By Jim Donovan

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Summer vacation season is right around the corner. Are you planning on flying anywhere? Since all planes aren’t created equal, hopefully you’ll get a decent seat.

American Airlines, Delta, and United are now offering a special row with a bit more leg room.

Brett Snyder, of Crankyflier.com, says, “This relatively new and greatly expanded class [is] generally called premium economy.”

The extra cost for these premium economy seats varies based on the airline and length of flight. In most cases, you can expect to pay an extra $30 to $40, but that can jump to several hundred dollars for international flights.

You can find other good seats in coach online. Websites like Seatguru.com and Seatexpert.com offer such services, while Expertflyer.com will let you know if a better seat opens up on your flight.

“The bad news is you might have to end up having to pay for it, because airlines have started charging for more of these seats,” says Snyder.

Even flights with open seating may offer you first dibs. Snyder says, “Try and check in 24 hours in advance. You can actually pay to get on board the aircraft before the rest of the teeming masses.”

But your seat might only be as good as the person sitting next to you. Malaysia Air and KLM offer “social seating,” where passenger’s social media profiles are matched with their seats, connecting people who want to network.

“Other people, they just don’t want to sit next to anyone. This also creates an opportunity: create a profile that makes you the most ‘unliked’ person around!” Snyder says.

Links:

www.seatguru.com

www.seatexpert.com

www.expertflyer.com

www.crankyflier.com