Having an empty seat next to you makes flying much more comfortable. If you want to increase the odds of that happening, consider spilling water on the adjacent seat.
Picture: CLDoyle
Gossip email Popbitch claimed that UK businessman Richard Desmond had been known to use this technique earlier this year:
This is how he’s been known to get some extra legroom on flights. He and the lovely Mrs Desmond pay the tiny Priority Boarding fee on EasyJet, to ensure they can take their seats early. They choose the window and aisle seats of a row of three. And then somehow Richard will “accidentally” knock a glass of water in the empty middle seat, to render it somewhat unusable.
That version of the technique assumes an airline which doesn’t assign seats. That doesn’t happen with any Australian airlines (though Jetstar used that approach in its early days). You could try your luck with the same technique with assigned seats, but if the flight is full there’s a fair chance you’ll end up in the wet seat yourself.
This post is part of our Evil Week series at Lifehacker, where we look at the dark side of getting things done. Knowing evil means knowing how to beat it, so you can use your sinister powers for good. Want more? Check out our evil week tag page.
Comments
8 responses to “Ensure A Spare Airline Seat Next To You By Spilling Water On It”
UK businessman Richard Desmond = Douchebag
Agree, what a dick.
I hope they made him sit in the wet patch.
If water doesn’t work maybe urine would seal the deal?
“Knowing evil means knowing how to beat it, so you can use your sinister powers for good”
Today we learn that Lifehacker’s definition of “good” is a bit compromised…
“for your own good” maybe?
I’ve always practiced the non-evil version of this – When travelling with a friend, book the aisle and window seats, and choose a row towards the back third of the plane. They’re the last to fill, so unless you’re on a completely full flight, you’ll likely end up with a free seat.
Last line is probably most accurate. “End up in the wet seat yourself.” I’ll laugh the next time I get on a flight and 15 people have attempted this ‘trick’