If you’re usually cramped in coach when you fly, score a few extra inches of space the next time by using these simple tips.

“Travel when it’s less crowded,” says Terry Riley, author of Travel Can Be Murder: The Business Traveler’s Guide to Personal Safety (Applied Psychology Press, $20, www.amazon.com). Flying on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is less popular, and less expensive, too, since most business people travel on Sunday and Friday, and vacationers often travel on Saturday.

Get to the airport early, says Riley. You’ll have a better chance of changing your seat for one with more legroom.

Request an aisle and a window seat in the same row toward the back of the plane if you’re traveling with a companion. “You might end up with more space for the two of you, as the single middle seats are always the last to fill,” says Stacy Small, a luxury-travel consultant.

Concentrate your travel on one airline and enroll in its frequent- flyer program to to gain elite status and access to the roomier seats, says Small.