How to Fly on an Airplane with an Empty Seat Next to You for Free

Using a little bit of game theory, I explain how to score an empty seat next to you on your next flight...for free!

[Hashterix]

Brilliant choice of seat if you love to be near the toilets at the back of the plane for successive wafts of poo smell whenever those doors get opened throughout the flight :) Also great if you love sitting in the upright position and never want to recline your seat!

[RadioguyJ]

Airlines reserve those last couple rows of seats for passengers who have not checked-in for the flight in advance. So unless you are flying on an extremely unpopular service route, this will most likely not work. Plus you'll have a headache from the engine noise and be subjected to the rank odor of every person that comes out of the bathroom. Not to mention, the last couple rows are notoriously given to families with small children.

[jfksfo]

Awesome video, but just bear in mind that on many aircraft, the very last row may have less leg room than the standard economy seat on the rest of the plane.

The reason is that airplane cabins are manufactured with seat assembly systems with pre-drilled holes at one inch intervals. So airlines are free to arrange their seats as they like, and there are usually a few inches too many or too few as they determine their optimal layout. Often the last row gets quietly short-changed.

[lewiszim]

You should prefer the back window seat though because if you choose the back aisle seat, everyone will bump into and hover over you while they wait in line for the bathroom.

[youuuuuuuuuuutube]

The only problem is that it requires you to select a seat which costs $$$.
Those back seats are not bad because they're located close to the toilet and you don't have to ask anyone to stand up. Also if there's a plane crash, there's a higher chance of survival if you sit at the back. Also, sometimes you can exit the plane from the back, in which case those seats are again advantageous. I'm not sure they would be available.

[cant_standya]

Wow, I like this more practical application of theory a lot, you should try to make more videos like this one. Explaining all the details behind rock paper scissors is interesting and all, but in the end, it's not really going to be a big deal for me. But we can actually put stuff like this to good use, plus it's easier to relate to and therefore more interesting. I've been subscribed for a while now, since seeing a reference in one of your MTG articles, and this is surely your best yet. Bravo.

[rybob]

I just flew Southwest and this method worked 2 out of 3 times on a plane that averaged 90-95% full on average. You can ask the flight attendant for the count on passengers than divide the number by seats on the plane (this can be found via seat guru) divide this number to see how full the flight is in a %.

[ImThePangolin]

I think I got the ultimate strategy for this: Take the middle seat in the last line. If the seats arent sold out, chances that no one wants to sear near to you are higher. If both seats next to you are not sold you have extra space and can switch to the window! Yeah!

[OnAFirefly]

This is all true, though the combination of bathroom smell and extra time getting out of the plane is enough for me to opt for a row seat further up the plane. The longer the flight, the more I'm likely to value having the seat beside me open, and the more likely I am to take a seat further back.

[kennethlu]

you forget that some people will take "worse" seats (in the back of the plane) in order to get higher priority boarding class, which in turn also raises your probability of being able to store your luggage overhead. airlines generally board, first class, priority members, and then when it goes to coach you start from the rear and go forward. and as others have also said, the bathroom smell sucks

[ddd]

IF you are 6' +, never choose a middle seat or the very back row.
If you are 6'+ and 300 pounds, go first class, .Sorry.

[alonzo]

This is why I like sitting in the second to the back row, for there is a higher chance of not having to share space with someone. I wouldn't put myself in the furthest back row, though, those seats have no recline.

[elmalin]

I member me and my family got lucky once. The window seats were in pairs of 3 so yeah. I got my own 3 seats, so did my dad, grandma, brother and mom. It was the life

[markrawling]

Yep. Of course toward the end of the boarding period (when the line is clogged because of people putting luggage up top and jostling around; I swear there's zero reason for carry-on luggage) you're going to have people backed up all the way to the cabin, and those people are going to say "nope, not wading through that line (twice) today" and will fill the middle seats up front before the middle seats in the middle segment are filled. It's a crapshoot, best hope is for an uncrowded flight.

[mjsbiggestfan]

I fly Southwest Airlines and you get to choose your own seat.
I always want a window seat, no matter if it's in the back of the plane or the front.

[markrawling]

Well, this obviously doesn't apply to Southwest, so the game mechanics are wildly different. I think 1. the best option is to be a fat person and sit semi-near the front. People will pass by. 2. Sprawl out, put a bag in the middle seat and get your pillow out and lean. 3. Hope the flight has at least a dozen open seats.

[tomokra]

ok you won't have anyone sitting next to you, but you will have someone (different people) standing next to you in the aisle for the entire flight waiting to take a piss ... or worse ..

[dohead]

The point this is making (or missing) is that this person has different criteria for what a "good" seat is. If others employ this strategy, it is nullified.

[larrysanders]

Except now you have a seat that doesn't recline. Nice job.

[MK-expb]

i always hit the back row cause your most likely to survive and i often get empty row