One of the greatest thrills when travelling is undoubtedly booking economy on a plane – and having a spare seat next to you.

This turns a cattle-class seat into a budget business-class berth, with the option of angling your feet to one side and using the companion seat for storage.

It’s a scenario that travel expert Nicky Kelvin reveals he’s well used to when flying with British Airways – because he’s guaranteed a spare companion seat. Every time (well, almost).

How? The Points Guy Editor-at-Large revealed all in an Instagram post – and added further explanation in an email to MailOnline Travel.

The secret? Tier status.

Nicky wrote: ‘I fly for work a lot, and often in economy. I worked hard earlier this year to re-earn gold status in the British Airways Executive Club.

‘Alongside the usual benefits of first-class check-in, first-class lounges, extra baggage allowance and more, a largely unknown benefit is that British Airways has a system of blocking seats next to gold members to give them a chance of a free seat next to them, and only releasing those seats when they have to.

‘So, unless a flight is completely full, you will often have a free seat next to you, greatly improving your economy flight experience.’

Wondering if this status is out of reach?

Nicky explained that it’s actually easier than ever.

He continued: ‘It’s become easier to earn status with British Airways these days due to the double-tier points offer on British Airways holidays, which was one of the tactics I used to achieve status quickly.

Read full originally published story on dailymail.co.uk