Travel hack reveals how to get a ‘whole row to yourself’ on flights

There are a few travel hacks floating around TikTok that could be helpful if you’re flying in a pair and don’t want a stranger sitting in your row. 

Travel guru Chelsea Dickenson from Cheap Holiday Expert shared some of the strategies she uses whenever she wants to get a whole plane row for her and her travel companion. Even better, none of these tips will cost travelers an additional cent.

First, Dickenson recommends traveling pairs book their seats apart from each other in an empty row. With one person booked for a window seat and the other person booked for an aisle seat, Dickenson reasons that a stranger will likely look elsewhere to avoid the dreaded middle seat.

“Even if they do book that middle seat, you can ask them if they want the aisle or the window and it works out for everyone,” she said in her TikTok video, in case the first attempt fails.

You can increase your chance of getting an entire row though by booking seats near the back of the plane or opting for row 13 “as lots of people think it’s unlucky,” Dickenson said.

Since its original upload date on Oct. 11, Dickenson’s video has been viewed more than 386,900 times.

“I’ve used the hack around 10 times and would say I have a 60% success rate,” Dickenson told Fox News. “I’ve heard from many followers too that it’s worked for them – the main failure comes from a full flight and unfortunately, there aren’t any hacks that are gonna get you a free seat in that case.”

While several commenters were skeptical of the hack’s effectiveness, a few people claimed the hack has helped them snag a whole plane row.

“Been doing this for [the] last 7-8 years,” one TikTok user shared. “Unfortunately it works half the time as planes are often fully occupied. But the theory is correct.”

“I once did this solo,” another commenter wrote. “Booked the middle seat, no one wanted me.”