I recently read that if you are a couple booking a flight, it is smart to choose the window and the aisle seat in a row of three.
If the flight does not fill up, you get an empty seat in your row (who’s gonna book a middle seat if they don’t have to?).
If the flight does fill up, anyone who got stuck with your middle seat would likely happily switch for either the aisle or the window, and you’ll be no worse off than if you had initially chosen window/middle or aisle/middle.
Worst case scenario - very unlikely, in my opinion - you’ll end up with window/aisle with a stranger between you.
I haven’t been on a flight in the past few years that wasn’t fully booked.
Also, on most domestic economy tickets you can’t pick your seats until you check in. At that point, you rarely have a full row empty to choose from. If you want to pick seats before check in you have to pay extra or have status on the airline.
Southwest doesn’t let you pick your seats until you check in, but I can’t think of any other airline that doesn’t let you pick your seat when you buy the tickets. (I’m talking domestic American flights.)
As far as things you might be overlooking:
You’re starting with the premise that there are completely empty rows to choose from. Which I guess isn’t an oversight, exactly, but it is a plan that only works if you’re among the first batch of people to buy tickets for the flight.
Many airlines will have a row of three seats on one side of the aisle and two seats on the other. In those cases, I prefer to book a row of two seats rather than a row of three, because I’d rather have a row all to me and my husband than have a stranger sitting with us. Though I will concur that if all rows have three seats, it’s likely that a stranger between you would be willing to switch seats with you, and furthermore the stranger will probably think kindly towards you for relinquishing an aisle/window seat to them. So I think if three-seat rows are your only option then booking an aisle and window seat (when possible) would be a smart strategy.
I’ve been doing it for years traveling with a family of 5, and it’s always worked. Usually the middle seat doesn’t get filled, and when it does, the person is quite happy to switch instead of sitting in between 2 preteen/teenage girls.
mmm, all you’re overlooking is the rare occasion when the person doesn’t want to switch. Don’t push it if they don’t.
And Telemark, I’ve just recently booked domestic economy flights on JetBlue & American, and could pick seats at booking time. There were a bunch of rows that I would have had to pay extra to get (exit & bulkhead I think), but at least 75% of the plane was available to pick as economy, no extra charge.
Actually, in my experience, you don’t pick a seat on Southwest until you board the plane. But checking in early lets you board early and therefore have more choice.
And don’t talk across them. I’d almost certainly switch in such a case, but if I didn’t, I’d be super pissed if they talked across me the whole flight.
You are thinking of the Basic Economy fares now offered by Delta, AA, and United on many routes. They still offer regular Economy and the difference in price varies.
Anecdote - Last year I had a middle seat on a full plane. When I boarded, I found a dad & child (8-ish or so) in the aisle & middle seat, and the dad asked if I minded taking the window. I said sure, got settled in, only to have the actual owner of that window seat show up a few minutes later. It turned out the kid had the ticket for the aisle seat, and the dad was actually a few rows away - it was a family of 4 that for some reason was spread throughout the plane, and the dad had just sat in the row with his son even though he wasn’t ticketed for it. The attendants were trying to get everyone seated to pull back, so I basically told the dad I wanted my middle seat back, instead of me trying to find his seat/some other empty seat. After we took off and they turned off the seat belt signs, dad came back and asked if I was willing to swap, but I was damn sure to look at his boarding pass to make sure I was getting his seat before I agreed.
Yeah, some folks think the seat assignment is just a suggestion. Poor form by the passenger.
But, it is also the case that airlines often don’t make an effort to put families together, and sometimes seem to deliberately seat them apart. A curious practice that drive people to solve the issue on their own by doing what you are describing. Poor form by the airlines.
Huh? As said previously in this thread, you generally get to pick your seats when you buy your tickets, so families should be able to get seats together if they’re available. And if they’re not available because the plane is nearly full, I don’t see how airlines become responsible for moving already booked passengers because later groups want to sit together.
It’s also the case on budget airlines and even on some international flights. Yes, you can pay more for the ability to pick your seats at booking but I rarely do because my wife and I have had seats together nearly every time we fly by getting them assigned at checkin. But seat assignment at checking appears to be less universal than I’d assumed.
I must be flying popular routes at popular times, there was only one empty seat total in sight on my last dozen flights, and I was briefly put next to it. Then a flight attendant asked if I was willing to sit in an exit row since the person they moved to my seat didn’t speak fluent English. That was actually my 4th seat assignment on that flight since they asked me to move to accommodate a family, then moved to a better seat, then moved next to the empty seat, and finally moved to the exit row.
If seats are available at booking we always book window and middle since it’s extremely rare in our travel patterns to be on a non-full plane.
My wife and I used to do this when it was just the two of us (these days we rarely fly just the two of us, it’s either just one of us on a work trip or the entire family of four).
I don’t remember it ever causing harm, and I think it sometimes worked as intended (i.e. we got the row to ourselves).
These days it doesn’t matter to us, but it’s been a long time since I’ve looked at a seat map and seen the entirety of a three seat row available, or been on a flight that wasn’t completely full. I suspect the strategy is marginal now that the airlines appear to have gotten better at filling their planes.
I’m not trying to threadshit, but people have been doing this for well over 45 years. I used to do it all the time when I was flying every month from Boston to Patrick Henry. So did everyone I know. Hell, the reservations people we had to call were so aware of this strategy that they would suggest it. It doesn’t work quite as well as it used to because many flights are full, but it has little down-side and a good possibility that you get exactly what you want.
OTOH, I have FREQUENTLY been asked to switch seats (asked to take a middle seat or window seat so family members can sit together) and I basically tell them to go fuck themselves. I put a lot of effort into getting an aisle seat (I’m 6’2") and not interested at all in trading for a crappy seat.
We book aisle and middle. Or two aisle seats across from each other. There would be a good chance we would have to take the middle and a window if we followed the OP’s hack.
Empty seats on a plane? Can’t remember the last time I saw that.
The worst case scenario is that you get the window and aisle with someone in between you. But what’s the preferred scenario of these two; would you rather have the window and middle, or the aisle and middle? If you’d rather have the aisle and middle, you run the risk that when the middle passenger shows up and you offer to switch, he might ask for the aisle.
Seems like kind of a jerky move. You remove all the bad consequences by depending on some random stranger feeling guilty or kind enough to fix it for you. Blech.
