Let’s face it, no one wants to sit in the middle seat. I’ve never been on a flight where two people are dueling over who made the mistake of sitting in seat “E”. Well, Virgin Australia has found a way to make that middle seat “the prize.”

How it works:

Photo Credit: Virgin Australia

Introducing the Middle Seat Lottery, a raffle valued at $145,000. The only way into the lottery is to voluntarily or involuntarily sit in the middle seat during any of their flights.

“Virgin Australia is an airline that’s doing things differently and we are having a lot of fun coming up with exciting innovations to make every part of the travel experience more wonderful,” says Jayne Hrdlicka, the chief executive officer of Virgin Australia Group, in a press release.

“Now we’re giving our loyal guests the opportunity to win from a prize pool valued at over $230,000 for simply sitting in a middle seat.”

Helicopter RIdes!? Oh My!

Velocity Frequent Flyer members from now until April 23, 2023 who sit in the middle seat during their flight can register for the lottery right on the app. Members must be 18 years of age or older.

There will be a winner announced each week and the prizes will be different for each flight. Some of the exciting prizes include a full-day helicopter pub crawl and a two-night stay in Cairns with flight included as well as a bungee jump. For those who love Australian Football, they’re giving tickets to the Grand Final and access to the pre-game lunch and after party. Flyers can also win “Platinum Velocity” flier status for one year along with one million extra Velocity Points. 

Once the airline announced its lottery, many commented that it was a “brilliant plan”, while others didn’t care what they were giving, they would never want to feel like Sydney Watson in the middle seat.

For more information on the Virgin Australia Middle Seat Lottery click here.