I travel the world #321: How to sleep in Economy like a king

in lifehack •  8 years ago 

How to secure a row in a plane for yourself

My travel plans sometimes change very quickly. I wanted to go to Bali but I read some comments of 2-3 Hawaians on my blog. I love Hawaii and I try to go there once a year. I checked flight prices and Economy Tickets were 890 USD and Business 3000 USD.

After pulling all airlines flight occupancy seat maps, I realized that the JAL flight from Narita had only 49 seats booked. That was very uncommon, so I decided to burn some of my JAL points andd booked myself a middle seat in a empty row.

You wonder why anybody would book a middle seat, welcome to the world of million milers ;) Imagine you are booking a seat in a plane and there are many aisle and windows seat available where would you seat yourself? Right on aisle or window. If you see that one row were an idiot has booked a middle seat you would avoid that row as someone would be sitting next to you.

That's what I call an empty Cabin

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So my trick worked out perfectly, I had a whole row for myself and could sleep over night like in business class over the 3 seats. If you try this never book the bulkhead or premium economy as you can't get the armrests up on these seats. (tables and entertainment are in the seatrests in the bulkhead or exit rows). As it worked out, JAL did seat all other passengers into the back and I had a 5 row cabin which is reserved for their Status customers for myself. I slept the whole flight and woke up 45 Minutes before landing.

Ever tried to hack your travel like this ???

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another good trick i use (which usually works, if the plane isn´t super full): just wait until last call to board and try to be the last one to go on the plane. This way you´ll have an easy overview which rows are empty and can just pick one :) So far (knock on wood) no one has ever asked to check my ticket.

yes this works only if you dont have luggage. if you have luggage often the bins are full

This is genius! I will have to try it.

let us kno wif it worked

Echt genial! Es wird nämlich niemand so blöd sein, einen der anderen beiden Sitze neben dir zu buchen. Very tricky. Ich werde den Trick auch nicht weiter verraten.

jetzt ist es ja oeffentlich ;) haha

I tried this @knozaki2015 but wasn't as successful as you, but indeed very empty that would be great and Hawaii is so nice.

yep. if it fails. it is an epic fail ;)

LOL hahaha good trick!, have to try it someday!

;) do and tell

I didn't realize you were coming to Hawaii! How long will you be staying? The weather is very hot right now. Your article on flying was very interesting. I am not a lucky person. When I traveled to Japan and back, both flights were packed with no empty seats. It was with JAL. I hope your stay in Hawaii is great!

staytime 10days

I have seen people throwing handkerchief from window to reserve the seat on buses and trains :D

yeah indeed there is many tricks ;)

when there is a mosquito land on your scrotum,you'll find that violence is not a only way to solve problem.

i dont understand your comment?

Empty Cabin !!! interesting... Never I seen Empty plane
Thanks for sharing this nice content

yes it was quite lucky

Smart maneuvering here. Thanks for sharing!

you are welcome ;)

Hahaha Classic! I've pulled this a few times myself. It can happen on really inconvenient flights with awful times... had 2 buddies of mine and I have a entire middle row each (4 seats)! Grab a blanket and enjoy your economy priced first class bed ;)

yep ;) the best ;) while others are sitting on a exit row seat which is not declining ;)

Nice trick. I will however probably stick to book aisle seats, jsut in case (flights I fly are often really really booked).

yeah. you have to check the flight map before booking a flight. if it is a day before you can gamble with tools like KVS

Oh I didn't know about KVS. I have just googled it. It looks very interesting. I will have a deeper look when booking my next trip :)

there is other tools. this might be overkill if you dont travel a lot

I am not traveling that much at that stage. Maybe 50 segments a year (and always in economy class :) )

I try to do business only but of course sometiimes there is short legs in econoymy .

Scientists are not that rich. I don't want to burn all my travel grant on a single trip ^^

I am not rich too. try to upgrade with miiles and voucher

All the time. I usually do aisle 2-3 rows from the back, in the middle on a widebody.

well if I expected anybody in the world be doing this , it would be you my friend ;)

Indonesia Bali is famoust place in indo for tourism site. Aceh is famous with Sabang Island. Just take a look around @knozaki2015

i have been to bali mani times ;)

Wow. Thats great. Have u visit Sabang Island In Aceh?

I have an experience. :) Both sides were empty. I used three seats and slept well. :) After that, I always look for empty seats.

yep. thast the way to go

Nicely done dude! Did this before myself, but only by accident because the flight was so empty and I just lucked out :)

This actually happened to me by mistake.

How far ahead did you book the flight? I would be afraid the flight would suddenly fill up after I book.

two days befoore the flight

Great travel hack! That's a new one for me.

Thanks.

i think ana is better than jal , please try it next time

no way. the firstclass lounge of ANA is nothing compared to JALs.... and I was ANA VIP ( flew so much with them in the past) always pickup by FA and got the pink tags. but i like jal better

There is genius in what you do!

thank you ;)

Simple but effective lil trick

Nice one! Will keep this in mind ;-)