Introducing Seatangel Travel APP

Forget being stuck on the back row of a plane! A new app allows you to pay to swap SEATS with other passengers

• Seatangel, launching in January 2018, will create a marketplace for seats
• Users can swap with people travelling on the same flight after boarding
• The app is free to download but sellers are charged a commission fee

Being sandwiched in the middle seat of a plane or stuck on the back row comes part and parcel with air travel at times but you could soon improve your luck with the launch of a new app.

An app launching in January 2018 is promising to help flyers find better seats on a plane using a digital marketplace.

The app will allow the ‘seller’ to be compensated for the swap while the ‘buyer’ could get an upgrade on their current position.

Seatangel based in the Bay Area SF, California, and DSOA Dubai will allow air passengers to connect with each other before or during the flight.

Those flexible about where they sit can list their seat on the digital marketplace, charging however much they want to swap their seat.

Buyers are then able to browse the marketplace and purchase a swap.

The minimum price for a swap is $5 (£3.33) and both the buyer and the seller must be travelling on the same flight.

Their swap is only completed after they’ve already boarded the plane using their own tickets.

Although the app is free to download, sellers are charged a 15% commission for each swap that they complete.

This means that for the lowest $5 swap, the seller will make just $4.25 (£2.83).

In November this year, Seatangel conducted a survey of 401 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 on willingness to pay for a swap.

All of those surveyed are based in Dubai UAE travelling from DXB Emirates (Dubai) International Airport and have travelled at least three times in the previous six months.

The results indicated a significant number of people willing to pay to swap seats, especially on long haul journeys.

27 per cent of people were highly likely to pay to swap for a better seat on long haul journey.

Seatangel claimed that on average, economy travellers were willing to pay $24 (£15.99) for swaps on short-haul flights and $34 (£22.65) for long-haul flights.

However, the swap is not guaranteed as the policies of the airline might prevent the swap.

What’s more, the app will not be available globally when it first launches.

visit seatangel