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There have been some major travel changes in 2025 like Southwest ending their open seating policy and stopping their “bags fly free” initiative after over 50 years! With these changes going on, it reminded us of the concept of “seat karma,” so we’re breaking down what that might look like for you on your next flight.
Have you ever heard of seat karma? It’s essentially the idea that if you are generous, kind, or even rude when it comes to seat-related actions, you will be rewarded or punished in the future. So like regular karma but with airplane seating, so why should it worry you? Well, it’s definitely something we think you need to consider when you’re flying.
A Southwest airplane’s interior.
We’re going to break down some examples (good and bad) of what seat karma might look like. First, it could be trading seats with someone so a family can sit together! This is good seat karma because it isn’t a requirement, it’s just a kind action. You could be rewarded with less baby crying because the parents are able to work together more easily.
Southwest Cabin
A maybe not so “good” example of seat karma is seat hacking! If you don’t know what seat hacking is, it’s when people use open seating policies to try and get more room in their row. People do this by going in pairs but taking only the window and aisle seat hoping people will avoid the middle seat. Now have we done this before? Honestly, yes! It doesn’t make you bad for trying a TikTok trend by any means.
Frontier Airlines
The bad karma might come in later if someone asks for the middle seat and you don’t switch to then sit with your partner or if their group is split up by your seat hacking attempt. The bad karma might come in the form of an uncomfortable ride for you and the person you’re with or the group that was split up causing commotion as they try to speak to each other.
American Airlines Plane
Another example of a kind gesture might be if someone has limited mobility and you offer up your aisle seat. This could lead to a great flight experience or even your flights being on time for the rest of the year! Karma does work in mysterious ways as they say.
Sunset on a Southwest plane
Finally, an example that might bring about some less-than-kind seat karma is taking up more than your fair share of room in your seat! By this, we mean kicking your legs into someone else’s feet area, leaning into someone else’s space, or just being inconsiderate to the people around you. No one is truly comfortable on an airplane so don’t make it worse on those around you. This could lead to disgruntled people next to you or bad seats on your future flight.
Be considerate!
Is there any real validity to seat karma? Who knows! With changes like Southwest’s removal of their open seating policy, there will be fewer chances for some of the bad karma moving forward (we hope!) The open seating doesn’t end until early 2026 though, so it’s up to us to make nice choices when it comes to seat hacking until then.
Airplanes
Really the point of talking about seat karma is to remind everyone that kindness is free. So next time you’re hopping on a flight, think about your seat karma and pay it forward! One kind action might lead to hundreds more. You can, at the very least, try to make flying better for you and everyone on your flight. As always, be sure to keep following DFB for all of your travel tips and tricks.
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Tell us about a time someone was kind to you when flying in the comments!
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I’ve tried so hard to be kind. We’ve switched with people so they could sit with their families, I don’t put my seat back at all, I don’t take my shoes off, I’ve helped other people putting their luggage up in the bins, if I don’t have to catch a connection, I wait until everyone else is off the plane before I go so others can get out faster to make their connections…and I still seem to have horrible seat karma. I once got seated next to a couple who first fat-shamed me (I don’t even need a seatbelt extender!) then complained loudly about the cranky baby across the aisle who occassionally fussed, complained even MORE loudly about the family’s special meal (literally shouting about how bad it smelled and flamboyantly waving their arms trying to waft the smell away, dove over the seat in front of them to get earphones before the people in the rows ahead, Asked me what meal I was going to order and when I said I didn’t know yet, possibly the chicken, the woman told the FA I wanted the chicken before I was even asked so I didn’t get a choice. They treated me like I was an idiot who couldn’t understand them making exaggerated gestures to show me what they meant and over-annunciating words and talking extremely slowly and loudly. “Sleeeeep….WE” (pointing to themselves) “are going to take a NAAAAAP” (hands together by their ears) and then reached up and turned MY light out. Maybe I got stuck with them because someone knew I was the only person who would be patient enough to put up with them, but that was the LONGEST international flight and I don’t feel like I deserved that bad karma!