The reality is that the likelihood that you’ll actually find yourself next to an empty seat on most popular to semi-popular routes is low. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use a few small tricks to try to increase your odds of going it alone while flying the friendly skies. Take a look at three tips for increasing your odds of sitting next to an empty seat on your next flight.
Keep Your Eyes on the Back of the Plane
Keeping your eyes on the prize means looking toward the back of the plane in many cases. There’s actually an interesting reason behind why the back of the plane is the best spot for getting some “alone” time. Most passengers choose seats toward the front of the plane when selecting seat assignments. What’s more, those front-choosing passengers tend to book window or aisle seats. It all works out so that middle seats located in the back of the plane are chosen last. That means you’ll want to select a seat as far back as possible. Some Flyertalk members, however, feel it’s not worth it to sit in the back of the plane as seats in the back are near the bathroom, and other passengers often congregate in the back, especially during long flights.
Be Strategic When Flying as Part of a Pair
Are you flying with another person? It’s possible to strategize your way into having your own part of the row. Again, you’re going to want to focus on the back portion of the plane. It’s important to mention here that most people actually prefer aisle seats over window seats when given the choice. That’s probably because more people would rather have easy access to the bathroom instead of great views. Of course, the one seat that nobody wants is the middle seat. This is where the strategizing comes into play.
Anyone traveling as part of a party of two should select the aisle and window seats instead of two seats that are adjacent. There’s really no way to lose when you do this because you can easily just offer to switch seats if a third person does sit in the middle seat. However, this strategy allows you to use the universal dislike for the middle seat to increase the odds of someone skipping over your row when selecting a seat, though, you may miff some travelers if you and your travel partner select an aisle and window seat.
Download Your Airline’s App
Selecting your seat may not be enough because others could be selecting their seats right through the check-in process. You can often keep track of how your plane is filling up on a real-time basis using your airline’s app. Waiting to select your seat until the last minute could benefit you. Some airlines really will let you change your seat right up until boarding if you ask. Delta, American, Alaska, Hawaiian and Frontier have apps that allow you to select your seat online, change your seat or see if you’re eligible for an upgrade on the fly. The bottom line is that you should ask a gate agent if there’s a way to change your seat if it looks like you’re going to get stuck between two other passengers.
Being Seat Smart
Getting all or part of a row to yourself is all about knowing how a plane fills up. It’s important to always remember that planes fill up from the front on almost every flight. Of course, there’s simply no way to avoid getting a seat neighbor if you’re flying on a popular route that’s booked to capacity.
Cough a few times and mention how cold Beijing is now.
This idea is good, but generally only works in long haul flights, 3-3-3 configuration, The middle 3 is the best. I have flown several times and deliberately booked an aisle seat in the middle 3, if the other aisle is also booked and in the back rows. This is for routes where there is no basic economy and it works reasonably well. On domestic flights only the early morning and late night flights have many empty seats.
Empty seats, hahahaha.
Empty seats may be rare these days but I have actually gotten them several times in the last few years, without having to talk to gate agents or pursers. Flying solo helps.
It used to be the case with long haul 3/4/3 layout that if reserving a central aisle seat D or G there was a better chance of having an empty seat next to one than if taking C or H, but once the pricing software improved to maximise loading, I eventually gave up hoping for that empty space and moved on to Premium Economy once it was introduced. Never went back to Economy and as for the special hell of sitting at the back of the plane.....