Experts Say There Are Still Empty Flights Out There. Here's How You Find Them.

However, if you want to travel anywhere, specifically across the country or across the world, it’s a hassle most of us are willing to deal with. But who likes sitting on a crowded flight for hours at a time? No one does, but what can you do about it? Well, if you know how to find empty flights, you could have a plane almost entirely to yourself.

According to The Telegraph, there’s a way to do just that…maybe. There’s really no way to guarantee an empty flight, but there are things that you can do to raise your odds of getting on an empty-ish plane. The first thing you can do is book your flight at the end of the day. Flights at the end of the day often tend to be the quietest because business travelers (who make up a bulk of flyers) tend to fly earlier in the day.

Airlines will run flights regardless of how few passengers are on board just to keep their placements at airports. However, there is a downside to waiting to fly late. If your flight is delayed or canceled, you might end up having to wait until the next day to fly. So you’ll want to be aware of that.

Another good bet is flying in the winter. Now, we’re not talking about flying during the holidays, when planes can be at their most crowded. However, if you’re flying in early December or in January and February, you may see fewer people on planes. This is especially true if you’re flying internationally.

Flying to less popular destinations is another strategy you can use. Fly to less popular airports. For example, you might see fewer people on a plane to Orlando Sanford Airport than on a plane to Orlando International Airport. Or visit a place you’ve never heard of before — it’s a sure bet that you’ll be flying on an emptier plane.

If you keep up with what’s going on in the industry, you might also get some good information on the best time to fly on emptier planes. Sometimes airlines will fly multiple flights per day just to offer passengers a choice, even if they can’t sell all the seats onboard. This is common on many international routes.

You can also use knowledge of an aircraft’s seat map to your advantage. Now, this isn’t a foolproof method because seat maps often don’t reflect the number of reservations that have been made for a flight — it only shows the number of people who have actually selected a seat. However, a website like ExpertFlyer could help you look up live seat maps to get a heads-up on how many seats on a flight are taken.

At the airport, you can wait to board the plane last and ask a crew member if there are any gaps in seating where you could take advantage of more space.

None of these methods are surefire, but it can’t hurt to check it out, right? Emptier domestic flights may not be necessary, but those long international flights are a lot more comfortable when you have room to spread out a little into empty seats.

Check back with AllEars again soon for more!