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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Travel
Lucy Thackray

Get a whole row to yourself on the plane with this handy trick

Chelsea Dickenson/CheapHolidayExpert

Catching a flight is a real lottery when it comes to getting space to yourself.

Often, you’ll board to find the plane completely packed; while other times on a quiet flight, you can take over a whole row of seats and enjoy a much more comfortable flight.

Now, one TikTok user has posted a savvy travel tip for getting an entire row of seats to yourself on a flight.

The tip only works for those travelling as a pair - so couples, take note.

Chelsea Dickenson, who posts travel videos on TikTok as @CheapHolidayExpert, gives two separate tactics for getting a whole row on a plane.

Step one is to book row 13 on your flight.

This, Dickenson explains, is because some people are still superstitious about not flying in a row with the number 13 - thought by some to be unlucky.

So you’ll have a lower chance of other flyers going out of their way to select that row on the plane.

Step two is to book the two seats on either side of the row - the window seat and the aisle seat on a typical configuration of three seats per row - and leave the middle seat vacant.

This, Dickenson explains in the video, makes that middle seat even less appealing to prospective seatmates - not only is it on row 13, the next person booking will be able to see that they will be flying with a passenger either side of them.

Assuming there’s space on the flight, most customers will choose to book a different row.

Then, it’s just a waiting game, says the TikTok travel guru, showing herself and a pal boarding a British Airways flight in order to test the tactic.

The pair wait until boarding is complete, then celebrate finding themselves with a seat in between them - maximum space on a small-aircraft flight in economy.

“We bl**dy smashed it,” says Dickenson. “So much space.”

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