What Airline Has the Roomiest Seats?

Q: Which domestic American airline has the roomiest seats for the lowest price?

–William, Los Angeles, Calif.

A: Since there are variations among airlines, and even among different planes with the same airline, it's pretty difficult to definitively answer your question. But it is easy to do your own comparisons if you're, say, trying to choose between two similarly priced tickets. Even then, though, since airline fares fluctuate so much, it's tough to get a handle on this question. However, there is a great Web site that can help you figure out which airlines offer roomy seats and which ones don't.

Seatguru.com offers a list of more than 75 airplane seat maps from at least 40 different domestic and international airlines. It provides detailed seat maps, seat pitch, and seat width, and color-coding identifies preferred and substandard seats. The site also has comments on seats that have reclining limitations, poor legroom, and misaligned windows. It even lets you know which seats have power-port locations for charging electronics, like your laptop or cell phone. Keep in mind that airlines have different types of aircraft, and seat pitch varies respectively, so be sure to check the airline’s itinerary for the type of aircraft the flight will be using.