I’m a travel expert and this is the secret reason I’m GUARANTEED to get a free seat next to me in economy class

One of the greatest thrills of travel is undoubtedly booking an economy flight on the plane – and having an empty seat next to you.

It turns an economy class seat into a cheap business class sleeper, with the ability to tilt the legs to the side and use the companion seat as luggage space.

It’s a scenario travel expert Nicky Kelvin reveals he’s used to on British Airways flights – as he’s guaranteed a free seat for his companion. Every time (well, almost).

How? Points Guy’s editor-in-chief revealed all in an Instagram post – and added further clarification in an email to MailOnline Travel.

The secret? Level status.

Nicky wrote: “I fly a lot and often in business for work.” I worked hard at the start of the year to get back to gold status in the British Airways Executive Club.

“In addition to the usual benefits of first class check-in, first class lounges, additional baggage allowance and much more, a largely unknown benefit is that British Airways has a system that blocks seats next to Gold members to give them a chance at a free flight.” ticket. Sit next to them and leave those seats only when necessary.

“So if a flight is not fully booked, you will often have an empty seat next to you, which greatly improves your economy flight experience.”

Wondering if this status is unattainable?

Nicky explained that it was actually easier than ever.

He continued: “Achieving status with British Airways has become easier these days thanks to the double points offer on British Airways travel. That was one of the tactics I used to quickly gain status.”

Nicky wrote: “I fly a lot and often in business for work.” I worked hard at the start of the year to get back to gold status in the British Airways Executive Club. In addition to the usual benefits of first class check-in, first class lounges, extra baggage allowance and more, a largely unknown benefit is that British Airways has a system to block seats next to Gold members.

“If you spend a lot of money on credit cards, you can now earn an extra 200 points every year with the British Airways Premium Plus American Express Card.”

“Another tactic is to find cheap flights in premium cabins on British Airways or one of its partner airlines and cover as many segments as possible.”

“You can often find these cheaper flights by starting your flight from various European airports such as Amsterdam, Oslo, Sofia or Bucharest.”

“My aim is to earn tier points at a cost of less than £2 per tier point. “This would mean gold status would normally cost between £2,000 and £4,000.”