ANA 737-800 Seat Selection Guide (2026)
✈️ Quick Verdict
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 — 38 aircraft
Configuration: one only — 8 Premium Class, 158 economy, 166 total
Layout: Premium Class 2-2 (A–C / H–K), rows 1–2. Economy 3-3 (A–B–C / H–J–K), rows 5–31.
Version lottery: No — a single configuration across the fleet.
Best seats: row 15 — about 37 inches of pitch at all six seats with no recline restriction. 15A and 15K for a window with it.
Seats to avoid: 10A, 11A and 11K, where the window does not line up with the seat at all. Row 13, which loses its recline and gains nothing. Rows 30 and 31 against the rear galley.
Pitch: Premium Class is published at 50 inches and 20 inches wide. Standard economy measures about 79cm (31in), and rows 14–15 about 94cm (37in).
IFE: no seatback screens — audio-visual content is streamed to your own device.
Wi-Fi: Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band, fleet-wide.
The trap: three rows, one of them worth paying for
The single most useful thing to know about this aircraft is what happens between rows 13 and 15. The two overwing exits sit close together, and their effect reaches forward across three rows that a booking map presents almost identically.
| Row | Pitch | Recline | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Standard — about 31in | Restricted at A, B, J, K | The worst row in the cabin. All of the cost, none of the benefit. |
| 14 | About 37in | Restricted at A, B, J, K | Take 14C or 14H. Leave the other four. |
| 15 | About 37in | Unrestricted, all six | The best economy row on the aircraft. |
Row 13 is the one that catches people. It sits directly ahead of the first exit, which means 13A, 13B, 13J and 13K have to leave the escape path clear and cannot fully recline — but the row itself gets no extra space at all. It is an ordinary 31-inch seat that has quietly given up a feature for the benefit of the row behind it, and no booking engine will tell you so.
Row 14 is the first true exit row, at about 94cm — roughly 15cm more than standard. But a second exit sits behind it, so 14A, 14B, 14J and 14K are restricted in turn. Only the aisle seats, 14C and 14H, get the space and keep the recline.
Row 15 has the same 94cm and nothing behind it that needs clearing, so all six seats are unrestricted. It is the row to book.
The one-line rule. Row 15 first, then 14C or 14H, then row 5. Never row 13 — if you find yourself choosing between 13A and an ordinary window in row 20, take the row 20 seat.
Premium Class
Eight seats in two rows of 2-2 — A and C on the left, H and K on the right. ANA publishes 50 inches of pitch and 20 inches of width for the domestic Premium Class recliner, which is a large seat by any narrowbody standard.
Two rows of four is a small cabin, and the 2-2 layout means half of it has direct aisle access — better than a 2-3, and it also means two people travelling together get a genuine pair with nobody in a middle seat.
- Row 1 leads the cabin with open floor ahead at all four seats. 1A and 1K are the picks.
- Row 2 gives 2A and 2K two windows each; row 1 has one at each window seat. If the view matters more than the bulkhead, row 2 is the better buy.
- Two together: 1A + 1C, or 2H + 2K. Either pair works; there is no middle seat to worry about.
Economy, row by row
Economy runs from row 5 to row 31 in a 3-3 layout. There are no rows 3 or 4. About a third of the cabin has direct aisle access, which is the usual arithmetic for a 3-3.
The seats worth going out of your way for
- 15A and 15K — 37 inches, unrestricted recline, a window. The best seats in the back.
- 15C and 15H — the same row on the aisle.
- 14C and 14H — 37 inches with the recline intact, which the windows and middles of row 14 do not get.
- Row 5 — the forward bulkhead. Extra legroom at all six seats, at the cost of no underseat storage and tray tables in the armrests, which narrows the seat slightly. 5C and 5H are the pick: the bulkhead ahead covers only about 70–75% of the seat, leaving open floor on the aisle side.
- 7A and 7K — the best-aligned windows in the forward cabin.
- 30A — a perfectly aligned window near the back, and the one seat in row 30 the galley behind does not reach. 30K has an identical window but sits on the galley side of the row, so take 30A if you have the choice.
- 31K — the last seat in the cabin. Direct aisle access, nobody beside it, and the underseat space next door is yours. The galley and lavatory behind are the trade.
The seats to leave
- 10A, 11A and 11K — the three worst window seats on the aircraft. On 10A the window sits behind the seat; on 11A and 11K it sits ahead of it. None of the three leaves a usable view. If you booked a window for the view, these are the three to move off.
- 13A, 13B, 13J, 13K — restricted recline, standard legroom.
