Budget airlines are an affordable way to check places off your travel bucket list…until it comes to seat selection. Although the tickets are cheap, a majority of seats come with an additional price tag. London-based travel influencer Elaine Pool (@travelainewithme) has mastered the art of getting the best seat assignment on a budget airplane. Her secret hack ensures that she has a prime spot without having to pay an upcharge or any hidden fees—which is an anomaly with low-cost carriers.
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But first, what constitutes “the best seat” on an airplane? Pool wrote on Instagram that the most ideal seats on a budget aircraft are located in the “front rows, emergency aisle seats (extra leg room), and far back rows.”
Her theory checks out: According to a 2024 traveler survey conducted by Upgraded Points, bulkhead seats (rows one through seven) and exit row seats are most sought after by American passengers. In fact, 41 percent of respondents said they are “willing to accept the added responsibility of sitting in an exit row for the extra leg room.” Additionally, 67 percent of people put window seats as their top preference, and 32 percent answered aisle seats. (Unshockingly, less than two percent voted for middle seats.)
As for the seating hack in question, travelers will be surprised to learn that it goes against a widely believed myth about online check-in. Most people agree that it’s important to check into your flight as early as possible to help streamline the luggage drop-off process and to avoid potential overbooking issues. However, Pool recommends delaying your check-in time to score the best seat.
“Now, what do you do to ensure you’re basically guaranteed a seat in one of the above categories with random seat allocation…Check in online as late as possible,” she said.
Pool said the trick works for international budget airlines, such as Ryanair and easyJet. “Far back rows on Ryanair flights are still great, because you get to enter and exit through the back, so it’s just as quick as being at the front,” she explained in the post’s caption.
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Her secret hack is that simple, and it’s a loophole for avoiding crazy fees that airlines might otherwise charge at the time of booking.
“Ryanair prioritizes filling up the plane, starting with the worst seats, to encourage you to pay extra to change your random seat allocation to a better seat. So the later you check in, the better your chances of securing the remaining seats that haven’t yet been allocated,” she explained to followers. And the leftovers tend to be “the more expensive seats, located either in the front, far back, or emergency exit rows.”
On an easyJet flight, Pool was able to bump her assignment to a seat in the emergency exit and ended up having the entire row to herself. “I didn’t pay extra for it either, because I simply applied the same approach that I’ve been using for every budget airline that makes you pay extra for seats,” she said on TikTok.
However, Pool’s hack does come with a warning label: “Obviously, don’t check in too late, and always check what the cut-off time is because each flight can be different,” she advised.
Content shared from bestlifeonline.com.