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MSNBC's Chris Elliot judges you and your Platinum Card
One of our favorite airline columnists over at MSNBC.com and from Elliott.org published an interesting article today on the separation between coach and first class called "Frequent Criers: Elite Fliers are Ruining Air Travel". In it, he points to the increasingly childlike behavior among top tier passengers that has recently been giving first class passengers a bad name -- and asks whether this is a function of the passengers themselves or the airlines catering to an unbalanced class of service.As an elite member myself, I have thought about this topic several times and part of it is true -- Elliott points out a variety of instances in which first class passengers have acted unruly and entitled. But I don't think that it's limited exclusively to first class passengers -- in fact, there are idiots in all classes of service and modes of transportation.
It doesn't take much effort to be an obnoxious jerk when you're in cramped quarters and have been traveling all day. In the same way that the taxi cuts you off when you're merging into traffic or the guy on the stairs walks down the left side instead of the right side, some people just don't make common courtesy a high priority. Yeah, it sucks. But it's okay. They're in the minority that think differently, but we'll get over it and we'll continue to do the nice, right thing.
There are good frequent fliers out there. I'm sure Chris Elliott flies all over the world and like myself and many frequent travelers on Gadling is professional and courteous. Don't lose faith, fellow passenger -- first and coach passengers are all stuck in this aluminum tube together. We can't let articles like this tear us apart.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Christopher Elliott Jun 16th 2008 4:22PM
Yes, as I mentioned in the story, a majority of elites (and for that matter, non-elites) are well-behaved. I think at the end of the day, this isn't about one class of passenger versus another. It's about how airlines are separating those two classes and enabling some of these incidents of childlike behavior up in first class.
Grant Martin Jun 16th 2008 4:26PM
Exactly -- as writers we need to make sure we make this distinction clearly. Not that you didn't. I just want to make sure that the casual reader doesn't draw the "All elites are jerks" conclusion.
Good hearing from you, Chris.
Brenda Jun 16th 2008 10:59PM
And then there are the "elite" flyers who fly so much that they have better manners and plane etiquette.- Because they've seen so many types of ridiculous behavior, they know how to behave.
I have elite status, which I generally use to upgrade on flights over 4 hours. Like so many other frequent flyers do, I have my free grown up beverage and then generally try to quietly snooze and not bother anyone. I don't like the word "elite" and think that word is part of the problem. I prefer to just be called a "frequent flyer."
M-D Jun 16th 2008 11:11PM
I've been Silver Elite on Continental for a couple of years now, and given my preference for sitting at the front of the economy cabin in a window seat, I find the ability to board first quite helpful, as I can get on board, settle in, and let the rest of the passengers do their thing. That said, I've never been opposed to waiting, and if the pre-boarding amenity went away, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
That said, I think part of the problem is that airlines don't adjust their Elite pre-boarding routines by market. Continental calls the first-class cabin, then all elites, then starts boarding economy by row from the back of the plane. Trouble is, if you're departing from a hub (like EWR), easily half the plane is Elite, and there's a mad crush to get on that blue carpet first - almost like a rugby scrum. By contrast, I've flown out of smaller markets like Nashville or Austin and been one of the few elites on the plane. In both situations, the routine is the same - all elites are called at the same time. Continental could easily eliminate that 'rugby scrum' at EWR and other hubs by calling elites in some sort of order - either by priority, or by seating location (window first, then middle/aisle).
In the end, I think it's important to remember that jerks come in all shapes & sizes - first class, elite, economy passengers, etc. - anyone can be a jerk under the right (or wrong) circumstances.