Travel on a budget isn’t for the weak, but not everyone can afford not to travel on a budget either. While we might not be able to fly with better airlines, that doesn’t mean we need to suffer on the flights we take with budget airlines. This post is about how to be comfortable when flying with budget airlines.

1. Get The Best Seat

Perhaps the biggest issue with budget airlines is that any form of comfort will cost extra—if you want any perks such as food, checked luggage or choosing your seat, it’s often not worth flying budget airlines at all.

That said, the first step to being comfortable when flying budget airlines is getting the best seat possible—and yes, even budget airlines have better seats available.

So what is the best seat on budget airlines? The emergency seat.

Emergency seats come with a few benefits that add to your comfort when flying budget airlines, such as: 

• Extra leg room.
• Babies cannot sit in emergency rows for safety reasons which reduces the potential of a baby crying dramatically.

Ultimately, emergency seats on cheap airlines are still poor quality, but the safety measures put in place largely increase comfort drastically.

But How Do You Get The Best Seat For Free?

If the airline allows you to check-in online, then check-in around one to two hours before the check-in deadline.

Why? Early check-ins get "randomly assigned" to standard seats. Reason being the airline hopes that you will be unsatisfied with your seat to the point that you want to pay for an upgrade.

Assuming few passengers pay for an emergency seat upgrade, by checking-in later you increase the chance of all the standard seats being taken, thus forcing the system to assign you to an available emergency seat.

This has a very high success rate when it comes to fully sold-out flights, but doesn’t always work with flights that are mostly empty—but even then, you often get assigned to a row with an empty seat.

2. Wear Comfortable Jeans

Yes, you are reading this on a blog of a jeans company, but clothing matters as far as comfort goes, and bad jeans will affect your comfort a lot.

Simply put, Mugsy Jeans are the best jeans for travel ever created.

It’s not that Mugsy Jeans will suddenly make you feel like you're flying first class, but a good pair of jeans will vastly improve your experience, especially on longer flights.

And yes, with the minimal storage space of a budget airline seat, you will appreciate the deep pockets that Mugsy Jeans have!

3. Bring All The Essentials

The best way to make time pass on an airplane is by either working or by watching the likes of Netflix. Laptop battery is often a limit though, and that’s why I recommend you bring a power bank.

If you intend to sleep, a sleeping mask is absolutely vital for comfort. Whether during the day or night, most budget airlines leave cabin lights on for the entire flight and there will always be someone that decides to turn their annoying little light on.

Last, not having a travel pillow might be the biggest mistake you can make when flying a budget airline.

That’s How To Be Comfortable When Flying On Budget Airlines.

Budget airlines suck, but they are a necessary evil. The good news is, with the tricks outlined in this post, you can often beat the system and upgrade your experience.

Guest-written by Michael Smolski.