When you're booking a flight, there's a lot to think about: which airline to use, when to fly, and of course, whether there are enough seats for everyone traveling with you. Sometimes, people look for flights with plenty of empty seats for a variety of reasons.
For one, if you're traveling with a group, a flight with many available seats means you might automatically get to sit together without having to scramble for adjacent seats.
Another reason might be to gauge how full the flight will be. On less full flights, there's sometimes a chance that the airline might cancel the flight and reschedule passengers to a different one.
Knowing how many seats are available on your flight is crucial for these reasons. Here are two simple ways to check seat availability:
It's best to find out how many seats are available before you even purchase your ticket. This way, you can choose a flight with the most suitable seat arrangement.
You can easily check this on the airline’s official website or through an online flight booking service. Let’s say you’re considering AirAsia. Here’s how you can check on their official website:
Start by opening the AirAsia website. Enter your origin city, destination, and departure date in the search fields. Hit the “Search” button to pull up a list of flights that fit your criteria.
You can sort these flights by price, departure time, or duration to find the one that best meets your needs.
After choosing a flight, you'll be prompted to enter some personal details. Fill these in and continue through the booking steps until you reach the seat selection stage. Here, click on the “Pick a Seat” button to open the seat selection page.
This page will display the aircraft’s seating layout. You’ll see which seats are available and which are already taken. Look for the symbols indicating empty and occupied seats to understand the layout better.
This screen also lets you see where specific seats are located—like those near the windows, toilets, or emergency exits—so you can choose one that suits your preferences.
If you decide to book, just select your seat and move on to the next step. If you’re still comparing options, you can always hit the back button to return to the previous pages and explore other flights.
Once you've bought your plane ticket, you can still check how many seats are available and pick your seat if you haven't done so already. This needs to be done through the airline’s app or website. For this example, let's use Air Asia’s website.
Start by opening the airline’s official website or app. Navigate to the page where it lists all your booked flights, often called the transaction list or bookings page.
Here, you’ll find all the flights you’ve booked. Click on the flight you want to manage, and then choose the “Manage Booking” option. This lets you view and alter your seat selection among other booking details.
Once you've accessed the flight you want to manage, you'll see options for various additional services such as meal purchases, extra baggage, insurance, and seat selection. Now, click on the menu to either select or purchase a seat.
The next screen will display the aircraft’s seating layout, showing both available and occupied seats. Look for the symbols on the screen to identify which seats are free and which are already taken.
On this page, you can either choose a new seat or change your current seat selection. If you're just browsing, you can simply go back to the previous page or exit the website or app.
These steps provide two straightforward methods to check seat availability on your flight, giving you a better sense of how full your flight might be.
