I’ve logged over 1.5 million miles of air travel so far (much of it in basic economy class), and I’ve learned a thing or two about ending up with an empty seat next to me more often than not.
With a bit of determination (and a sprinkle of good ‘ol fashioned dumb luck), it’s not all that difficult to fly around the world in economy without being forced to rub appendages with creepy strangers.
The six ways of scoring an empty seat next to you on a flight:
Super duper important disclaimer: There’s no guaranteed way of ending up with an empty seat next to you on any given flight. However, these are the 6 things that have helped me to score empty seats next to me over the years:
- Flying mid week (as opposed to Mondays, Fridays, and weekends)
- Choose an aisle seat in the center section on widebody aircraft
- Traveling solo (and remaining as flexible as possible)
- Purchasing an extra seat
- Choosing an airline which guarantees empty middle seats
- Flying on major holidays
Here’s a more detailed description of each:
1. Avoid flying on the weekends
If your schedule is flexible in any way, I highly recommend avoiding travel on the weekends. Mondays and Fridays are probably the busiest due to all the business travelers going to work and then returning home. Sundays are pretty bad as well due to the super hard-core business travelers who leave home a day early in order to make an 8 AM Monday morning meeting somewhere far away.
In my personal opinion, Saturdays are a mixed bag. There are far fewer business travelers on Saturday, but on the flipside, it’s prime time for families with small children filling up planes to go and see grandma.
If you have to fly on Saturday, I’d recommend flying in the late afternoon and evening – everyone is pretty much where they need to go by that point, and the chances of getting an empty seat next to you on your flight will be much higher. At least that’s my experience.
I’ve had the best luck flying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Out of all the flights where I’ve had an empty seat next to me, most have occurred on these days.
2. Choose an center-section aisle seat on widebody aircraft
The center section on most widebody aircraft has either 3 seats or 4. For example, if you’re on an aircraft that has 3 seats in the center section and you take one of them, that only leaves two.
I know. A couple traveling together may scoop those up. The trick is to pick a seat in a row which already has a solo traveler seated in the other aisle seat.
When you choose your aisle seat, that only leaves the center seat open. The chances of anyone voluntarily choosing that center seat over an aisle or a window somewhere else is extremely slim – unless the flight is completely full.
This method works especially well for couples traveling together – even on narrowbody aircraft as well. If you’re on a single-aisle aircraft with a 3-3 seating configuration (as most are these days), select both the aisle and window seat and leave the middle open.
It’s a win-win situation no matter the outcome. If the seat remains empty, then… woohoo! If that middle seat ends up being occupied, chances are extremely high that the middle seat guy or gal would be thrilled to death to switch it for an aisle or a window so that you and your traveling partner can still sit together.
The only downside to that is trying to decide who has to sit in the middle. Oof.
3. Travel solo (and remaining as flexible as possible)
This is actually just an extension of the aisle seat method I described above. However, it’s worth noting that there is a major advantage to traveling by yourself that will greatly increase the chances of having an open seat next to you: flexibility.
If you’re traveling by yourself, you are free to pick and choose the best seat based on how full the flight is (right up until departure time). I personally watch the seat map like a hawk for as long as I can, and make as many adjustments as possible to increase my chances of sitting next to an open seat.
4. Purchase an extra seat
If figuring out how to get an empty seat on your next flight is your main purpose in life (or at least the primary objective of your next trip), purchasing an extra seat is the only sure-fire way of making it happen. As a matter of fact, it isn’t all that unrealistic and spendy as it might seem.
Using the US as an example, it’s not all that uncommon to find round-trip economy fares for transcon flights in the $250-$350 range. If you end up finding a really good deal, it may behoove you buy two of those seats and feel good knowing that you will have extra space for your entire journey no matter what.
There are two potential problems with this:
- This isn’t something that all airlines offer.
- It isn’t always possible to book an extra seat for yourself though the websites or apps of the airlines that do offer the option. You’ll have to call the airline directly and make the reservation over the phone (which may incur additional booking costs).
5. Choosing an airline which guarantees empty middle seats
Yes. Such a thing does exist! Here in the US, Frontier Airlines offers something called the UpFront Plus seating option (which guarantees an empty middle seat). Southwest Airlines will be offering something similar in the near future.
On intra-European flights (European airlines only), you can be guaranteed an empty middle seat in business class. Calling it “business class” is a stretch though. It’s essentially economy class with better food, a little more legroom, and an empty middle seat.
6. Fly on major holidays
One of the best ways to end up with an empty seat next to you is to fly on a major holiday. Here in the US, most everyone who travels for Thanksgiving and Christmas do so in the days leading up to it (not the day of).
For example, one of the most comfortable flights of my life was Air France A330-200 economy from Paris to Detroit on Christmas Day 2007. The flight was maybe 30% full, and I had rows and rows of seats all to myself.
The runner up was flying from Portland to San Diego in the late afternoon of July 4th a while back. I was one of only 4 passengers onboard. It was very comfy (and fun).
The big fat dose of reality
The fact of the matter is that you’ll never really know if that seat next to you is going to remain empty until the boarding door closes – even if you purchase an extra seat to proactively prevent someone else from sitting there. If the flight is overbooked, the airline has every right to take it from you and issue a refund for the amount you paid for it.
The best plan of attack is to plan for the worst and hope for the best. It’s never wise to step onto a flight feeling overly confident that you’ll have an empty seat next to you, because that’s a sure-fire way to end up feeling ticked off and frustrated when things don’t go your way.
Just plan as best as you can, and go with the flow. You’ll win some, and you’ll lose some (but the goal is to win more often than not).
What was the most emptiest flight ever?
The emptiest had to be an Alaska Airlines MD-82 from PDX to SAN a loooong time ago (before I started writing trip reports). I was one of only 4 passengers on that flight!
WOW, the emptiest was the WOW Air flight, get it WOW. JK, I’ve never taken WOW Air anyway. The emptiest I’ve ever experienced was Japan Airlines B787-8 TPE-KIX where there was only like 30 people in economy.
Haha! Well, not technically WOW, but close enough. 🙂 Anyway, even though you don’t like 787s, being just one of 30 people on one must have been fun!
Very informative and useful article. Thanks!
You’re very welcome! This is probably the question people ask me the most so I figured it was time to do a post about it.
Great article. I’d love to see more of these “behind the scenes” reviews.
My emptiest flight was a BA 747 from YYZ to LHR in April 1990. We were flying on the Saturday of the Easter holiday. Most travellers had already done their flights. My sister worked for the BA office in Toronto at the time, so scored us seats in business class. There were 4 of us, plus maybe 3 others in that whole cabin. The FAs had so much time on their hands, they were coming around every 20 minutes with snacks. Plus, it was a smooth as glass flight, with the moon over the Atlantic ocean. It was the last time I got to visit the flight deck (somewhat common pre-911). One of my most memorable flights.
Thanks Randy! Flying in an empty business class cabin on such a long flight would have been amazing. I’ve never been that lucky. I’ve also never got to check out the flight deck while in flight, so you definitely had a unique experience. I’m jealous!
The 747 flight deck is surprisingly small. The only other time I got to visit the flight deck (in flight) was an Air Canada stretch DC-8 in the 70s. Back then they handed out the pilots wings pins to the kids.
“one of the most comfortable flights of my life was Air France A330-300 economy from Paris to Detroit on Christmas Day 2007”
I never knew Air France operated the A330-300 and it makes me very curious. Any chance you have any information still, like registration of the plane you flew? Thanks!
Oops! I just checked the registration of that aircraft (F-GZCB), and it was indeed a -200. My mistake!