I was talking to a friend the other day and we were discussing about the best benefits offered by airlines.
We both agreed that, beyond the food, priority boarding, the width of the seats, and the kindness of the flight attendants, the most important benefit remains having an empty seat next to you.
He said, “Well, that’s impossible to predict, and it all depends on luck.” Actually, as someone who travels very often on long flights, I assure you that it’s not like that.
There are definitely some things you could do to greatly increase your chances of having an empty seat next to you on a flight. Keep reading because I will reveal all my secrets.
The Time of Booking
As you can imagine, most of the action takes place at the time of booking.
Almost all airlines show you the available seats on your flight, so you can implement a strategy.
First, find a window seat that has only a free seat next to it. Be very careful, it must be only one seat while the aisle seat must be booked.
What mistake do beginners make? They reserve a seat in a row of 3 where all the seats are free.
If you do that, as soon as a couple chooses their seats, they will book the ones next to you (this used to happen to me a lot a few years ago).
So again choose a row where the aisle seat is already taken, you book the window seat and there will be a free seat in the middle.
In that case, people will try to avoid that seat because they don’t want to sit in the middle and will go for another one. But that’s not all, because on very full flights you have to be even more careful and do one more thing.
PRO TIP: Of course, if you want, you can swap the seats. Book the aisle seat with the adjacent seat free, but with the window seat already taken.
On Very Busy Flights
If you have chosen a very busy flight (such as at a peak time or period), the window and aisle seats may run out, and passengers will start filling the middle seats.
The next thing to know is that the first middle seats to be booked will be the emergency exit rows because they have extra legroom. I always try to avoid them because very tall people always reserve them.
Similarly, the front rows fill up fast, and passengers gradually start to reach the back of the plane only as bookings increase.
After following the first advice, you can do this: open your booking and look again at the seat map (a day or two before departure) to check if anyone has booked the middle seat.
If the seat has been taken, move your seat to a row further back that always respects the general rule of “free seat in the middle and another of the two seats already taken.”
Now, I know that some airlines charge for seat changes, while many others do it for free. If you can change your seat for free, it’s a jackpot.
Increases the Chances a Bit More
From this point on, luck comes into play. You’ve done everything possible to secure that wonderfully empty seat next to you, but of course, it’s not 100% guaranteed.
To increase your chances even further, you could choose one of the rows at the back of the plane. These are usually the least popular, and back there, your odds go up a little more.
I know not everyone likes sitting in the back, but on a long flight, having an empty seat next to you is definitely worth more than getting off the plane 10 minutes before the other passengers.
If you are on a 100% full flight, the only option is to surrender or upgrade to premium economy or business. A while back, I explained how you can get an upgrade for free.
Or you can always hope that the person who booked the seat next to yours does not show up; it can happen but is quite rare.
It sometimes happens that passengers are late and are not able to board the flight on time. It can happen when you have to pass an additional security screening in case these 4 letters are on your boarding pass.
