UK passenger shares tip for whole row seating

A UK passenger has shared a clever trick to get a whole row of seats to herself on a flight with Etihad Airways. Maddie Borge, 24, described the experience as “basically like business class in economy” in a viral Instagram video. She recently took a 13-hour overnight flight from London to Sydney. To ensure comfort, Borge used a feature called “neighbor-free seating.” This allows passengers to bid on empty seats next to them. In her case, she was offered the chance to pay an extra $250 for the entire row, which is much cheaper than upgrading to business class. Etihad frequent flyers have priority for this bidding. The bidding process closes 35 hours before departure. Passengers cannot bid on seats while at the airport or on the plane. Borge was relieved to find out at the gate that she had the whole row to herself, even though her ticket only showed one seat. She initially sat in the window seat and stored her belongings in the middle seat. Later, she lay down across all three seats and managed to sleep for eight hours. Many on social media were impressed with her hack, calling it a “poor man’s first class.” While some raised concerns about the bidding costs, Etihad confirmed that passengers are not charged if their bids are unsuccessful. They will only be notified by email if the bid is accepted.