These fantastic sites will save you from ever getting a bad seat again

When you’re booking travel, scoring a ticket to a sporting event, or securing yourself a spot at some other sort of show, you’re frequently faced with the impossible-seeming task of committing to a specific seat—on the spot.

It may seem simple. But, well—which is the best seat on the plane? Which areas of the arena will give you an unobscured view of the action? Is that concert seat going to be behind a speaker? And are the more expensive options really worth their cost?

Today, I’m sharing some excellent tools I rely on to pick the best seat at any kind of event or activity. In addition to helping me feel confident about the quality of my selection, they often help me save some cash—since I can book some of the least expensive seats with the knowledge that they’ll offer a good view and/or experience.

Hang onto these now, and the next time you’re faced with that daunting moment of needing to select a seat without first seeing it, you’ll have all the inside intel you need.

Psst: If you love these types of tools as much as I do, check out my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. You’ll be the first to find all sorts of simple tech treasures!

Your new seat selecting superpowers

I’ve got two especially useful tools for you in this area—both designed to help you find the right seat for different types of occasions.

➜ For selecting the best possible seat on an airplane, fire up ​SeatMaps​. And, for choosing a seat at an event venue—a sporting event, concert, or anything else—head to ​A View From My Seat​.

Both couldn’t be much easier to use.

✈️ First, on the air travel front, just open up ​the SeatMaps website​ in whatever browser you’re using on any device. Plug in the information about your flight and select your flight number.

SeatMaps will then show you a color-coded grid with all the seats on that specific type of plane, and you can dig in deeper to any given option for all sorts of helpful info—for instance:

• What is the exact size and width of each seat?
• Which seats have more legroom?
• Which seats can’t recline?
• Which seats are missing a window view?

With that insight in hand, you can then figure out the right seat for you and decide if any extra fees are actually worthwhile.

You’ll see seats like never before with SeatsMaps’ crowdsourced insights.

~

🎸 Next, when you’re planning on attending an event, pull up the ​A View From My Seat website—or, if you’d rather, grab the app for ​Android​ or ​iOS.

Then, just use the service’s search feature to look up any performer, venue name, sports team, or even city to find the place you need.

Select “Seating Chart” and click or tap any green area to see an actual photo taken from a nearby seat in that exact location. Average people going to shows submit these, complete with a short “review” of each option. You’ll get an idea of the view and learn about any problems or obstructions you might encounter.

Once you get used to selecting seats this way, you’ll never go back.

~

All that’s left is to make your choice—and now, you can do so with full confidence that you’re making a fully informed decision.

• SeatMaps is available only on the web​. A View From My Seat will work ​on the web​ as well as via its native apps for Android​ and iOS.
• Both services are 100% free.
• You don’t need any accounts, and neither service asks for any manner of personal info.

Ready to unearth more off-the-beaten-path tech treasures? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an audio app that’ll tune up your days in some delightful ways—and another little-known tech gem in your inbox every Wednesday!

View the full article