how to find a good seat on the plane

With the new low cost and no cost (!) airlines overbooking passengers very often you reach the airport and you realize that you only have a choice of the last aisle seat near the loo. Then you can look forward to trying to read a book without reclining simultaneously avoiding the air hostesses and passengers waiting for their turn to take a leak.

Elsewhere help is at hand. Since people were already used to being treated shabbily by the airlines websites have sprung up that actually have details of each airline and plane type - which seats to avoid etc. They even have something on Air India. Of course none of the sites have data on our domestic planes. But pretty soon ....

In remember my first experience with Deccan (which does not give seat numbers). Everyone rushed into the plane like it was a UP ROADWAYS BUS. By the time I sat down and caught my breath, there was a stern looking air hostess asking me money for food (3 day old cafe coffee day sandwiches). Getting out was an equal pain since everyone had stored their luggage in haste and could not find them.

As things stand now the best you can hope for is to get in early. But then the flight may be so late that getting THAT seat would not make any difference.

Can it get worse? There are some ideas floating around ...