If “rawdogging” flights and “gate lice” bugging airline staff weren’t enough for bizarre travel trends this year, there’s a new type of passenger causing chaos in the airport – those playing “check-in chicken”.
The latest category of flyer applies to travellers who wait to book a seat until check-ins are almost closed in the hope of scoring the best available seats.
That’s the coveted extra legroom chairs and roomy exit row aisles in most cases.
According to Chelsea Dickenson, The Cheap Holiday Expert, leaving it last minute to check in online for a Wizz Air or Ryanair flight is usually a foolproof way to secure extra legroom or a seat up front.
She claims these airlines, which charge extra to pre-book seats, split up parties travelling together by placing them “in the bad seats”, leaving the best spots on the plane up for grabs.
In a TikTok video, Chelsea says: “Essentially, what they do is they palm off the middle seats or the back of the plane in the hope that you will then pay to change your seat and if you sit tight and wait, you will see that the only ones left are extra legroom seats and the ones at the front of the plane.”
However, the last-minute strategy is, of course, not without risk for those who jump on the TikTok trend.
The boarding hack works best when “chickens” keep a beady eye on the check-in seating plan throughout the day, Chelsea adds.
Chelsea warns travellers playing chicken with check-in not to leave it until the last minute as an overbooked flight could leave you without a seat.
“Wizz Air and Ryanair both have a fairly high average load factor - around 94% - and so planes are often close to full,” wrote the travel blogger.
@cheapholidayexpert Was this too last minute?! 😰 🛫 Send this to someone who loves to leave checking in a little too late… 🙈 🐔 WHAT IS CHECK IN CHICKEN? 🐔 Check in Chicken is when you leave your online check in for Wizz Air and Ryanair late in the hope that you get allocated a better seat. 💺 WHY DO YOU GET A BETTER SEAT IF YOU L EAVE CHECK IN LATE? 💺 Wizz Air and Ryanair both do three things: 1. They charge for seats 2. They actively split up people travelling together 3. They often place people in ‘bad seats’ - i.e. middle seats and those away from the exits All of this means that as time ticks on, often the seats that are left available are the ‘good seats’ - i.e. upfront and extra legroom 🤔 DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK? 🤔 Yep! I actually can’t remember the last time I didn’t get an extra legroom seat because of doing this!! ⚠️ BUT WHAT’S THE RISK? ⚠️ The small risk - as you have seen in this video - is that you leave check in too late and there’s no seats left. This is because airlines can overbook planes due to the chance that a small percentage of passengers won’t show up for the flight. Now, technically the airline shouldn’t automatically boot off those that were last to check in - they’re supposed to ask if anyone is willing to give up their seat first (they get another flight plus compensation so some may well go for it) but often they just stick it on those who have left check in chicken a little too late… 😭 HOW BIG IS THE RISK?! 😭 Wizz Air and Ryanair both have a fairly high average load factor - around 94% - and so planes are often close to full. However, it is true that some passengers don’t show up and there are still plenty of flights that aren’t completely full. Overall, they wouldn’t overbook if they were losing money on the situation - which they would be if it happened often since they’d need to rebook your flight, put you up in accommodation if needed and give you compensation. 💁♀️ MY TOP TIP 💁♀️ Don’t leave Check in Chicken until the last moment - you need to be checking the seating plan throughout the day and check in when only good seats are left! 📣 LET ME KNOW… Would you do this?! And has anyone ever been on an overbooked plane?! #wizzair #checkin #overbookedflight
♬ original sound - Cheap Holiday Expert
The “check-in chicken” boarding hack follows a crackdown on “gate lice” by American Airlines.
AA announced this month that it is expanding its new technology to control “gate lice” – keen passengers with an itch to line up at the gate before they are called to board a flight.
More than 100 airports across the US will now use the boarding tech over the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas travel period after successful trials in Albuquerque, Washington and Tucson last month.
The new software will not accept the boarding pass of passengers before their group number is called and will make an audible sound to alert gate agents that they have broken boarding protocol.
A message will also be displayed on the screen for airline staff, who can then instruct cutting-in customers to stand aside until their group is called to board.
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast
