Travel
Airport theory, seat squatters and check-in chickens: Why these viral travel trends are a disaster
Cabin crew can remove you from flights and gate agents can deny you boarding for disobeying rules.
Social media loves a travel hack. While some are clever, many are questionable – and a select few are so misguided they might even leave you stranded at the airport.
In recent months, travel trends such as airport theory, seat squatting and playing ‘check-in chicken’ have taken the online world by storm. Are they genius shortcuts or guaranteed disasters? Euronews asked airline experts to weigh in.
Spoiler: they’re not impressed.
Airport theory: The fast track to missing your flight
The idea behind airport theory is simple: arrive at the airport as late as possible – ideally 15 minutes before departure – because airlines supposedly overestimate boarding times. If successful, it means less waiting and more time spent elsewhere.
There’s just one problem: it’s a terrible idea, according to aviation experts.
“Super dumb,” says Keith Van, a community manager at Seats.aero.
“If you show up at the flight with 15 minutes or less to spare, it’s extremely stressful for the gate agent to process if you’ve already been offloaded and your seat has been given away.”
And Van should know – he flies so often that he has earned ‘EuroBonus Millionaire’ status with the SkyTeam network, one of the world’s three major airline alliances.
Gate agents, he adds, are very willing to offload absent passengers – and have every right to deny you boarding. And if you think there was a mistake made by the gate agent, Van assures you there almost certainly was not.
“It’s nearly impossible to assign two people to the same seat under live reservation systems,” he explains.
Airport theory can hit you where it hurts – your wallet
“Even if this hack works nine times out of ten – it won’t – that tenth time won’t be worth the hassle. You will have to book a new flight, but certain destinations have limited flights, and they may be full,” adds Addie, a long-haul flight attendant for a major airline who asked to use a pseudonym.
“If you have not boarded by the time boarding closes, ground staff will not hesitate to offload you. Airlines pay enormous amounts for gate rental, and every minute longer than necessary the aircraft sits at the gate, the more money it costs the airline.”
Rather than a hack, airport theory could be an extremely effective way to end up paying for a whole new flight.
Why seat squatting is a one-way ticket to arguments
If you want an upgrade without paying for it, sit in a better seat and hope nobody notices.
That’s the logic behind seat-squatting, a trend where passengers occupy more desirable seats – extra legroom or a window view – and wait to see if anyone challenges them.
But those seats almost certainly belong to someone else.
“On fuller flights these days, that seat has already been probably booked by someone else,” says Van. “If it leads to an argument, the flight attendant on board will always check boarding passes to see who is supposed to sit where.”
And when flight attendants tell you to move, you must listen to them.
“If you don’t, you’re breaking aviation laws in many jurisdictions, and the captain or crew can boot you off the flight,” he adds.
If you refuse to follow the rules, you might be met by police once you’re off the plane.
Flight attendants will not hesitate to remove you for breaking the rules
“I can tell you personally that if a passenger was refusing to move from someone else’s seat to their own I would not allow them to fly,” says Addie.
“As a condition of carriage, which every person agrees to when booking their flight, cabin crew need to be confident that passengers will follow instructions in an emergency, so an inability to follow a simple instruction like ‘sit in the seat you were assigned’ is reason enough to be removed from the flight.”
There are several valid safety reasons for following the rules, she says. Seat squatting, for example, can disrupt a plane’s weight balance.
“Different zones in the aircraft are required to have different proportions of passengers depending on the weight of the freight being carried in the hold. When you hear the announcement saying that the flight crew are completing their paperwork, this is one of the things they’re checking,” she explains.
If you want to move after take-off and the seat belt signs have been turned off, just ask a flight attendant. Otherwise, she says, sit where you’re told.
‘Check-in chicken’ is like playing roulette with your seat assignment
‘Check-in chicken’ is a kind of game that has gone viral on social media where travellers deliberately wait until the last possible moment to check in, hoping to score an unsold premium seat instead of being assigned the middle seat of doom.
It’s high risk, high reward, according to experts, with an emphasis on the risk.
“This is actually real,” admits Van.
“Many carriers do random seat allocation. Low-cost carriers like Ryanair will allocate middle seats to passengers to entice them to buy upgrades. Even legacy carriers [might] save unsold rows with extra legroom until last. They may even check you in but designate you as an unselected seat and leave it to the gate agent to assign your seat.”
But not every airline follows these practices. US-based Southwest Airlines, for example, designates seat priority by check-in time – all the more reason not to buy into airport theory.
Some airlines that offer upgrades may use check-in time as a tie-breaker, too. So if you check in late, it may cost you a bump to a better seat, Van adds.
Don’t believe everything you see on TikTok
In the hierarchy of travel hacks, some ideas are genuinely useful.
Addie recommends wearing compression socks on long flights to prevent deep-vein thrombosis – a potentially fatal form of blood clotting – and drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, as it aids recovery.
Other hacks, such as airport theory or playing check-in chicken, are more likely to annoy airline staff, delay flights or leave you stranded. At worst, they can put you and your fellow passengers at risk.
“The most important thing to remember is that the cabin crew is there for your safety. Customer service is not our primary job,” Addie explains. “If you are being asked to do something, there is a reason behind it.”
To put it another way: if a travel hack sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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Tourists have been caught smuggling all kinds of stolen souvenirs home from holidays, from artefacts picked up in Pompeii to sand from Italy’s famous pink beach on the island of Sardinia.
The Belgian city of Bruges is the latest victim of keepsake crime, but the item visitors have taken a fancy to is unexpected.
The city council has reported the theft of dozens of cobblestones from the city centre, and suspects tourists are the culprits.
