JAL 737-800 Seat Selection Guide (2026)

The version lottery: two identical cabins, eight rows apart

Most version lotteries are about different seats. This one is not. Put the V32 and the V35 side by side and every seat sits in exactly the same place — same bulkhead, same missing window, same pair of overwing exits, same rear galley. The three domestic versions share one cabin arrangement, and only the seat numbering varies.

What varies is the number painted above the seat. Economy on a V32 runs from row 15 to row 39. On a V35 or V36 the identical cabin runs from row 7 to row 31. Everything shifts by exactly eight.

The trap: three rows that look like exit rows, one that behaves like one

Both domestic versions carry two overwing exits in quick succession, and the seat map shows three consecutive rows with something special about them. They are not equivalent, and the pricing does not always separate them.

Row 21 (V32) / row 13 (V35) sits immediately ahead of the first exit. It has ordinary legroom, and because the escape path behind it has to stay clear, 21A, 21B, 21J and 21K do not fully recline. It is the worst kind of seat: a normal row that has quietly given up its recline for the benefit of the row behind it.

Row 22 (V32) / row 14 (V35) is the first exit row. It has the extra legroom — but 22A, 22B, 22J and 22K are themselves restricted, because a second exit sits behind them. Only the two aisle seats, 22C and 22H, get the space and keep the recline.

Row 23 (V32) / row 15 (V35) is the second exit row and the prize. All six seats carry the extra legroom and none of them are recline-restricted, because there is nothing behind them that needs a clear path. If you are paying for legroom on a JAL 737-800, this is the row to pay for.

Class J (domestic V32, V35, V36)

Twenty Class J seats in four rows, laid out 2-3: A and C on the left, H, J and K on the right. JAL publishes Class J at 97cm of pitch and 47cm of width, and describes it as carrying 18cm more pitch than Standard Class — which puts domestic economy at roughly 79cm, or about 31 inches.

The 2-3 layout matters more than the numbers. On the left, A and C are a true pair — two people can take both and neither has to climb over a stranger. On the right, H, J and K are a trio, and J is a middle seat wearing a premium-cabin badge. Only 40% of this cabin has direct aisle access.

• Best: row 1 — the bulkhead leads the cabin, with open floor ahead of all five seats. 1A and 1K are the window picks.
• Best pair: the A/C pair in any row — two seats, one aisle, nobody in the middle.
• Best solo: 3A or 4A — window seats with only one person to step past.
• Leave if you can: 2J, 3J and 4J — middle seats at a premium fare.

Domestic economy, row by row

Row numbers below are given V32 first, V35/V36 in brackets. The seats are the same either way.

The seats worth going out of your way for

• 23A and 23K (15A / 15K) — the rear exit row. Extra legroom, full recline, a window. The best economy seats on the aircraft.
• 15C (7C) — the standout oddity. The forward bulkhead row has only five seats: there is no 15B on a V32, no 7B on a V35, and the position beside this seat was never fitted either. 15C therefore has nobody alongside it and the neighbouring underseat space to itself. On a 737 in economy that is a rare thing.
• 16C (8C) — sits behind that gap, so there is no seatback in front of it at all. Extra legroom, at the cost of an armrest tray table and no underseat bag.
• 16A and 16K (8A / 8K) — the best-aligned windows in the forward cabin.
• 29A and 29K (21A / 21K) — the best window pair in the rear half, well clear of the lavatories.
• 39K (31K) — the very last seat. Direct aisle access, nobody beside it, and the underseat space next door is yours. The galley behind it is the price.

The seats to leave

• 18A (10A) — a window seat with no window. Wall only. Its opposite number 18K is one of the better windows in the cabin, which makes booking the wrong side of the same row an expensive mistake for anyone who wanted the view.
• 21A, 21B, 21J, 21K (13A, 13B, 13J, 13K) — restricted recline, ordinary legroom.
• 15A and 15K (7A / 7K) — bulkhead legroom, but the window is set behind the seat; you lean back to see out.
• 28A/K, 30A/K and 32A/K (20A/K, 22A/K, 24A/K) — misaligned windows. One oddity: 26K on the V32 is misaligned where 18K — the same physical seat on a V35 — is not. Comparing the two cabins seat by seat, that is the only difference in all 165, and it looks more like a cataloguing slip than a real one.
• Rows 37 and 38 (29 and 30) — immediately adjacent to the rear lavatories, with the galley behind. These are the lowest-rated seats in the cabin.
• 15H (7H) — bulkhead legroom but no underseat storage and a tray table in the armrest. Fine for a 90-minute hop, less so with a laptop.

