that an advantage. I was able to make the flight more comfortable by standing in the back of the aircraft when I could do so. Although the area was very small and it was difficult not to be in the way of the flight attendants.

I got stuck in the last row on a flight between LA and New Orleans. Never again! The flight was full, so I could not be re-seated. I didn't notice any odors from the restrooms, but people standing in line waiting are a bit irritating - I found quite a few of them just staring at what I was doing (reading).

Also, the seat jostling when one person was going back to their seat while the other person was still waiting in line. And even an "excuse me"!

The absolute worse? Not being able to recline the seat at all, but having all three people in front of me fully recline theirs! I had the aisle seat, so I could sort of slither out when I needed to, but the person next to the window was virtually trapped. Plus, it is extremely uncomfortable when you are sitting upright with the headrest of the seat in front of you almost in your lap.

Nope, I'd rather be the person in the next to the last row making the person's life in the back row miserable. (Actually, that was a joke!)

Not a fun experience, especially on a long flight.