Tourists suspected of pilfering Bruges’ cobblestones
Bruges’ cobblestones are increasingly being pilfered from well-known spots in the UNESCO-designated historic centre, public property councillor Franky Demon reported this week.
“At iconic locations such as Minnewater, Vismarkt, Markt and Gruuthusemuseum, it is estimated that 50 to 70 pieces of cobblestone disappear every month. And that number could be even higher,” Demon told press.
“The phenomenon increases significantly, especially during busy tourist periods such as spring and summer,” he added.
For this reason, authorities suspect visitors are pocketing the stone as souvenirs.
‘Leave that cobblestone where it belongs’
As well as damaging a valuable part of the city’s heritage, the stolen stones have created safety issues.
The gaps from removed stones present trip hazards for pedestrians – and are costly to repair.
“It’s unfortunate that our employees constantly have to go out to fix potholes and loose stones. This causes a lot of additional work and costs: about 200 euros per square metre of reconstruction,” explained Demon.
The councillor urged visitors to respect the historical environment of Bruges.
“We simply ask for respect. Anyone walking through Bruges crosses centuries of history. Leave that cobblestone where it belongs,” he said.
Bruges’ cobblestones are apparently not the only sought-after street souvenir.
Along the famous Paris-Roubaix cycling route, tourists are known to pilfer parts of the pavement.
While Rome’s iconic ‘sampietrini’ – cobblestones made of solidified lava – have also disappeared into suitcases over the years.
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Travel
‘Inequality and infinite growth’: Canary Islands anti-tourism protests reignite amid record arrivals
This weekend, residents of Spain’s Canary Islands are coming out in force to protest against mass tourism.
People on the archipelago have been growing increasingly vocal about its struggles with visitor numbers.
Last year, locals held multiple protests to highlight overtourism’s strain on local infrastructure and housing availability. They look set to continue again this summer as residents say little has been done to tackle the problem.
Protests planned across Spain against overtourism
On Sunday, 18 May, residents of the Canary Islands will take to the streets to join protests organised by campaign group Canarias tiene un límite (The Canary Islands have a limit).
Demonstrations will be held on all the islands of the archipelago as well as in several cities across Spain.
Protests will begin at 11 am on the seven main Canary Islands – El Hierro, La Palma, La gomera, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura – and at 12pm on mainland cities including Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia.
Residents in the German capital of Berlin are also planning to take to the streets in solidarity.
Why are residents of the Canary Islands protesting?
The organisers say they are protesting to oppose the current economic model “based on overtourism, speculation, inequality and the infinite growth on very limited land”.
Instead, they want a transition to a people-centred, environmentally responsible model that respects the archipelago’s ecological and social needs.
Specifically, they are calling for a halt to destructive hotel projects across the islands and the building of a motor circuit on Tenerife; a moratorium on new tourist developments; guaranteed access for residents to healthcare and housing; and a functional ecological tourist tax.
The group also wants the immediate introduction of measures to curb marine pollution and the creation of an environmental restoration law.
Canary Islands receive record number of tourists in March
Earlier this month, authorities announced that the Canary Islands received more than 1.55 million foreign visitors in March, up 0.9 per cent on the record set in the same month last year.
The figures were released by the Canary Islands National Statistics Institute (INE), which added that the total number of international tourists for the first quarter of 2025 was 4.36 million, an increase of 2.1 per cent year-on-year.
The tourist influx comes despite dozens of protests staged last year by Canary Island residents against mass tourism.
Similar demonstrations have already taken place this year. Over Easter, around 80,000 hospitality workers in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro walked out in a dispute with unions over pay.
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A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Greek island of Crete early this morning, Wednesday 14 May.
Authorities issued a tsunami alert in the area shortly after the tremor, which was felt as far away as Israel, Syria and Egypt.
Tourists are being warned to stay away from coastal areas in the popular holiday spot.
Here is the latest travel information from the local government.
Tourists in Crete urged to move away from coastlines
The earthquake was at a depth of 35 kilometres with its epicentre near the islands of Kasos and Karpathos in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection issued a precautionary tsunami warning for the area, including the east coast of Crete and the island of Rhodes.
Authorities urged residents and tourists on the island to keep away from the coastline and move to higher ground.
“A magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred 48km SE of Kasos. Risk of possible Tsunami in your area,” the Ministry posted on its X account this morning. The magnitude was later updated to 6.0.
“Move away from the coast immediately. Follow the instructions of Local Authorities.”
Samaria Gorge, one of Crete’s most popular hiking routes, is temporarily closed as officials check for any damage done to the route.
“The Natural Environment and Climate Change Organisation announces that due to the earthquake that occurred today south of Kasos, the gorge will remain closed to visitors in order to check the route for possible rockfalls,” authorities said. “A further announcement will be made late this afternoon.”
Crete earthquake: Is it safe to travel and am I entitled to compensation?
Foreign governments have not issued travel advisories as yet, so it is currently still considered safe to visit Greece and its islands.
This also means that, should you choose not to go ahead with your trip, you are unlikely to receive compensation.
Depending on your travel insurance policy, you may be able to receive a refund for some or all of your trip if it includes compensation for cancellations due to natural disasters. Check with your provider and read your terms and conditions carefully.
There have been no reports so far of injuries or major damage from the earthquake, but authorities are monitoring the situation closely and have warned people should remain vigilant.
If you are on holiday in or about to travel to Crete, Kasos or Karpathos, make sure you stay up to date with the latest information.
Crete and its surrounding region are considered one of Europe’s most seismically active zones.
In October 2021, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook the island just weeks after another tremor killed one person and injured several others.
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