Have you ever wondered how to get extra legroom seats for free on a plane? I’ll share a recent experience with you.
Twenty-eight days after I entered Calabar to visit my niblings—in the spirit of strengthening family connections—and attend the Carnival, I walked into Margaret Ekpo International Airport on January 19th, 2026, to catch my flight back to Abuja.
At the check-in counter, the staff told me they wanted to change my seat because of my height—I’m 6 feet plus. I told him that I was cool with it as long as it was a window seat, and when he gave me my ticket, my new seat was 12C.
Boarding the plane, I got to my seat and found the legroom was wider than usual. In some previous flights, my knee could touch the back of the seat in front of me (economy seating issues), but here I could fully stretch my legs out without touching the seat in front.
Before I had time to wonder why, I saw a unique safety card in front of me that informed me I was seated in the exit row. Nice.
Seating there had conditions, though. I can’t remember the exact words used, but it was basically around (1) having the strength to assist in case of an emergency, (2) knowing what to do to assist, and (3) willingness to work with the flight crew if there’s an emergency. I’m quite good with all three conditions, so I took the seat.
Why was the leg room so large? We should all be able to answer this without thinking much. Clearly, it’s for people to be able to move freely in an emergency. Plus, there’s that exit door which opens inwards, requiring space to be removed quickly and safely.
While I always look for a window seat when booking, I never thought about extra legroom tricks while booking. I mean, I knew about the tight legroom issue, but I never thought of solving it beyond booking business class.
But now that I know that sitting in the exit row means more legroom, I have found a new tip for booking flights. I’ll now look out for two things: a window seat and an exit row. Getting both the window view and excess legroom is an experience you definitely have.
However, I don’t know whether airlines allow passengers to select the exit row while booking. They may want to be the ones to assign it, so they can confirm that the person taking it meets the conditions I mentioned in the second paragraph.
Or not. I’ll find out on my next trip. But for now, here are some ways to take care of yourself, right now.