Fliers to profile seatmates?

Fliers to profile seatmates?

Flying alone is like playing seatmate lottery, with the certainty that you ae going to be sandwiched between two complete strangers.

But one airline is trying to change that, by putting travellers in control of finding seatmates who share common interests.



Dutch airline, KLM plans to pilot a “meet and seat” service next year that allows fliers to choose their seats based on the Facebook and Linkedin profiles of fellow travellers.

It aims to work by linking people’s profiles to their check-in information when they check-in online.

There will be an opt-out option for flyers who do not wish to share their profile information.

KLM says it is still working on the final details and has not revealed if it might charge for the service, which has been hailed by some as mile-high “match-making”.

Many travellers have taken to Twitter to share their views on the new travel buddy service, with some embracing the idea and others calling it “creepy.”

@declanjbarry tweeted: “this is just a terrible idea” and @morgonzola said: “the new Facebook ‘meet and seat’ booking option could be fun or a disaster”, while @oconnorcolleen called it “a new level of social stalking.”

KLM is not the only airline to engage with social media to help passengers find seatmates.

Malaysian Airlines Facebook service “MHBuddy” lets passengers see if they have friends on their flight or who are headed to the same destination.

Travellers can complete a full travel booking through Facebook  from purchasing flights, checking-in and seat selection, to sharing flight itineraries with friends.