More comfort on long flight

We took a fascinating trip, called “Life Along the Mekong River by Barge,” with Road Scholar (Boston, MA; 800/454-5768), Sept. 27-Oct. 11, 2011.

Everything about the trip was perfect, but the air travel was a challenge: Atlanta-Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Ho Chi Minh City westbound and Siem Reap-Bangkok-Hong Kong-Los Angeles-Atlanta return.

Of course, the LAX-Hong Kong legs were the ordeals — 14½ and 13¼ hours, respectively. That’s why ITN readers may be interested in a strategy to get ample legroom for about $7 per hour.

Road Scholar had booked our flights on Cathay Pacific (800/233-2742). When I went onto the airline’s website to check our seats, I discovered that they sell exit-row seats in economy for an extra $100 each.

I called Cathay Pacific and paid the fee for these seats and found they were well worth it. We could stretch out, and the people in inside seats could step around without having to crawl over us.

Combining this legroom with Cathay Pacific’s superior service made these flights as comfortable as economy could be.

TED MULLETT
Vero Beach, FL