Originally posted by After Burner:
[b]As for the baby in J class, on my LHR-YYZ flights I will often ask the check-in agent to verify that I'm not seated near any children or infants. As someone paying $5000+ for a quiet environment where I can work undisturbed, imagine how I might feel if people with a crying infant were seated near me and they had been given an operational upgrade from a deep discount fare.
Children and infants are humans too. They should be allowed into places humans are allowed to sit. In your example, this would be business/executive class. They also have to pay if they take a seat so should be treated fairly. There is no place in a civilized world that one cannot access equally based on his/her age, sex, race, or social class. In your case, your idea is ageism. You can have your idea as this is a free world but I certainly hope that the gate / check-in agent does not share the same view when assigning seats.
Now about upgrade certificate... Why is it relevant if that seat is given as an upgrade or revenue? An upgrade certificate carries a value built-in from previous loyalty spending. When airlines calculate the ticket price and Q-miles level, they already have these taken into account. So an upgrade is NOT free and should be considered as a dividends given by being loyal. So what is the difference and your rationale for discriminating people using upgrade certificates... and once again I sure hope that flight attendants do not share your view in providing in-flight service in the front cabin.
(this part was added on re-editing)
Hmm... didn't see the word
operational... in this case, if you want to blame someone, blame the airlines. These folks bought tickets on what they afford but Air Canada cannot deliver a product due to their greed. They oversell products with a limited quantity so they have to pay the price. Who suffers? People in the front cabin... as a direct result of poor business model by the Airlines.
[This message has been edited by MoreMiles (edited 03-25-2001).]