The best seat on the plane is in the very back

Over the last year, I learned a crucial travel fact about myself: I prefer to sit at the back of the airplane.

I'd been leaning in that direction for years — and not because of data that suggests the back of the plane is the best in the event of a plane crash.

But as someone who flies thousands of miles per year to destinations as close to home as Norfolk, Virginia, and as far as Dubai — primarily in economy — my choice of seat matters almost as much as where I'm traveling.

I don't expect to have many supporters, but sitting at the back of the plane can be better than the front of economy.

One of the biggest complaints about sitting in the last row is being close to the lavatory, but it's a nonissue for me. I drink lots of water on flights to combat dehydration, so I make several trips to the lavatory, even on shorter flights. And any foul odors from the lavatory are easily taken care of by slipping on a mask or asking a flight attendant to freshen it up.

While many travelers understandably book closer to the front to be the first off the plane, I rarely rush to deplane unless I have a connection. I've also found that airlines generally don't charge a fee to sit in the back, unlike the exit row, which can cost nearly $100 on some routes on U.S. airlines.

While I've mostly booked last-row seats on short- and medium-haul flights, such as to Miami or Los Angeles from my home in New York City, I'm not opposed to doing so on a long-haul flight. In fact, some of the best seats on long-haul flights can be found toward the back.

Perhaps the best example is on Singapore Airlines's longest flight in the world — a whopping 18-hour-and-50-minute nonstop flight from New York.

Singapore flies an all-business and premium economy Airbus A350-900 ultra-long-range jet on the route. There are just 94 seats in premium economy, a far cry from other long-haul routes that fit as many as 300 seats behind the business-class curtain. Most of the premium economy section is situated in a 2-4-2 configuration, meaning there are two seats on either side of the fuselage and four seats in the middle.

Rows 40 through 42 have the coveted solo seats and have no neighbor, a boon on a flight taking up most of the day. But a solo seat in Row 42 might possibly be the best premium economy seat in the house — even if SeatGuru doesn't agree — due to it not having a seat behind it.

On shorter flights, booking the back row means I can recline without bumping into the knees of the passenger behind me and avoid a passive-aggressive complaint or, worse, a broken laptop or tablet.