Free Seat Upgrades On Air India Express: Chennai Man Shares Simple Travel Hack

A Chennai man reportedly secured two free seat upgrades on an Air India Express flight using a simple hack. Here’s what he did and what travellers should know about getting complimentary upgrades.

People usually think they have to pay extra money for a good seat on a flight. But a Chennai man recently went viral on social media after he claimed he got two seat upgrades on the same trip without spending a single rupee. Narayanan Hariharan from Chennai shared this interesting experience on X.

How he got the double seat upgrade

Narayanan Hariharan originally got seat 27B on his Air India Express flight. He walked up to the check-in counter, smiled at the staff member, greeted her by her name, and asked how her day was going. He then politely requested a seat change. The staff immediately moved him to an emergency row seat, 14F. But the story did not end there.

Free travel hack: Being nice.

Was assigned 27B on my flight today. Smiled, used her name, enquired about her day, and politely requested at the check-in counter - moved to emergency row (14F). Tried the same thing at the boarding gate - flew in 1F.

The staff deal with tired,… pic.twitter.com/4NBSiK0rtI

— Narayanan Hariharan (@narayananh) September 28, 2026

He reached the boarding gate and tried the exact same trick with the staff there. He asked for another seat change very politely. This time, he got seat 1F. Narayanan explained that airline staff deal with tired and cranky passengers all day long. His experience shows that they are much more willing to help someone who just talks to them nicely.

'It is not exactly free if you ask for it'

Many users shared similar personal experiences after reading Narayanan Hariharan's post. Some people quickly pointed out that these upgrades actually depend on seat availability, flight rush, and airline policies. A few others argued that asking for an upgrade politely does not really make it a free hack. They noted that such lucky moments purely depend on a person's communication skills.