There's a trick to enjoy the luxury of 'business class in economy' – but it hinges on securing an entire row for yourself.
Maddie Borge, a Norwegian influencer based in London, decided to put a viral travel hack to the test. The trick involves 'bidding' for the seats next to you. If successful, you'll find yourself with significantly more room than usual.
"So I tried this flight hack for my overnight journey to Sydney called 'labour free', which essentially means that I bid on these seats next to me on the plane," Maddie explained in her video, which has racked up over two million views.
"And if the flight isn't fully booked when I board, I get the whole row to myself, essentially like 'business class in economy'. I can stretch out, sleep, all that. I'm about to board my plane now, so let's see if it actually worked."
The 24-year-old then shared snippets of herself navigating through the queue for Etihad Airways' departure to Sydney before boarding her flight.
Anxious to discover if the strategy had paid off, Maddie enquired with the flight crew about her chances of getting the extra space. To her delight, her bid for the seats was successful.
Upon entering the plane, she was welcomed by an unoccupied row of three seats. Overjoyed, she quickly settled in and shared her plans for utilising the three seats.
"Low key I think the coolest part of this whole thing is, because I have this whole row, I'm gonna choose different seats to sit in for the duration of this thirteen and a half hour flight," Maddie shared. "I chose the window seat for now, and then I put all my stuff in the middle seat so I have lots of space here."
She further explained: "And when it's time to sleep, I'm just gonna lie down across all the seats." Maddie covered herself with a blanket and secured her legs on the other seats to catch some shut-eye. She claimed to have had a 'solid' eight hours of uninterrupted sleep on the plane, leaving her refreshed upon landing.
In a subsequent video, Maddie shared that she'd pent an additional £98 per seat for the opportunity to secure the entire row to herself. This amount would have been refunded if her bid was unsuccessful.
By utilising the "Economy Neighbour-Free" bidding system offered by certain airlines like Etihad Airways, passengers can bid for vacant adjacent seats to enjoy more room during their journey.
While some viewers admired the clever idea, they were hesitant about spending extra for improved sleep quality.
"Eight hours sleep isn't worth that much to me," one viewer contested. "You could reverse this and say 'would you be willing to get paid £198 to stay awake for 8 hours on a flight?' That's what you're doing by not paying."
However, another person countered: "It's cheaper than getting a business class seat, so I say go for it."
English (United States) ·