Check-in chicken is the new TikTok travel trend that will drive you nuts
Air travel is rarely the best part of your trip. The entire process of getting through the airport and onto your plane can be time consuming and stress inducing. The actual act of being on the plane is often even more of an ordeal since amenities are decreasing, costs are rising, and legroom is all but a memory. It only gets worse if someone in front of you wants to recline their seat. Sure, they have the right to do so but that doesn't make your flight any better.
TikTok influencers have found a way to make air travel even more stressful. Or more exciting, depending on your point of view. It's called "check-in chicken." Essentially, you wait as long as possible to select your seat on the plane, possibly until you're at the check-in counter just before the check-in window closes. As insane as this sounds, there's actually a reason behind it.
The theory is that checking in early puts you at a disadvantage as airlines will automatically put passengers in undesirable seats so that you'll pay to upgrade to a better one. The assumption is that the vast majority of people won't do that, meaning seats with extra legroom or other positives will be left unclaimed until someone playing check-in chicken shows up at the last minute to claim them.
There are several risks in this strategy. Naturally, there are no guarantees that the seats left when you decide to check-in are the more desirable ones. You're gambling based on a system that does not have any impact on what other passengers or the airlines will do. Additionally, you run the risk of being bumped from your flight. Airlines frequently overbook flights, meaning you could end up being the person in this weird game of musical chairs without a seat if you wait too long to choose.