I vividly remember the birth of SeatGuru and how their tools really made travel better. A whole bunch of websites come and go and mostly they are not missed. But SeatGuru was different. It was one of those rare tools that quietly, fundamentally shifted power back to the consumer. Its passing isn’t just a tech footnote; it marks the end of an era for frequent flyers, nervous travelers, and anyone who stubbornly refused to gamble with their comfort at 30,000 feet.
Life before SeatGuru consisted of the great unknown. Unless you a serious frequent flyer, you had no idea whether the seat you chose was good or bad. Picking a seat was like taking a stab I the dark. Are you picking a seat that would recline? Was it actually a window seat, or just a beige wall where a window should be? Was your seat near the bathroom?
SeatGuru provided you with information that allowed you to make informed decisions. Green seats were gold. Yellow were acceptable compromises. And Red seats? Stay away from.
No spin. No euphemisms about cozy seating. Just the facts. It exposed preferred seats that were actually terrible. It warned you about the immovable armrests, the missing under-seat storage, and the surprise bassinets lurking in the bulkhead.
Many times my wife would ask whether I checked SeatGuru? It allowed us to travel more comfortably and not worry about our seats.
But as so often happens, the industry evolved. Airlines realized they couldn’t hide the bad rows forever and improved their own maps. Newer sites developed better tools based upon updated data. Then SeatGuru was sold to Expedia and subsequently spun off with TripAdvisor. As part of a corporate bureaucracy, SeatGuru entered middle age and lost its freshness and identity in the industry.
Thank you, SeatGuru, for every avoided middle seat and every small victory against the airline algorithm. You didn’t just map airplanes—you mapped peace of mind. You will be missed.