The tip to get a full row of seats that we just reshared was popular! But there are clearly many people who didn’t read properly, misunderstood, or are just wrong. Without any malice at all, objectively, the reality is all 3 are extremely common on many travel topics (for 8+ years we’ve been creating content as travel experts and seeing all 3 every day).
So we’re going to re-explain it differently to try to ensure more travelers are better informed! We want to help you travel for less, and for that, you need to know if you’re wrong. You can’t get better otherwise (just like in any sphere of your life)!
Wanting to improve and wanting to be better informed should be everyone’s desire, but especially travelers’! There’s no better way to become a better human than to travel, so the more you know about travel, the better it is too!
Here’s why people who say the tip is selfish are completely mistaken.
The 2 sources of confusion
I think the few who criticized the tip are in 2 groups.
There are those who didn’t read (you’d be surprised — or not — to know how many people don’t read and still comment) or didn’t read properly and didn’t understand properly (this can happen to anyone obviously). They didn’t read or didn’t understand that the tip clearly includes swapping places with the person in the middle when it doesn’t work (there were literally just 3 bullets and it was there).
There are those who are just wrong, like with so many other travel topics (literally every travel topic really). They have absolutely no bad intentions… but they have just not thought things through and/or aren’t knowledgeable enough about travel to realize they’re wrong and that the tip doesn’t leave fewer places together than when travelers choose the aisle and the middle (very common choice).
So many people everywhere always tell others what they want to hear… but if you know us, you know that at Flytrippers, we always tell things as they really are. Even if some don’t like it. That’s why you can always trust our travel expertise. We tell it like it is.
The tip is not to leave anyone in the middle
The tip, as stated in the “How to get a full row of seats” title of the article, is to get a full row of seats. Not to stick someone between you and your companion…
What the tip is
I’ll summarize the tip in 1 sentence: if the plane isn’t 100% full, the tip gives you the best possible chance that one of the empty seats will be between you and your travel companion!
You choose the 2 extremities, and you choose a row as far back as possible on the plane. Simple.
IF there are empty seats on the plane, there’s a much better chance that one of the empty seats will be next to you so you have more space.
It’s better that it’s next to you because you’re a savvy traveler who made a good seat selection than next to a random passenger by pure chance, right?
IF the seat in between you ends up not being empty, you simply exchange seats, and no one will refuse and want to stay in the middle. It makes no difference for anyone. All of this was well explained in the tip, if you read it.
What the tip is NOT
Some who misunderstood or misread (or just **didn’t** read) seem to think the tip is to take the 2 extremities and leave someone else in the middle.
That’s not it at all.
There are literally just 3 bullets in our explanation of the tip at the top of the post, and the 3rd clearly says to just swap places if there’s someone.
If you want to leave someone in the middle because you prefer having the aisle AND the window, obviously that’s allowed (and some people do that, yes).
Is that selfish? Maybe.
There’s certainly at least an argument to be made for that. But NOT for our tip, that is simply just not selfish at all, and it’s not debatable.
Honestly, leaving someone in the middle is irrelevant because that’s not what our tip is at all. The tip is to try to have a full row for 2! The tip is to swap seats if someone is in the middle, as clearly stated in the overview at the top of the tip post that has literally just 3 bullets. Leaving someone in the middle is completely off-topic.
If you follow our tip, of course it’s not selfish… it doesn’t make much sense to say that.
The tip absolutely changes nothing in anyone else’s life! When something doesn’t affect anyone else, it’s not selfish obviously.
Yes, the tip means more middle seats for others in theory… but if your middle gets chosen, you swap places anyway. So, it changes absolutely nothing for anyone in practice.
Maybe some people think it’s not allowed to change places in the same row? It is! In the same row, you can obviously do whatever you want (you can’t just change rows, though, for weight and balance reasons).
The tip doesn’t make it harder for others to find seats together
After 8 years of content creation, one thing is very certain… many people are often wrong about travel topics. That’s just how it is, very objectively. I genuinely love helping travelers, so it’s not a complaint. It’s just an undeniable fact. Facts don’t care about our feelings, ever.
It’s normal to be wrong, by the way; there are a lot of things I don’t know about plenty of topics myself. But I’m in the travel world 40 hours a week for 8 years now, I’ve taken 500+ flights, visited 70+ countries… I know about travel. If you don’t want to benefit from my expertise, you’re obviously free not to use it.
But it’s to help you that I share situations when so many people are factually wrong. The world of travel can sometimes be complex.
In this case, many people say the tip makes it harder for other passengers to choose seats together!!! That’s completely false, too.
At least it’s no harder than what happens when those who prefer the aisle (like so many people) don’t try the tip. When your travel companion and you choose the aisle and the middle… that also leaves a single isolated seat.
The tip also creates a single isolated seat. No difference at all there in terms of choosing seats together.
The tip can therefore only be considered selfish if you also think that even choosing the aisle and the middle is selfish, and that everyone who travels as a pair should always choose the window and the middle!
And frankly, that would be absolutely ridiculous, and you’re wrong.
Where would it end? Everyone can choose their preference. There are plenty of solo travelers who can be isolated on either side of a duo. If you want the aisle and the middle, you are obviously allowed to choose that. That’s not selfish at all.
There aren’t only families of 4 and couples traveling, come on! And what if there’s a family of 5? That leaves an isolated seat. Are they selfish? Should they stay home? The whole idea that leaving an isolated seat is selfish is quite ridiculous.
I repeat: there’s no difference between the tip and just choosing the aisle and the middle (if you follow the actual tip). The tip creates an isolated seat, just like the hundreds of thousands of travelers every day who already choose the aisle and the middle (and who are obviously not selfish) create an isolated seat.
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Summary
The tip to get a full row of seats involves being savvy in your selection so that if a seat is empty on the plane, it’s next to you and not elsewhere. If someone else ends up in the middle and you follow the tip and simply swap seats, it absolutely doesn’t affect anyone else. When something doesn’t affect anyone else, it’s not selfish obviously.
What would you like to know about the tip to get a full row of seats? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Full row (photo credit: yeonhee)
Valuation $1025