A PASSENGER revealed how they “accidentally flew private” while travelling with a commercial airline.
The person explained on Reddit that the empty plane happened after they were delayed for 14 hours from San Francisco to Minneapolis.
Explaining on Reddit, they wrote: ” When I showed up to the new flight time, the gate area was completely empty.
“Apparently every single person on my original flight switched, rather than waiting. So I was the only non-crew member on the flight.”
A video showed the cabin completely empty, with them being the only person on the entire plane.
They said despite having flown more than 80 flights in the last three years, it was their first time they had been the only passenger onboard.
They also raved about the crew who said they gave him all of the special treatment.
They continued: “Every member of the crew truly went above and beyond to give me a special experience.
“The flight attendants made sure I had everything I could ever want. I tried every snack and had a full meal.
“The pilots invited me into the cockpit and shared some trading cards with me when we landed.
“Even gave me a personalized message over the intercom as we began our descent.”
They were less than impressed with the airline themselves however, after they was left stranded at 3am when it flight was delayed, after being unable to get a taxi.
But they finished by saying: “This was such a cool experience that only happened because of a really unfortunate and inconvenient delay.
“But will probably be my only (accidentally) private flight experience.”
Other people on Reddit shared their similar experiences.
One said: “I ended up having both meal options, sampled all the wines (which given it was a domestic weren’t impressive though better than they are today) and had the most attentive service I’ve ever had on a domestic flight. 10/10 would recommend.”
Another person didn’t like it as much, commenting: “I was on an empty flight one time with SW. It was so weird. It kind of made me nervous.”
They also aren’t the first person to have revealed what it was like on social media.
Last year passenger Robbie Allen was travelling from Sydney to Fiji with Virgin when he realised it would be just him on the flight.
He said he was given unlimited prosecco and snacks by crew who treated him “like a VIP”.
Even a Jet2 passenger travelling from Edinburgh to Greece enjoyed an empty plane experience.
Gilbert Orr, creator of the travel blog godsavethepoints.com, told The Telegraph flyers should book a departure time with lower demand, like early in the morning or late at night.
Further, booking on days with lower travel demand, like on major holidays such as Christmas, can also increase the chances.
Another tip is to fly on routes between smaller cities with less popular airlines.
Finally, ‘tag’ routes, if you know them, could give you something to look out for when searching for flights.
A tag route is where a commercial airline flies between two destinations, but then adds on another stop for whatever reason.
And one passenger was left fuming when he was just one of three passengers onboard – and one decided to sit behind him.
Travel experts have revealed how to increase your chances of getting an empty flight to yourself.
