Couple share genius plan to stop people sitting next to them during flight
While we all look forward to holidays and the exciting times that follow - one thing we can all agree on is the chaos of the airport and the worry over who you'll get landed with for the duration of your flight.
Depending on who sits next to you, you could either be in for smooth sailing or a bumpy ride and the worst part is - you don't know which passenger will plonk down beside you until it's too late.
So, one couple have taken it upon themselves to devise a plan of action that stops fellow passengers from even thinking about sitting next to them.
Check out the travel hack here:
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As if it were passenger-repellent, one couple have shared their genius plan to make holiday-goers avoid them like the plague.
The quick-thinking pair took to TikTok to alert other regular travellers just what to do to secure a stress-free seat aboard the aircraft and ensure the middle seat between them always stayed free.
The short clip begins with TikTok creator, Olivia, looking around the cabin with her hand over her mouth as she pans to her boyfriend perched on a window seat, two places over from her.
Olivia captioned the now-viral video: "The things he'll do to keep the middle seat open on an aeroplane," accompanied with a laughing emoji.
Chatter from what sounds like a full cabin can be heard over the voiceover which begins: "Does anyone else's boyfriend do the most absurd things to keep the middle seat open on an aeroplane?"
Olivia can be seen stifling laughter as the voiceover continues: "Like pretending to have a baby?"
The boyfriend can be seen looking about the plane as he nonchalantly cradles what appears to be a baby - which is actually just a bundle of what looks like jackets or blankets.
So, there you have it!
The tried and tested method to always make sure you're left alone on a flight is nothing more than the mere presence of a baby - or at least the appearance of one.
The tiny bundle - plus the boyfriend's A+ acting skills - were seemingly enough to ward off holiday-goers from sitting down next to the couple.
The video has since amassed over 2,700,000 views as well as over 116,000 likes on the video-sharing platform with many eager to share their praise for the 'genius' plan.
"No because that’s actually genius," congratulated one TikTok user.
A second added: "That's actually a brilliant idea."
Others were keen to offer like-minded savvy-travellers an alternative method to keep passengers away from them onboard.
"Or you can just hang your head over a barf bag during boarding," one suggested.
Another vouched for the method, writing: "I used to hold the barf bag in my lap."
Some, however, clearly did not find the hack 'genius' in the slightest.
One unimpressed TikTok user wrote: "As if that would stop me if that was my seat on my boarding pass."
"I’m still gonna sit in the middle seat that’s on my boarding pass," a second echoed, "what [am I] gonna do, steal someone else’s seat?"
A third embraced the definition of the word petty and revealed: "I'm gonna start sitting in the middle on purpose to spite the people trying that hard."
Some TikTok users even went as far to share their counter-hack to the couples' hack.
"That's the seat I look for, I know parents don't want to be split up so they'll inevitably give up the window or aisle," they revealed.
Regardless of what you make it of it - you can't deny this couples' creativity.
Rhiannon Ingle