Use maths and pyschology to get a better airline seat - flying with 3 others

Since I travel a lot, I pay close attention to getting the best airline seat that I can. It can make a big difference in onboard comfort.

In part one I stated there are at least as many aisle seats as window seats, and gave some common seat preferences. In this post I introduce some basic maths and pyschology and explain how I select seats on every different seat layout.

First some assumptions.

1. This post covers seat selection for passengers who are flying with three other people, assuming you want to sit together. Hopefully there won't be too many arguments over who gets the middle seat! If flying alone or with 1 or 2 other people please read the previous posts.
2. I assume you'd like to sit together with your travelling companions.
3. I assume that you prefer to be seated either in a window or an aisle seat wherever possible.
4. I assume you like to have space. An empty seat beside you is great for inflight comfort, especially in economy class.
5. Everything being equal a window seat with less seats to climb over to get to the aisle is preferred over one with more seats to climb over, and the same applies for aisle seats (because this means less passengers climbing over you).

Take account of seating configuration

The configuration of seating in each aircraft can vary. Use the airline website, seatexpert or seatguru to find out the layout for your flight. On some routes there may be a choice of aircraft configurations on different flights. The layout number below represents the number of seats in each row with aisles represented by "-". Because the proportion of aisle, middle and window seats varies by configuration, and thus the number of good seats, I include the proportions of seats which are Aisle, Window, Middle (in that order). I use the terms centre or inner section to refer to seats in between the two aisles on widebody aircraft, and outer section for the seats between aisle and window.

Recommendations for 4 people flying together

1-0 or 0-1
100% Aisle, 100% Window, 0% Middle
Take seats 1 behind the other.

1-1
100% Aisle, 100% Window, 0% Middle
Look for 2 empty rows in succession.

2-0 or 2-0-0 or 0-2 or 0-0-2
50% Aisle, 50% Window, 0% Middle
Find two adjoining empty rows.

1-1-1
100% Aisle, 67% Window, 0% Middle
Find two rows in succession with empty centre seat and window seat (on the same side each row).

1-2 or 2-1
67% Aisle, 67% Window, 0% Middle
Find two rows in succession with empty block of 2 seats.

3-0-0 or 0-0-3
33% Aisle, 33% Window, 33% Middle
Find two empty rows in succession and take 2 seats in each row.

1-1-1-1
100% Aisle, 50% Window, 0% Middle
Any empty row.

1-2-1
100% Aisle, 50% Window, 0% Middle
Any empty row.

1-1-2 or 2-1-1
75% Aisle, 50% Window, 0% Middle
Any empty row.

2-2
50% Aisle, 50% Window, 0% Middle
Any empty row.

1-2-2 or 2-2-1
80% Aisle, 40% Window, 0% Middle
Take the 2 blocks of 2 seats in the same row.

2-1-2
60% Aisle, 40% Window, 0% Middle
Find two rows in succession where the 2 outer seats on the same side are empty.

2-3 or 3-2
40% Aisle, 40% Window, 20% Middle
Take an empty row and leave the window seat on the 3 side free.

2-2-2
67% Aisle, 33% Window, 0% Middle
Take any 2 adjacent blocks of 2 seats.

3-3
33% Aisle, 33% Window, 33% Middle
Find a row where just 1 window seat is taken (and all other seats are empty). Take the empty block of 3 seats plus the other aisle seat.

2-3-2
57% Aisle, 29% Window, 14% Middle
Any row with an empty centre section and outer section. Take the 2 centre section seats closest to the outer section being taken leaving the far aisle seat free.

2-2-3 or 3-2-2
57% Aisle, 29% Window, 14% Middle
Any row with an empty centre section and outer section.

2-4-2
50% Aisle, 25% Window, 25% Middle
Take a centre section seat.

3-2-3
50% Aisle, 25% Window, 25% Middle
Any row with an empty centre section and outer section. Leave the window seat free.

3-3-2 or 2-3-3
50% Aisle, 25% Window, 25% Middle
Any row with an empty centre section and outer section on the 2 side. Take the 2 centre section seats closest to the outer section being taken leaving the far aisle seat free.

2-5-2
44% Aisle, 22% Window, 33% Middle
Find a row with empty outer section and just 1 aisle seat taken in the centre section. Take the 2 outer section seats, the available centre aisle seat and adjacent middle seat leaving 1 middle seat free.

3-3-3
44% Aisle, 22% Window, 33% Middle
Find a row where just 1 window seat is taken in an outer block of 3 seats and the centre section is empty. Take the centre section plus the aisle seat leaving empty an outer middle seat.

3-4-3
40% Aisle, 20% Window, 40% Middle
Find an empty centre section.