Travel hacking Flair Airlines might be an oxymoron. How do you travel hack and elevate your travel experience flying Flair? Allow me to explain…
For more of my experiences, tips, and tricks flying Flair Airlines, check out the following posts:
Average Flair Customer
It is important to understand the average Flair customer. The average Flair customer is incredibly cost conscious and does not place any value on any of the services travel hackers find useful.
Travel hackers often go through extensive lengths to secure priority services. The beauty of flying with Flair is that most of those services are always available for an additional fee.
The only service I can think of which was not available, which would be available for most travel hackers sitting in Business Class are:
- Priority Airport Check-in
- Priority Airport Security
- Priority Baggage Tags
Other than that, all other services can be purchased for an additional fee.
Travel Hacking Flair
I have already spoken about how frequently traveling in Business changes your approach when you know you are flying Economy Class.
When I had to fly Flair Airlines, I decided I was going to be traveling with a backpack. Since I was going with a backpack only, I did not need priority boarding. I also did not need to pay extra for a checked bag or airport check-in.
However, I noticed, when purchasing extra legroom seating, the purchase came with complimentary priority boarding.
For $25, I obtained priority boarding and a guaranteed emergency exit seat.
Who else buys emergency exit seating?
This is where the travel hacker brain comes into play. I suspect the number of people paying extra for an emergency exit seat are very limited, almost non-existent.
These seats are also very valuable, so Flair will never provide an emergency exit seat for free, unless they have no other choice. The cabin crew also ensure the integrity of these seats by not allowing anyone to sit in the emergency exit rows unless you have paid for it.
Ultimately, that is amazing for those who actually pay for the emergency exit seating. Since nobody is purchasing those seats, if there are two empty seats on that flight, you are almost guaranteed those two seats will be next to you.
Practical Experience
During my flight to Calgary, the exact sequence of events occurred. There were about 15 empty seats on the whole flight, and 11 of those seats were the emergency exit seating. I imagine, with 12 emergency exit seats on the plane, I was the only one who purchased it, leaving all the others empty.
On my flight back to Abbotsford, it was a full flight. I cannot speak to who may have purchased the seat or got it for free.
Conclusion
Buying a cheap ticket in Economy Class and receiving three empty seats to sprawl out on, for just the fee of a single seat assignment, I think represents an amazing proposition for travel hackers to elevate their travel experience when flying Flair.
Flying Flair can be an incredibly positive experience if you carefully choose flights that are not quite sold out. You can almost guarantee an empty row by paying for just one emergency exit seat.
