sonofzeus

Severe luggage restrictions and franken-food kill that deal.

JetAirways77W

If you want some related information, here is my self-victimization thread LOL:

Why are there more TR's in F and J than in Y?

invisible

Sometimes (a lot of times) it associates with expression [inappropriate text edited by Moderator]- i.e. people who buy things they do not need, on money they do not have, to impress people they do not like.

schmoove

Well.......

Tchiowa

I see a whole lot of examples in this thread that fall neatly into the "sour grapes" category.

I buy Business and First class for myself and my wife because I can afford it and the comfort it worth the cost to me. Other people may not have the same priorities. I *don't* do it to impress those who make other choices.

Suggest that some people who believe that we are trying to impress you review their own motivations.

lloydah

^^ This

pinniped

Maybe I'm dissecting this too much, but I associate BMW with the image that its owner wants to project.

The ironic thing is that the (few) people I know who are truly wealthy actually don't drive flashy cars. If anything, they're likely to downplay their net worth. Many of the people I know who are somewhere in the upper middle class continuum, but not out-and-out F.U. rich, drive flashy cars to give the appearance of greater wealth than they actually have.

I associate airline status with simply using a product a lot. (I wish Talisker had an Executive Platinum level.) It doesn't connotate importance to me - neither when I was 1K by actually flying a ton, nor when I've held other statuses obtained through some sort of travel hack. It's just a big game, and you use status to play the game effectively.

creampuff

The whole of OP is rambling, but I think it is clear that OP writing "lowly people" _does not_ mean he thinks of Y passengers as lowly people.

As for status, it's meh. I've never been op-uped despite having status so you are at the end of the day in an economy seat with is still uncomfortable or you are in a business seat which is comfortable and somebody has paid for. I don't rate airline lounges unless you are the sort of person who likes to chow down at one of those all-you-can-eat buffets with low quality food.

Artpen100

The article this morning on the UA flight diverted because two passengers got in a fight over recline (in E+!) reminded me once again why I work hard to avoid sitting in E. [Note to self: log on to ua.com and upgrade all upcoming flights.]

onobond

By your definition, many of us now having airline status, which by no means is equivalent to "entitlement", have started our flying career with no status, flying in Y. But, honestly, did your "nannies or butler" ever tell you to look down on anyone?

Thinking the OP must have a hilarious time laghing at all the serious answers his not-so-serious post generates. Or maybe s/he is just annoyed at something

pinniped

This is Flyertalk Gold...I'm sure there's a vibrant UA thread about it.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/travel...der/index.html

Only thing that could have possibly made this story better would be if a COS and an unaccompanied minor were involved. That would be Flyertalk Platinum.

BearX220

Exactly so -- I know people who hollow themselves out to keep a flashy car on the road (cough *BMW* cough), spending money they haven't got to impress people they don't know.

Whereas if I spend money or miles on comfy airline seats for my wife and me, I don't want my friends or family to know. It's an inherently private reward.

I don't think I'll ever be a BMW guy. I like them a lot but whenever I spot one my reptile brain can't help whispering: idiot.

KoKoBuddy

Indeed. Among people I know, it's almost a perfect inverse correlation between how much money one makes and how cheap the car is. The guy who owns an insanely successful dental practice, drives a mid 2000s Camry. The guy that whines all the time about how broke he is, leases a BMW.

I fell into the trap of driving the "right" car. I was young and stupid though. I got older and wiser and realized that the only people who are impressed by what I drive....I don't really value their opinion in the first place.

s0ssos

On the UA flight they announced that if someone wants to upgrade to a bigger economy plus seat that is unoccupied to talk to a flight attendant.

It does make financial sense for the airlines to treat certain people poorly, in hopes they'd spend more money. Though in a lot of other industries you treat people well in hopes they would come back.

I think Singapore Changi airport does it well. They have nice lounges. But they also have sleeping areas inside the airport for the people who don't have nice lounge. There should be a minimum level of respect/courtesy, regardless of what class you are flying or whether you have status.

pinniped

I think there are two separate issues here. One is airlines in general trying to carve out an E+ product to sell...although asking the FA's to sell it onboard feels a bit crass. One could argue that this is genuine new product development - a new option for fliers! - although the counterargument is simply that E- has gotten so bad that E+ is really what a baseline Y product used to be. (Truth is probably somewhere in the middle...I don't recall many 36" Y seats even in the "good ol' days".) In any case, I do hope E+ products survive.

My problem is how airlines intentionally make the customer service and other elements of the soft product disrespectful and as bad as possible with the that it will encourage people to reach elite status. At the time an airline is forcing you to wait in a queue they aren't even trying to upsell their "elite for a day" product: they're just trying to make you mad and, I guess in some weird way, want to use their product more to get to the next level.

I guess I would be fundamentally concerned if a company's business strategy was to treat people with such great disrespect that they are willing to pay to be slightly-less-disrespected. But if the entire airline cartel is doing it together (as cartels usually do), I guess it works. What are we going to do, not fly? This is life under the fist of the system the DoJ has given us.