Love that feeling on a plane when everyone has boarded, and you've got an empty seat next to you? Well, one passenger was shocked to have an entire row to herself on a flight booked just a few hours before departure.
Christina Bechtel, a 31-year-old content creator on TikTok and Instagram, shared a video of her lucky flight experience on her TikTok account @teenski1. The clip shows Bechtel beaming with smiles while seated in an empty row on an August 7 flight with Norse Atlantic Airways, a Norwegian low-cost airline.
The plane was traveling from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Gatwick Airport in London, the U.K. capital where she is based, Bechtel told Newsweek.
A message overlaid on the video says "God truly does have favorites bc [because] I paid $266 for this flight from JFK to London DAY OF [the departure] & got an entire row to myself."
The passenger told Newsweek that she booked the flight, which was a one-way ticket, around five hours before departure and it was like "winning the lottery," as she didn't opt to pay to reserve her seat.
Luck like this may be hard to come by on a plane, with air travel showing no signs of slowing down, after grinding to a halt during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total passenger demand in June was reported to be up 9.1 percent, compared with the same month in 2023, according to a July report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
"Demand grew across all regions as the peak Northern summer travel season began in June. And with overall capacity growth lagging demand, we saw a very strong average load factor [the percentage of available seats an airline sells on its flights] of 85 percent achieved in both domestic and international operations," Willie Walsh, IATA's director general, said in the report.
"North American carriers saw a 6.6 percent year-on-year increase in demand," the report said, and "capacity increased 8.6 percent year-on-year, and the load factor was 88.7 percent, the highest among regions."
According to a December 2023 survey by Euromonitor International, the market research firm, travel is set to hit "record highs" this year, with global tourism spending projected to reach U.S. $2 trillion.
'Winning the Lottery'
Bechtel told Newsweek that she booked her flight at 1:12 p.m., so it was "about five hours before" her 6:20 p.m. flight to London.
The passenger said bagging the entire row on this flight was "rather random," noting: "I didn't pay for a seat and I booked it just for myself. So, being a solo passenger, it just felt like I was winning the lottery."
As rare as her luck may have been on her recent trip, Bechtel said "it's happened on other flights."
TikTok users were impressed by the woman's luck on the flight in the viral clip.
Barrington said: "Love it when it happens. If you're traveling alone, always book seat B or E. If you're traveling with someone seats A and C or H and J."
Krishna Chalise801 said: "omg this happened to me on Norse too."
Jackie simply wrote: "Slayyyy," and doctorbrand3000 said: "Must be nice."
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