Plus-size travel influencer shares a hack to book 2 seats on flight without paying extra charges

Traveling can be a real hassle depending on your body type and certain ailments. But for the plus-sized travel enthusiasts, we have 29-year-old Kristy Leanne from Shropshire, who goes by @kristyleannetravels on TikTok, who regularly uploads videos for larger-bodied people like her, hoping she can make their travel experience easier. Leanne is a frequent flyer who often faces certain difficulties while boarding a flight and the difficulties start from the seats she books the tickets.

In one of her viral videos, the travel influencer dishes out a simple hack for plus-size people when it comes to finding comfortable seating arrangements after boarding a flight and the hack works pretty often. Leanne reveals that it is uncomfortable if she is seated next to another person – for both them and her – but she does what she can by using her clever trick and saving some trouble for both herself and her co-passengers. 

She says in her video, "One of the most daunting things about flying as a plus-size person is how much space you're going to have. With airlines making it so difficult to book a second seat, this tip has definitely saved me so many hours of uncomfortable flights. All you need to do when you're boarding is find a flight attendant and ask this question."

She then films herself having a conversation with a flight attendant, asking if there were any rows where two seats next to each other were available. The flight attendant cooperated with her and agreed to check after boarding was complete. "This obviously doesn't work every time and if it's a full flight it's a little more difficult, but it's always worth asking," she remarks. "I know how hard it can be to advocate for yourself but remember that you deserve to be comfortable too."

"Some airlines will not allow you to do it and if you contact their customer service line, they don't know what to do either. Other airlines do allow it, but they will give your seat away if it's overbooked. Some airlines also don't have seats that are 'comfortable' if purchased as a two, as their armrests don't raise or they don't raise fully. I wish it was a simple solution to make everyone comfortable but unfortunately, I don't think it ever will be," she adds.

Leanne wishes for the airlines to have better policies to help passengers of all sizes be comfortable. In several other videos on her TikTok page, Leanne highlighted different types of issues faced by plus-size people like her and it's not just limited to the seating crisis. In some of her videos, she pointed out the issues heavier people face while trying to squeeze into small flight toilets and make their way through the narrow aisles of budget airlines. Her videos have left social media users divided over whether she is ignoring the "wake-up call" over her weight and putting the blame on the flights for not being comfortable enough.

@jellestokhof informed: "You’ll find it comforting to know that it is actually very easy to book a second seat." Leanne made a follow-up video in order to respond to this person and corrected the person about how the airlines definitely do not make it easy to book a second seat on a packed flight. Her videos might have been helpful for the plus-size traveler community but they sparked a lot of debates amongst fellow netizens on how people sitting next to her might not be comfortable either.

@materialguuurrrllll wrote: "You deserve to be comfortable too but please also keep in mind the person sitting next to you." @idiotassidiot said: "Tall people pay for extra leg room you can pay for the second seat." @liv_590 added: "If one seat is too small, buy two tickets instead and the problem is solved. Then you will have a better flight experience." Leanne answered most of the negative remarks from users in her comment section with sarcasm and she continues to ignore the haters to go on inspiring other plus-size travel aficionados like her.