Australian airline Qantas has announced a new option for its passengers as they will now be able to book adjacent seats on the plane to expand their personal space. On flights, especially long ones, having an adjacent unoccupied seat could be a pleasant treat.
In the past, the airline used to offer the ’Neighbor Free’ option only to those in its frequent flier program. Now, it is being made available to all passengers at a cost as low as 30 Australian dollars (18 euros), as reported by British newspaper The Independent.
If eligible, passengers will be sent an email invitation where you can purchase a Neighbor Free seat between 48 hours until one hour before your scheduled flight departure, according to information on the airline’s website. Neighbor Free seats are subject to availability and may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after boarding the aircraft. If the seat is filled, passengers will be refunded for their upgrade.
Eligible passengers would need to take the following steps
- Select standard seat followed by Neighbor Free seat.
- Provide payment details and submit request.
- Qantas will email the passenger confirming the reservation. If the airline is unable to secure the reservation, the passenger will receive a full refund for the Neighbor Free portion of the flight.
The standard seat and Neighbor Free reservation will be available on the boarding pass. No further action needs to be taken. Neighbor Free is currently only available on select Qantas operated Australian domestic flights, although many of Qantas’s busiest routes, such as Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane, do not offer the option, as reported by The Independent.
Qantas is not the first airline to offer these services. Since 2017, three airlines, namely Etihad Airways (UAE), Eurowings (Germany) and Sri Lankan Airlines (Sri Lanka), have been able to book adjacent seats. However, Qantas continues to be priced significantly better than its competitors.
