Traveling by plane can be a dream or a nightmare, depending on who sits beside you. But one couple recently shared a clever plan on TikTok to ensure the middle seat in their row stayed empty.

In a recent TikTok video, Olivia and her boyfriend presented a unique solution for avoiding a stranger sitting in the middle seat of their row. The video starts with Olivia covering her mouth in shock, then cuts to her boyfriend holding what appears to be a baby swaddled in blankets.

Though it appears normal enough, the voiceover reveals the couple's clever plan: they stuffed a baby doll in the middle seat to keep it empty.

"Does anyone else's boyfriend do the most absurd things to keep the middle seat open on an aeroplane? Like pretending to have a baby?" is written on the video.

"The things he'll do to keep the middle seat open on an airplane [sic]," Olivia captured the post.

The video went viral on TikTok, garnering over three million views. Viewers flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts on the couple's strange life hack.

"[I'm] gonna start sitting in the middle on purpose to spite people trying that hard," a commenter declared.

"I used to hold the barf bag in my lap," another suggested as a trick to keep people away.

Many viewers praised the couple's ingenuity, with one person writing "smart!!" and another noting that it was "genius". However, some weren't so impressed.

"As if that would stop me if that seat was on my boarding pass," a viewer pointed out.

"That's the seat I look for," a second confessed. "I know parents don't want to be split up so they'll inevitably give up the window or aisle."

"I'm still gonna sit in the middle seat that's on my boarding pass what [am I] gonna do seal someone else's seat [sic]," a third wondered.

"Hmm with a full flight, you can try anything. Won't work," another agreed.

What do you think of the hack? Is it 'genius' or doomed to fail?