Josh
Jun 4th 2009 8:41PM
Just seems like you are trying to be some great defender of the Airline company. What would it ever hurt to discreetly give someone a 1st Class upgrade?
Not saying that you should upgrade everyone, but seriously, how would you get in trouble? What would it hurt?
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Josh, what if YOU had paid for a first class seat and YOU watched one of those (petty) Flight Attendants sit someone in first class for free? Upgrades are for those who frequent the airline and are repaid for their business via perks. The flight attendant would diminish the product if they upgraded the honeymooners, the elderly who want to sit close to the lavatory, the obese, etc..etc. Even worse, passengers would catch on and demand that first class be used as compensation, which it IS NOT. It's a product and YOU PAY FOR IT.

@ Frank

I HAVE PAID for 1st Class.
I have also been upgraded to 1st Class for free once.
I have flown 1st class 6 times in my life, and business class three times.

Each time I've been in 1st class I've enjoyed it immensely.
However, the entire flight, I didn't spend one second considering how or why anyone else was there or got there. I was there, I enjoyed my flight. I really don't pay much attention to people who sit across the aisle from me. If they're not interested in having a conversation or even if they are, I don't care who they are, what they do, or how they got the seat they did. They can tell me and I can tell them about me, but as soon as the flights over, I don't give a darn.

Not only is the likelihood of me finding out if the other person got in for free next to nothing, but if I did find out I paid for it and they didn't, the only real response I could have would be, "good for them."

Your argument is comparable to complaining that it's not fair that some people win the lottery and some people have to earn money. Sucks that it wasn't you, but why should you be mad at them?

Ever get a hotel room upgrade? Wasn't it great?. Car rental upgrade? Same thing. Ever get a free desert at a restaurant cause the waiter screwed up your order or spilled a drink? What about great seats at a sporting event because it was undersold? All the same type of thing.

It's called customer service. If the customer has a valid claim to some injustice or special need and the upgrade is available, there is no reason to deny it. The corporate offices know this, the reservation agents know this, the only real dunder head, stickler, nazi-strict, nay-sayers are the flight attendants who get off on the power they are suddenly given.

You are right it is a product people pay for... with a heavily marked up ticket value. So if someone got it on the cheap or free and I found out, only words that come to my mind are, "Lucky" and "good for them".

Josh-
Wish we could go back to the 60's and 70's when flight attendants were good looking young folks with great personalities.

I'm a 22 year old flight attendant. Just because I am young doesn't mean that I would upgrade you to first class.

How would we get in trouble? There are OTHER passengers on the flight that would see you get moved up to first class for absolutely no reason at all, that WILL send in a comment card to our boss. ANd there is no Discreetly...moving people up to first class. The other passengers are 1 foot away from us at all times and can everything we say.

Josh
Jun 5th 2009 12:53PM
However, the entire flight, I didn't spend one second considering how or why anyone else was there or got there. If they're not interested in having a conversation or even if they are, I don't care who they are, what they do, or how they got the seat they did. They can tell me and I can tell them about me, but as soon as the flights over, I don't give a darn.
Not only is the likelihood of me finding out if the other person got in for free next to nothing, but if I did find out I paid for it and they didn't, the only real response I could have would be, "good for them."
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Your opinion is not shared by many frequent flyers as well as employees of many airlines. First, it's against company policy. Secondly, frequent flyers are watching the first/business cabin like a hawk to see if there are empty seats in hopes of a last minute upgrade. Many Freq. flyers KNOW where they are on the upgrade LIST. Should I upgrade someone on a whim, one of my co-workers, there's thousands and thousands of flight attendants at each airline could and would write me up. And, I could be surprised by a letter in my file wanting an explanation and possible discipline by my supervisor. So, you see, its NOT worth the hassle.

Josh said:
Ever get a hotel room upgrade? Wasn't it great?. Car rental upgrade? Same thing. Ever get a free desert at a restaurant cause the waiter screwed up your order or spilled a drink? What about great seats at a sporting event because it was undersold? All the same type of thing.
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NO, it's NOT the same thing. All the passenger types that Heather mentions want first class or business class for FREE. The above scenarios you mention get compensated for an "inconvenience" or a problem. That's different.

Even though you believe you deserve it Josh, have you ever thought about the costs for an airline to upgrade a passenger from coach to first class?

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in a plane has an outraging cost to be transported and, when you have all that china, glasses, mugs and silverware, somebody has to pay for it. The more it weights, the more it costs. That's why we have so much plastic on coach. I'm a flight attendant in Brazil and I can say I'm not happy about it, I'm sure you aren't either, but, if we went back to the 60's, you wouldn't be paying a couple hundred of dollars for your ticket, would you?

Just think about that when we say we love to hate that kind of passenger.

Dear Josh, don't you know that if you up grade 1 person you might as well up grade them all!!, because, the rest have there head's held up high with a look of " why not me ? " or I should have been up graded because I'm better than the rest,or I know the the top man and I want a full explanation, why not me? Back in the 60's - 70's, It's true thing's were very different, In the 1st. class compartment, and also the F/A dress code, but so were peoples maners and there dress codes and behavior . I'm not sure but was that something like " There Was Class ".