Man shares travel hack for keeping the plane seat next to yours empty

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Mike Davis posted a video captioned “How to keep seats open next to you on a flight” on Wednesday - and has already gained 2.2 million views and 175,000 likes with his ingenuity. To keep the empty seat beside him free, he stares every boarding passenger right in the eye while patting the adjacent seat with his hand in a “welcoming” manner. but the middle seat double tapping both sides.” “Coughing repeatedly has been my go to for the last couple years,” suggested follower Vit Zeh. TikTok has become a hotbed of quickfire travel tips, many of them aimed at budget travellers - with users posting about everything from how to cram extra clothes into your small cabin-bag allowance, to how to book the cheapest flights online - and one even giving her secrets to bagging a completely free luxury holiday.