- 20A, 20K, 22A and 22K — windows set behind the seat; you lean back to see out.
- 30C, 30H, 30J and 30K — galley immediately behind. Only 30A and 30B on the far side of the row escape it.
- 31H — a solo seat like 31K, but with the lavatory queue rather than the spare underseat space.
- Row 5 if you want a laptop bag at your feet — the bulkhead means nothing goes under the seat in front, because there is no seat in front.
ANA against JAL on the same route
The 737-800 is the aircraft you are most likely to meet on a Japanese domestic sector on either airline, often between the same two airports on the same day. The cabins are not the same shape.
| ANA 737-800 | JAL 737-800 (domestic) | |
|---|---|---|
| Total seats | 166 | 165 |
| Front cabin | 8 Premium Class, 2-2, two rows | 20 Class J, 2-3, four rows |
| Direct aisle access up front | 50% — no middle seats at all | 40% — J is a middle seat |
| Economy seats | 158 | 145 |
| Best economy row | 15 | 15 on a V35, 23 on a V32 |
| Number of layouts | One | Three |
| Seatback screens | No — streamed to your device | Not published for the domestic versions |
The short version: ANA trades a smaller, better-shaped premium cabin for thirteen more economy seats. If you are buying up front, ANA's eight seats have no middle among them and 50 inches of pitch; JAL's twenty are 2-3 at 97cm, so there is more chance of getting one and more chance it is a middle. In economy the two are close, but ANA's exit-row structure is fixed at rows 13–15 while JAL's moves depending on which of its three versions you draw — which is the single biggest practical difference between booking the two.
Quick-pick summary
| If you are… | Take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tall | 15C or 15H | 37 inches, unrestricted, aisle to stretch into |
| Solo, want to be left alone | 31K | No seat beside it, extra underseat space, own aisle |
| A couple | 1A + 1C in Premium Class | A true pair, bulkhead, no third person |
| After the view | 7A, 7K or 30A | Properly aligned windows — unlike 10A, 11A and 11K |
| Off the aircraft fastest | 5C or 6C | First aisle seats behind the Premium Class curtain |
| Travelling with a child | Rows 16–19 | Mid-cabin, no exit-row age restriction, clear of galleys |
| Booking on price alone | Anything 16–29; skip 13, 30 and 31 | The mid-cabin rows are all unremarkable in a good way |
Comparable guides
- JAL 737-800 — the direct competitor, in three configurations rather than one
- ANA A321neo — the larger ANA narrowbody, and the only one with seatback screens
- ANA 787-10 — what ANA flies when the 737-800 is too small
- ANA 787-8 — the widebody on domestic and short international routes
- ANA 787-9 — the long-haul workhorse
Frequently asked questions
Which ANA 737-800 seat has the most legroom?
Rows 14 and 15 both measure about 94cm (37in), roughly 15cm more than the standard cabin. Row 15 is the better of the two because all six of its seats keep a full recline; in row 14, only 14C and 14H do. Row 5, the forward bulkhead, also has extra legroom but no underseat storage.
Is ANA Premium Class worth it on a domestic flight?
On pitch alone it is a big step: 50 inches and 20 inches of width against roughly 31 inches in the back. The 2-2 layout means no middle seats, so a pair travelling together is genuinely a pair. The cabin is only eight seats, though, so it sells out and it prices accordingly — and on a 70-minute sector the exit row at 37 inches gets you a good part of the comfort for much less.
Are there seats with no window on the ANA 737-800?
No seat is completely walled in, but three come close: 10A, 11A and 11K, where the window is displaced far enough from the seat to leave no usable view. 20A, 20K, 22A and 22K have windows set behind the seat, which is a milder version of the same problem.
Does the ANA 737-800 have seatback screens?
No. Audio-visual content is streamed to your own device, and the fleet carries Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band Wi-Fi to deliver it. If you want a screen in the seatback on an ANA narrowbody, the A321neo has one — it carries the Safran RAVE system, and the 737-800 does not.
Is there more than one ANA 737-800 layout?
No. There is a single 8 + 158 configuration across all 38 aircraft, so the map you see when you book is the map you will fly. That is a meaningful contrast with JAL, which operates its 737-800 fleet in three configurations and numbers two of them differently for the same physical cabin.
Why do rows 3 and 4 not exist?
Premium Class occupies rows 1 and 2, and economy starts at row 5. The numbers in between are left unused across the galley and door area, which is common practice and does not indicate a missing or removed row. Economy runs continuously from 5 to 31 with no other gaps.