I'm going to tell you right now that the actual
travel part of traveling does not need to be dreaded. If you want to take your airport
and airplane experience to the next level, keep watching because I'm sharing 15 ways
to upgrade your flying experience [Music] When you're booking a flight somewhere, you
typically do it months or even weeks before departure and if you want that better economy
seat you typically have to pay extra for it. Except I'm going to teach you a way where
you don't have to do that, and you can get it for free. You can check into your flight 24
hours, sometimes 48 hours, before departure. So, set an alarm on your phone that will alert you
when it's the earliest time that you can check in, so you can be one of the first, if not the first
person, to check in. This will give you the best options for the seats that are still available
including the ones that were going to originally cost you more in economy. Choose a seat in row 13
and get the whole row to yourself! A seat in row 13 is the least likely to get booked and here's
why... It is a long-held belief in many cultures that 13 is an unlucky number. Several Airlines
have actually gotten rid of row 13 and they just go right from row 12 to row 14. So, airlines
like Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, just to name a few. But then there are
other airlines like American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue that still have row 13. So, if that row is
available, and you're not a superstitious person, choose a seat in that row and you're more likely
to get the whole row to yourself. If the flight isn't overbooked, book the middle seat. If you're
flying solo, book the middle seat only on flights you know aren't going to be overbooked. So, those
are flights that are in the very early morning or late at night. People are less likely to book
the window or aisle seat if someone's already sitting in the middle, so you're more likely to
get a whole row to yourself. If you're flying as a couple, one of you books the window seat, one
of you books the aisle seat and people are less likely to book that middle seat unless the plane
is full. And if that's the case that the flight is fully booked, you can always ask the person
who's sitting in the middle to switch with you to have either the window or aisle. Which I'm
sure they would be fully up for. And if no one is sitting in the middle seat, that gives you
and the person you're flying with some extra elbow room. Be loyal! If you're loyal to one or
two airlines, then there's a better chance that you'll get loyalty status on these airlines, which
leads to free upgrades and other perks. Just be sure to choose an airline that you love traveling
with and that goes to many of the destinations that you want to travel to. And before you
know it, you'll be climbing up that loyalty ladder and finding yourself in first or business
class. Use ExpertFlyer to get the seat that you want for free. You can use ExpertFlyer to set an
alert that will notify you when the seat you want becomes available if someone decides to cancel
or change their flight. This feature is free to use and when you do get that notification, you
just go and change your seat by checking into the flight again. Ask for an upgrade. I know it seems
like a simple thing to do but it works sometimes, especially if you're traveling solo. Get to the
airport a little bit earlier, dress a little bit extra nice, go to the check-in counter and talk
to the agent there. Ask them if they have any upgrades available in first or business class.
Ask them how much it is and when they tell you you can say along the lines like, "oh, that's
a little bit too much for me," and sometimes, it's happened to me twice in the last 10 years,
you may be lucky and get a really nice agent who will upgrade you free of charge. Even if you don't
get boosted to business or first class, there's a chance you could get boosted to a better economy
seat like premium economy. If that doesn't work, once you get through security, you go to your
gate and as it gets closer to departure time, go to the gate agent and ask them for an
upgrade. At this point, a better seat might be available because someone canceled or didn't
show up for their flight, and it's time to you know start boarding so you might get a chance
on getting an upgrade for free at this point. Claim your spot! Once you actually board the plane
and there's an announcement that they're fully boarded, doors are closing, ready for takeoff,
stand up look around see if there are any rows that have nobody in them. And if there are, ask
the flight attendant if you can go and claim that row once you are in the air and it's safe
to move around. They will have no problem with it. They usually just don't want you to do it
before takeoff because you have to stay in your assigned seat for safety reasons. Bid on a first
class seat. Did you know you can actually bid on a business or first class seat? Now, this does
come at a bit of an additional cost but really that additional cost depends on you. Once you book
your flight, a lot of airlines actually email you before departure at some point to see if you would
like to bid on an upgrade. That means you can actually set a price that you are willing to pay
to be upgraded to business or first class. Other passengers on the flight do have an opportunity to
also bid, but if you are the highest bid at $200, you will get upgraded to First Class. If you you
don't win the bid, no problem, you don't have to pay anything. So, really it's a win-win situation.
24 hours before departure call the airline and ask for a bulkhead seat. If the person asks why you
want a bulkhead seat, you can make up an excuse like "my child kicks the seat in front of them" or
"I have restless leg syndrome" or you can just be honest and say you want the extra room. It's up to
you. Even if you don't get the bulkhead seat, your name is officially in the system for a potential
upgrade. Then when you get to the airport, make sure you're nicely dressed, go up to the desk
agent, and kindly ask, "Is the flight overbooked?" If they say yes, this is good. Most of the time,
airlines like to overbook economy because people don't show up and they still want a full flight.
And in this situation, because the economy section of the flight is already overbooked,
you're more likely to get an upgrade because you're already on the potential upgrade list, you
asked nicely, and they have to put you somewhere because they've already overbooked economy.
Scope out SeatGuru. Before choosing your seat, there is a site called SeatGuru, which allows
you to put in the aircraft that you are going to be flying. It gives you a full diagram of
what that aircraft looks like and the seats as well as all the details about each seat and what
they have. So, if they have like outlets, Wi-Fi, extra leg room, SeatGuru will let you know, so
you can see which seats are the best seats for the flight that you are going to be taking. Book your
flight for the very early morning or overnight and save big. Flights that leave in the very early
morning or are overnight flights are typically the cheapest because they are the least in demand.
This means that they are least likely to fill up, which means a better opportunity for free upgrades
or very discounted business and first class seat tickets. Choose the middle of the plane. Sit
in the middle of the plane if you don't like turbulence. This area is less bumpy than in the
front or back it will make for a smoother flight. Choose a special meal. Meal time on airplane can
be a little cray-cray. If your flight does include a plain meal, choose a special meal. There's so
many to choose from if you haven't done it before because you can get vegan options, gluten-free
options, kosher options, vegetarian, pescatarian, the list goes on. By choosing a special meal,
you don't have to pay anything extra for it and you are one of the first ones to get served at
meal time. You'll also be guaranteed a meal that you'll you know enjoy enjoy as much as you can
enjoy plain food. Often when it's a full flight, the best meal option goes to those who get served
first and those who get served second or last don't have any options to choose from.
They're just getting what's left over. So, if you don't want to be that person who's looking
at their meal looking at the person beside them and really wishing that you could just swipe
theirs, get a special meal. Get yourself a points card ASAP. You're already spending money daily,
so why not earn points while you're doing it that could lead to free flights and seat upgrades.
We put everything on our points cards. Gas, groceries, clothing ,and even travel. And then
each year, we're able to use these points we've accumulated to book flights for the whole family
without paying an extra dollar. And that is it for these travel hacks. Let me know if you've already
tried out some of these hacks before by leaving a comment below. And if not, go and test them out
and then come back and let me know which ones worked for you. And if you want more travel hacks,
be sure to check out my 27 packing hacks as well as more airplane and airport travel hacks, and
I will see you in the next video. Happy travels!
