Tourist explains how to always get a row of seats to yourself on the plane – but people say she’s selfish
A WOMAN was accused of being selfish after revealing a hack she claims to use to ensure she always gets a row of seats to herself whenever she flies.
Squashing in next to strangers on board a plane is never fun, leading some people to take drastic measures.
Money-saving Instagram account Spoken is run by a woman who offers advice on how people can cut back on every day costs.
She revealed a “hack” for getting a whole row of seats on planes, while only paying for one seat.
She labelled it “poor man’s first class” and said it involves buying three tickets, but refunding two shortly before taking off.
In the video, she said: “This is called ‘poor man’s first class’.
“I bought one ticket for myself, then I bought two more fully refundable tickets in the same row.
“Then, 45 minutes before I boarded, I cancelled two of my tickets, and I got all of my money back.
“90 per cent of the time, the airline doesn’t fill up the spare seats. so I get the whole row to myself.
“In the end I only paid for one ticket because the other two were fully refundable.”
Most people were really not impressed with the hack, describing it as selfish and saying it could drive up ticket prices.
One wrote: “There are a lot of people who need to travel for work, family emergencies etc. You’re taking affordable seats that someone might have really needed.”
Another said: “Great, just drives up the cost of all seats.”
A third added: “This is incredibly selfish on several levels.”
There are other ways in which passengers can increase their chances of getting a row to themselves, without having to refund tickets.
Marlon Misra took to online forum Quora to share his tip for getting the best seats on flights.
He wrote: “Select your seat as late as possible.
“This way you can choose a seat where the remaining row is free.
“I’ve had a lot of success doing this. A few times I had rows – three seats – completely empty which meant that I could lie almost flat on entire flights.”
Another frequent traveller, Lucas Chesterton, agreed with Marlon’s tip and said getting on last can help you get better seats.
In a video he shared on his Instagram account, he showed how he waits until the last call for boarding, before taking his pick of the remaining seats.
He said: “When I know that it is the final call and there’s nobody else coming, I will walk on the flight and I will look for two or three seats by themselves.
“I know that no one else is coming and I’ll take those seats and get a row to myself.”
Meanwhile, travel experts revealed several methods they have used to get themselves a free row.
And a man was told he was “creepy” for his method for keeping the seats next to him empty.