Lucy Devine
These days, there seems to be so many extra charges when it comes to flying. From luggage fees to fast tracking through security and paying to sit together, added extras can sometimes cost as much as the flight itself.
Now, one former flight attendant has revealed how you can sit with your travelling party without having to pay any extra fees.
While it's probably not best to risk this trick if you're flying with young children, it could definitely work for trips with mates or a partner.
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Jane Hawkes, who is also a consumer expert, told Express.co.uk: “Obviously if you’re travelling with children you might not want to do this. Because if you’re travelling as a family, you’ll probably want your children with you to keep an eye on them.
“But if you’re travelling with friends or a partner, then never pay to book a seat together.
“Just wait to get onboard and then say ‘we’re travelling together and we didn’t realise we’d be separated’.
“You could just ask other passengers around you who can be very accommodating. t’s worth asking but there’s not much point asking before you get onboard.”
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While some passengers may be happy to swap – for example, if they've been stuck in the middle seat – others may be less than willing to move, if they have paid for a specific spot.
It's certainly worth a try if you don't have to sit with your party, but would like to.
Earlier in the summer, we told you how one passenger divided the internet after refusing to swap seats for a mother and her baby.
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The passenger took to Reddit to ask for advice, after explaining he had purchased a middle seat on a Ryanair flight.
Discussing how he wanted to be in the specific seat to be close to the exit, the man revealed that when he boarded the plane, he was asked by a mother if he would swap seats with her husband who was 12 rows behind.
"It may sound odd to buy a middle, but I wanted it to be as closer to the exit as possible and there were no other seats available," he wrote.
"The flight was landing on a minor secondary airport which has limited train connections so if I wanted to catch the best train, I have to run outside the plane and do passport control asap. If I miss that train other option is to wait 1:30 hour or get a 70 dollars cab. So that's why I paid for that seat.
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"So I board my flight tired as hell, also business trip was awful and unproductive, and I have this lady with her child of months [sic] quietly sleeping sitting in the window seat.
"She immediately asks if I can move to row 18 so she can seat [sic] with husband. I just said that I paid the seat and I did not want to move, didn't really explain much."
You can read more on that story here.