The international V40 is a different aircraft

Eight aircraft carry the international layout, and almost nothing about the domestic guidance transfers. Business drops to twelve seats in three rows at 2-2 — A and C, H and K — so half the cabin has direct aisle access rather than 40%. Economy loses thirteen seats to 132. And the row numbers do something no domestic JAL 737 does.

V40 economy: the two exit rows

Row 22 and row 45 straddle the numbering gap and both are exit rows. Row 22 measures about 97cm (38in) — roughly 12cm more than the rest of the cabin — and row 45 about 95cm (37in). Neither row is recline-restricted.

• 22B, 22C, 22H, 22J — the pick of the aircraft. The full 38 inches with no compromise.
• 22A and 22K — the same 38 inches, but the window sits forward of the seat, so you lean ahead to see out. If legroom is what you want, take them; if the view is, do not.
• 45B, 45C, 45H, 45J — 37 inches, clean. The second-best economy seats.
• 45A and 45K — same row, window set behind the seat.

V40 economy: the rest

• Row 15 is the forward bulkhead, full six across. Extra legroom, no underseat storage, and both the tray table and the video screen live in the armrest — which narrows the seat you actually sit in. 15C and 15H do best of the six: the bulkhead ahead covers only about 60% of the seat, leaving open floor on the aisle side.
• 51A, 51K and 54K — the best-aligned windows in the rear cabin.
• 18A — no window, exactly as on the domestic versions. 18K opposite is one of the good ones.
• Rows 57 and 58 — the rear lavatories. Row 58 is rated at the lowest grade across all six seats.
• 47A, 47K and 49A — misaligned windows.

V40 Business

Three rows of 2-2. Row 1 is the bulkhead with open floor ahead, and 1A carries the only perfectly aligned window in the cabin — 1K has a window too, but set slightly off the seat. 1A is the pick; 2A/2C and 2H/2K are the best pairs for two people travelling together.

Cabin features compared

How to tell which version you are on

Open the seat map and answer two questions in order.

One warning about step 2: both domestic versions have a row 15. On a V32 it is the forward bulkhead; on a V35 it is the good exit row. If the map shows a row 15 with only five seats and no B, you are on a V32.

Twenty-three aircraft fly the V32 layout and eight the international V40. No separate count is published for the V35 and V36, which together make up the balance of the 61-aircraft fleet — so treat the V35 as the version you are most likely to meet on a domestic sector, but read the map rather than assuming.

Quick-pick summary

Comparable guides

• ANA 737-800 — the same aircraft on the same Japanese domestic routes, with eight premium seats instead of twenty
• JAL 787-8 — the widebody JAL puts on the busiest domestic trunk routes
• JAL 767-300ER — another JAL type with a domestic and an international cabin
• JAL A350-900 — the domestic flagship, and the only JAL narrowbody-length cabin with seatback screens throughout
• JAL 787-9 — the long-haul cabin the international 737-800 feeds

Frequently asked questions

Is Class J worth paying for on a domestic 737-800?

For pitch, yes — 97cm against roughly 79cm is a real difference on a two-hour sector, and 47cm of width is more than economy offers. But the cabin is 2-3, so pay attention to which side you book. The A/C pair on the left gives two people a private pair; H, J and K on the right put someone in a middle seat at a premium fare.

Which JAL 737-800 seat has the most legroom in economy?

On a domestic aircraft, row 23 (V32) or row 15 (V35/V36) — the rear overwing exit row, which has the space and keeps its recline. On the international V40 it is row 22, which measures about 38 inches, roughly 12cm more than the standard rows.

Are there any seats with no window at all?

One, and it is in the same physical place on all three versions: 18A on a V32 or V40, 10A on a V35 or V36. It is wall only. A handful of other window seats have the window set behind or ahead of the seat rather than missing entirely — 15A/15K on the domestic versions, 22A/22K and 45A/45K on the V40.

Why does the international version skip from row 22 to row 45?

JAL numbers the international 737-800 cabin so that the break falls at the overwing exits. The practical effect is that the aircraft has 22 economy rows spread across row numbers 15 to 58, and the two rows either side of the gap — 22 and 45 — are the two exit rows. It is also the quickest way to identify the version from a booking map.

Does the JAL 737-800 have seatback screens?

The international V40 does — audio-visual content screened on demand, with the video monitors for bulkhead row 15 built into the armrests. The domestic V32 and V35 have no seatback system at all. All three versions carry Intelsat 2Ku Wi-Fi across the whole fleet.

Is there a seat with nobody next to it?

Two, on the domestic versions. The forward bulkhead row has only five seats — there is no 15B, and the position beside 15C was never fitted — so 15C on a V32, or 7C on a V35, has open space alongside it and the neighbouring underseat area to itself. At the back, 39K (31K) is the last seat in the cabin with no seat beside it, though the galley behind it is noisy.