A TikTok Mom's 'Hack' For Extra Space On A Plane Caused A Fiery Stir On The Internet
Family vacations are fun and relaxing in theory, but in reality, traveling with young children can be tough. There's perhaps nowhere this is more true than on a plane. If your trip requires a long flight to reach your destination, you'll have to consider seating and the limited space provided in commercial cabins.
However, one traveling TikTok mom offered a solution in a viral clip — though not everyone was pleased with her hack. The mother of two, who posts under the handle @where.is.briggs, revealed in her video that she books two rows whenever she flies: one for her and one child and another for her partner and the other child. In a three-seat configuration, this hardly seems controversial, given that a family of four can't fit in a single row.
@where.is.briggs Key word is "sometimes" ✨On our way home from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City we tried this hack and it worked beautifully! We booked four seats (even baby got a seat because she's not a fun lap infant for that long 😅) #flighthack #travelhack #baby #toddler #familytravel
What may be surprising is that @where.is.briggs leaves the middle seat open, placing her children near the windows and the adults in the aisle seats. "No one booked the middle seats so we had two rows to ourselves for an 11 hour flight!" she wrote on the clip. The content creator noted in the caption that the hack doesn't always work, but when it does, it provides some much-needed space for squirmy tots.
Fellow passengers disapprove of the mom's hack
The TikTok mom isn't the first to share this kind of hack online. Others have shared a similar seating hack to get the whole airplane row to yourself. Often, a couple or a pair of friends will strategically book the window and aisle seats, hoping that no one will want to claim the middle spot. However, as some commenters pointed out on the video, trying this method with small children can seriously backfire. "So if someone claims the middle spot matching their ticket, are they passing your baby to you? Or are you switching them spots? How does that work," wrote @hanndsie. Another TikToker named @fritzchannel268 added, "I've tried this twice and the middle [seat] showed up both times."
Some travelers also simply detest the inconvenience caused by the hack. "I honestly can't stand when people do this and then expect me to move or switch seats," shared @betterccmoi, a comment that garnered over 80,000 "likes" on the platform. Similarly, @zubstar1 said they'd refuse to move seats just to teach the parents a lesson.
Unless you don't mind being separated from your child on a plane — or earning an enemy — it might be best to avoid copying this hack on your next flight. If you need more space, consider booking a bulkhead seat for you and your little one. Or, if you don't mind splurging, reserve a premium economy or business-class seat for a little extra room.