In an industry of ever-shrinking airline seats, even a few precious inches of legroom in economy class can make a big difference for passenger comfort.
But how much would you pay for the ability to stretch out an extra inch or two?
That’s the focus of a new study from Upgraded Points, which analyzed the cost of booking tickets on airlines with above-average legroom in economy.
For one week in May 2026, the site’s team of travel experts compared the cost of more than 5,000 flights with below-average, average, and above-average legroom across the 10 busiest domestic routes in the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the data showed that the more spacious the legroom became, the higher the cost of the ticket ballooned.
Travelers generally pay $37 more in airfare to fly with an airline that offers an average amount of legroom in economy, which the study defined as 30 to 30.9 inches. That’s compared to carriers that offer below-average legroom of 28 to 29.9 inches, which tend to be low-cost airlines.
Airfare costs rise even more to fly with a carrier that offers above-average legroom, which ranges from 31 to 33 inches. Seats with those airlines typically cost about $51 more than those with average legroom in economy.
All told, it costs travelers an extra $88 to book with carriers that offer above-average legroom, compared to those that have below-average space.
Those extra dollars can add up fast. It would cost a couple about $176 to upgrade from an airline with below-average legroom to one with above-average space. For a family of four, that same upgrade would cost about $352 extra, and that’s all before adding in fees for checked bags and seat selection.
Despite those notable extra costs, a substantial number of travelers are willing to pay more for generous legroom. Nearly 40% of frequent travelers say they have paid extra specifically for more legroom on a flight, while nearly half (46%) say legroom is “very” or “extremely” important to them when booking, according to the study.
However, the majority of fliers still remain price-sensitive: 84% of travelers said that ticket price matters most to them when choosing a flight, compared to only 37% who said legroom was most important.
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