'I'm going to sit in the seat I paid for.' How a viral airplane hack backfired.

As a frequent solo flyer, I am very anti-middle seat (aisle girlie, through and through!). Yes, I'm aware that I'm in the majority here. The problem is that people who fly in groups are also aware of this middle seat avoidance… and many of them try to use it to their advantage.

How, you ask?

Well, a contentious airplane booking 'hack' has been doing the rounds online. Basically, it involves a couple, or group, booking only the window and aisle seats — leaving the middle seat free. The hope is that solo flyers (like me) won't book in between them, meaning they get the entire row to themselves.

Watch these handy hacks to book the best seat on a plane. Post continues after video.

One mum even shared her successful implementation of the hack on TikTok. Booking the aisle and window seat in two separate rows for her family of four, the group received the extra space they were hoping for when no solo flyers booked (or were sat by the airline) between them.

The comments on the video were heavily mixed. While some praised the hack, confessing to having used it themselves, others called the move "selfish".

And of course, there is always the possibility that someone will end up in the middle seat, especially if it's the only option due to a full flight. In this instance, couples often request to switch seats with the solo flyer so they can sit next to their partner.

This exact scenario happened to TikTokker Shreya, who stitched the mum's original video, sharing how she "fell victim" to the hack while flying from San Francisco to New York.

"When I got to my seat, there was a couple," Shreya recalled of her experience. "The man was sitting in my seat and the woman was sitting in the aisle seat. The woman was like, 'Hey, we're together, we're a couple, would you mind taking the window seat?'"

Shreya explained that she frequently gets up on flights due to her small bladder. That, coupled with her claustrophobia, means that the window seat isn't her cup of tea. But, she was willing to compromise with the couple.

"I was like, 'Oh, well, would you mind if I took the aisle seat and then you guys can sit in the window and middle seat?' And the woman just looks at me and goes, 'Well. I'm going to sit in the seat that I paid for.'"

Oh, the irony.

"I was thinking, girl, I'm doing you the favour," Shreya continued. "You and your man didn't book seats next to each other; I'm switching my seats so that y'all can sit next to each other.

"So I explained to her that I would prefer the middle seat then, because I get up a lot and I don't want to get up over two people versus just one person."

To this, the woman said that that she and her partner would get up every time Shreya needed to exit the row.

"At this point there was a line forming behind me," the solo flyer said. "People were starting to watch and get angsty."

So, she graciously took the window seat.

"And, lo and behold, I got up three times during that flight and they didn't get up any of those times," the TikToker revealed. "They just moved their bodies to the side, which I guess is my karma for not giving up the seat immediately.

"It would have been fine if they had been down to be flexible. But it's also why me and my boyfriend will never be subjecting other people to this hack," she finished the video.

While the comments on the original video were divided, this time around, most people were in Shreya's corner.

"This made me so mad for you," one user wrote.

"I would have gotten up every five mins on that flight," another added.

A third suggested an alternative response Shreya could have given the woman: "'I'm going to sit in the seat I paid for'. 'Oh, well, girl same, scootchie!'"

"Why do they do this? I haven't seen a flight with an empty seat in years," wrote another.

"'No' is a full sentence," shared a fifth.

"I don't get why couples don't just book aisle-aisle," a final read. And actually, that is kind of genius and we wish we'd thought of it sooner…

Me too, random TikTok user! Aisle seats, for the win.

Mamamia has reached out to Shreya for comment.